Matlab class multiple accessors for same data - c++

Question

I'm trying to translate a class from C++ to Matlab. In C++, the same data can be accessed in multiple ways because the values are declared as a union.
However, it seems like the only way to do this in Matlab is to override subsref and subsasgn, which opens up a can of worms of having to parse methods.
Is there a different way to handle this? I saw some comments from 2014 indicating there wasn't
This is the C++ enum in question:
template <class T>
class Euler
{
public:
union
{
T m[3];
struct
{
union { T x; T yaw; T psi; }; // m[0]
union { T y; T pitch; T theta; }; // m[1]
union { T z; T roll; T phi; }; // m[2]
};
};
};

Answer 1

The simple solution: forget about these names, and translate this class as a simple array, indexing m.x as m[1], m.roll as m[2], etc. This might not be great for some use cases, but certainly is the most efficient solution.
The alternative solution requires creating a custom class. subsref and subsasgn are not necessary, it is possible to declare dependent properties and define getters and setters (though it's not pretty!):
classdef Euler
properties
x = 0;
y = 0;
z = 0;
end
properties (Dependent)
yaw, pitch, roll;
psi, theta, phi;
end
methods
function value = get.yaw(obj)
value = obj.x;
end
function value = get.pitch(obj)
value = obj.y;
end
function value = get.roll(obj)
value = obj.z;
end
function obj = set.yaw(obj,value)
obj.x = value;
end
function obj = set.pitch(obj,value)
obj.y = value;
end
function obj = set.roll(obj,value)
obj.z = value;
end
% Add same methods for psi, theta, phi.
end
end
You can now do:
e = Euler;
e.x = 1;
e.yaw % returns 1
e.roll = 5;
e.z % returns 5
That is, the object has properties x, y, z, yaw, pitch and roll (and after adding appropriate setters and getters also psi, theta and phi), but only stores three values. The values of e.g. yaw and x are linked, and always identical.