--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/m-toolbox/classes/@plist/fromFile.m	Wed Nov 23 19:22:13 2011 +0100
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+% Construct a ltpda_ob from a file
+%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+%
+% FUNCTION:    fromFile
+%
+% DESCRIPTION: Construct a ltpda_ob from a file
+%
+% CALL:        obj = obj.fromFile(filename)
+%              obj = obj.fromFile(pl)
+%
+% VERSION:     $Id: fromFile.m,v 1.8 2011/02/11 12:44:33 hewitson Exp $
+%
+%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+function objs = fromFile(obj, pli)
+
+  VERSION = '$Id: fromFile.m,v 1.8 2011/02/11 12:44:33 hewitson Exp $';
+
+  % Which file type are we dealing with?
+  if ischar(pli)
+    pli = plist('filename', pli);
+  end
+
+  % get filename
+  filename = find(pli, 'filename');
+
+  % Get the correct parameter set
+  [path, name, ext] = fileparts(filename);
+
+  % Load a MAT file if the file extension doesn't exist
+  if isempty(ext)
+    ext = '.mat';
+    filename = strcat(filename, ext);
+    pli.pset('filename', filename);
+  end
+  
+  switch ext
+
+    case '.mat'
+      ii = obj.getInfo(class(obj), 'From MAT File');
+      ii.setMversion([VERSION '-->' ii.mversion]);
+
+      % Combine input and default plist
+      pl = combine(pli, ii.plists);
+
+      % Load MAT-File
+      objs = load(filename);
+
+      if ((isfield(objs, 'objs') && isstruct(objs.objs)) || ...
+          (isfield(objs, 'a')    && isstruct(objs.a)))
+        if isfield(objs, 'a')
+          objs = objs.a;
+        else
+          objs = objs.objs;
+        end
+        scl = utils.helper.classFromStruct(objs);
+        if isempty(scl)
+          if isfield(objs, 'class')
+            scl = objs.class;
+          else
+            error('### The structure does not match any LTPDA object.');
+          end
+        end
+        if ~strcmp(class(obj), scl)
+          error('### The structure does not match the chosen LTPDA object constructor. It seems to be a [%s] object.', scl)
+        end
+        fcn_name   = [class(obj) '.update_struct'];
+        struct_ver = sscanf(objs(1).creator.ltpda_version, '%s.%s.%s');
+        objs = feval(fcn_name, objs, struct_ver);
+        objs = feval(class(obj), objs);
+      elseif ismember('a', fieldnames(objs))
+        objs = objs.a;
+      elseif ismember('objs', fieldnames(objs))
+        objs = objs.objs;
+      else
+        objs = obj.fromDataInMAT(objs, pl);
+      end
+
+
+    case '.xml'
+      ii = obj.getInfo(class(obj), 'From XML File');
+      ii.setMversion([VERSION '-->' ii.mversion]);
+
+      % Combine input and default plist
+      pl = combine(pli, ii.plists);
+
+      root_node = xmlread(filename);
+      objs = utils.xml.xmlread(root_node, class(obj));
+
+    otherwise
+      error('### Unknown file type [%s].', ext(2:end));
+  end
+
+end
+