using operators (+,-,*,/) in variables

Hi, if i need to config for + to be 'op' for example how can i then use it as an actual + further down the code?

example

op='+';
a=1;
b=2;
c=a(+ as op)b;

Answer 1

[Guillaume]

Use str2fun to change your string into a function handle. Note that the string content must be a valid matlab function name ( '+' is)

op = '+';
a = 1;
b = 2;

opfn = str2fun(op);
c = opfn(a, b);

There is no way to have it

c = a opfn b; %can't be done in matlab

[Guillaume]

Note that if you don't require to start with a string, you could just define opfn as:

opfn = @plus; %@minus, @times, @rdivide for elementwise -, *, / respectively

[Sean de Wolski]

Use this approach of opfun = @plus or whatever.

Answer 2

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

You can create this function

function y=op(a,b,operator)
if operator=='+'
  y=a+b
elseif operator=='-'
  y=a-b
elseif operator=='/'
  y=a/b
elseif operator=='*'
  y=a*b
end

% And call it

y=op(5,6,'+')