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define(3tcl) TclOO Commands define(3tcl) 





NAME


oo::define, oo::objdefine - define and configure classes and
    objects






SYNOPSIS


package require TclOO
oo::define class defScript
oo::define class subcommand arg ?arg ...?
oo::objdefine object defScript
oo::objdefine object subcommand arg ?arg ...?










DESCRIPTION


The oo::define command is used to control the configuration
    of classes, and the oo::objdefine command is used to control the
    configuration of objects (including classes as instance objects), with the
    configuration being applied to the entity named in the class or the
    object argument. Configuring a class also updates the configuration
    of all subclasses of the class and all objects that are instances of that
    class or which mix it in (as modified by any per-instance configuration).
    The way in which the configuration is done is controlled by either the
    defScript argument or by the subcommand and following
    arg arguments; when the second is present, it is exactly as if all
    the arguments from subcommand onwards are made into a list and that
    list is used as the defScript argument.




CONFIGURING CLASSES


The following commands are supported in the defScript for
    oo::define, each of which may also be used in the subcommand
    form:



  

  
This creates or updates the constructor for a class. The formal arguments
      to the constructor (defined using the same format as for the Tcl
      proc command) will be argList, and the body of the
      constructor will be bodyScript. When the body of the constructor is
      evaluated, the current namespace of the constructor will be a namespace
      that is unique to the object being constructed. Within the constructor,
      the next command should be used to call the superclasses'
      constructors. If bodyScript is the empty string, the constructor
      will be deleted.

  

  
This deletes each of the methods called name from a class. The
      methods must have previously existed in that class. Does not affect the
      superclasses of the class, nor does it affect the subclasses or instances
      of the class (except when they have a call chain through the class being
      modified) or the class object itself.

  

  
This creates or updates the destructor for a class. Destructors take no
      arguments, and the body of the destructor will be bodyScript. The
      destructor is called when objects of the class are deleted, and when
      called will have the object's unique namespace as the current namespace.
      Destructors should use the next command to call the superclasses'
      destructors. Note that destructors are not called in all situations (e.g.
      if the interpreter is destroyed). If bodyScript is the empty
      string, the destructor will be deleted.




Note that errors during the evaluation of a destructor
  are not returned to the code that causes the destruction of an object.
  Instead, they are passed to the currently-defined bgerror
  handler.



  

  
This arranges for each of the named methods, name, to be exported
      (i.e. usable outside an instance through the instance object's command) by
      the class being defined. Note that the methods themselves may be actually
      defined by a superclass; subclass exports override superclass visibility,
      and may in turn be overridden by instances.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) sets or updates the list
      of method names that are used to guard whether method call to instances of
      the class may be called and what the method's results are. Each
      methodName names a single filtering method (which may be exposed or
      not exposed); it is not an error for a non-existent method to be named
      since they may be defined by subclasses. By default, this slot works by
      appending.

  

  
This creates or updates a forwarded method called name. The method
      is defined be forwarded to the command called cmdName, with
      additional arguments, arg etc., added before those arguments
      specified by the caller of the method. The cmdName will always be
      resolved using the rules of the invoking objects' namespaces, i.e., when
      cmdName is not fully-qualified, the command will be searched for in
      each object's namespace, using the instances' namespace's path, or by
      looking in the global namespace. The method will be exported if
      name starts with a lower-case letter, and non-exported
    otherwise.

  

  
This creates or updates a method that is implemented as a procedure-like
      script. The name of the method is name, the formal arguments to the
      method (defined using the same format as for the Tcl proc command)
      will be argList, and the body of the method will be
      bodyScript. When the body of the method is evaluated, the current
      namespace of the method will be a namespace that is unique to the current
      object. The method will be exported if name starts with a
      lower-case letter, and non-exported otherwise; this behavior can be
      overridden via export and unexport.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) sets or updates the list
      of additional classes that are to be mixed into all the instances of the
      class being defined. Each className argument names a single class
      that is to be mixed in. By default, this slot works by replacement.

  

  
This renames the method called fromName in a class to
      toName. The method must have previously existed in the class, and
      toName must not previously refer to a method in that class. Does
      not affect the superclasses of the class, nor does it affect the
      subclasses or instances of the class (except when they have a call chain
      through the class being modified), or the class object itself. Does not
      change the export status of the method; if it was exported before, it will
      be afterwards.

  

  

  

  
This command is equivalent to calling oo::objdefine on the class
      being defined (see CONFIGURING OBJECTS below for a description of
      the supported values of subcommand). It follows the same general
      pattern of argument handling as the oo::define and
      oo::objdefine commands, and “oo::define cls
      self subcommand ...” operates identically to
      “oo::objdefine cls subcommand ...”.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) allows the alteration of
      the superclasses of the class being defined. Each className
      argument names one class that is to be a superclass of the defined class.
      Note that objects must not be changed from being classes to being
      non-classes or vice-versa, that an empty parent class is equivalent to
      oo::object, and that the parent classes of oo::object and
      oo::class may not be modified. By default, this slot works by
      replacement.

  

  
This arranges for each of the named methods, name, to be not
      exported (i.e. not usable outside the instance through the instance
      object's command, but instead just through the my command visible
      in each object's context) by the class being defined. Note that the
      methods themselves may be actually defined by a superclass; subclass
      unexports override superclass visibility, and may be overridden by
      instance unexports.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) arranges for each of the
      named variables to be automatically made available in the methods,
      constructor and destructor declared by the class being defined. Each
      variable name must not have any namespace separators and must not look
      like an array access. All variables will be actually present in the
      instance object on which the method is executed. Note that the variable
      lists declared by a superclass or subclass are completely disjoint, as are
      variable lists declared by instances; the list of variable names is just
      for methods (and constructors and destructors) declared by this class. By
      default, this slot works by appending.








CONFIGURING OBJECTS


The following commands are supported in the defScript for
    oo::objdefine, each of which may also be used in the
    subcommand form:



  

  
This allows the class of an object to be changed after creation. Note that
      the class's constructors are not called when this is done, and so the
      object may well be in an inconsistent state unless additional
      configuration work is done.

  

  
This deletes each of the methods called name from an object. The
      methods must have previously existed in that object (e.g., because it was
      created through oo::objdefine method). Does not affect the classes
      that the object is an instance of, or remove the exposure of those
      class-provided methods in the instance of that class.

  

  
This arranges for each of the named methods, name, to be exported
      (i.e. usable outside the object through the object's command) by the
      object being defined. Note that the methods themselves may be actually
      defined by a class or superclass; object exports override class
      visibility.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) sets or updates the list
      of method names that are used to guard whether a method call to the object
      may be called and what the method's results are. Each methodName
      names a single filtering method (which may be exposed or not exposed); it
      is not an error for a non-existent method to be named. Note that the
      actual list of filters also depends on the filters set upon any classes
      that the object is an instance of. By default, this slot works by
      appending.

  

  
This creates or updates a forwarded object method called name. The
      method is defined be forwarded to the command called cmdName, with
      additional arguments, arg etc., added before those arguments
      specified by the caller of the method. Forwarded methods should be deleted
      using the method subcommand. The method will be exported if
      name starts with a lower-case letter, and non-exported
    otherwise.

  

  
This creates, updates or deletes an object method. The name of the method
      is name, the formal arguments to the method (defined using the same
      format as for the Tcl proc command) will be argList, and the
      body of the method will be bodyScript. When the body of the method
      is evaluated, the current namespace of the method will be a namespace that
      is unique to the object. The method will be exported if name starts
      with a lower-case letter, and non-exported otherwise.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) sets or updates a
      per-object list of additional classes that are to be mixed into the
      object. Each argument, className, names a single class that is to
      be mixed in. By default, this slot works by replacement.

  

  
This renames the method called fromName in an object to
      toName. The method must have previously existed in the object, and
      toName must not previously refer to a method in that object. Does
      not affect the classes that the object is an instance of and cannot rename
      in an instance object the methods provided by those classes (though a
      oo::objdefine forwarded method may provide an equivalent
      capability). Does not change the export status of the method; if it was
      exported before, it will be afterwards.

  

  
This arranges for each of the named methods, name, to be not
      exported (i.e. not usable outside the object through the object's command,
      but instead just through the my command visible in the object's
      context) by the object being defined. Note that the methods themselves may
      be actually defined by a class; instance unexports override class
      visibility.

  

  
This slot (see SLOTTED DEFINITIONS below) arranges for each of the
      named variables to be automatically made available in the methods declared
      by the object being defined. Each variable name must not have any
      namespace separators and must not look like an array access. All variables
      will be actually present in the object on which the method is executed.
      Note that the variable lists declared by the classes and mixins of which
      the object is an instance are completely disjoint; the list of variable
      names is just for methods declared by this object. By default, this slot
      works by appending.










SLOTTED DEFINITIONS


Some of the configurable definitions of a class or object are
    slotted definitions. This means that the configuration is
    implemented by a slot object, that is an instance of the class
    oo::Slot, which manages a list of values (class names, variable
    names, etc.) that comprises the contents of the slot. The class defines
    three operations (as methods) that may be done on the slot:



  

  
This appends the given member elements to the slot definition.

  

  
This sets the slot definition to the empty list.

  

  
This replaces the slot definition with the given member
    elements.




A consequence of this is that any use of a slot's default
    operation where the first member argument begins with a hyphen will be an
    error. One of the above operations should be used explicitly in those
    circumstances.




SLOT IMPLEMENTATION


Internally, slot objects also define a method
    --default-operation which is forwarded to the default operation of
    the slot (thus, for the class “variable” slot, this is
    forwarded to “my -append”), and these methods which
    provide the implementation interface:



  

  
Returns a list that is the current contents of the slot. This method must
      always be called from a stack frame created by a call to oo::define
      or oo::objdefine.

  

  
Sets the contents of the slot to the list elementList and returns
      the empty string. This method must always be called from a stack frame
      created by a call to oo::define or oo::objdefine.




The implementation of these methods is slot-dependent (and
    responsible for accessing the correct part of the class or object
    definition). Slots also have an unknown method handler to tie all these
    pieces together, and they hide their destroy method so that it is not
    invoked inadvertently. It is recommended that any user changes to the
    slot mechanism be restricted to defining new operations whose names start
    with a hyphen.








EXAMPLES


This example demonstrates how to use both forms of the
    oo::define and oo::objdefine commands (they work in the same
    way), as well as illustrating four of the subcommands of them.






oo::class create c
c create o
oo::define c method foo {} {


    puts "world"
}
oo::objdefine o {


    method bar {} {


        my Foo "hello "


        my foo


    }


    forward Foo ::puts -nonewline


    unexport foo
}
o bar                → prints "hello world"
o foo                → error "unknown method foo"
o Foo Bar            → error "unknown method Foo"
oo::objdefine o renamemethod bar lollipop
o lollipop           → prints "hello world"




This example shows how additional classes can be mixed into an
    object. It also shows how mixin is a slot that supports
  appending:






oo::object create inst
inst m1              → error "unknown method m1"
inst m2              → error "unknown method m2"
oo::class create A {


    method m1 {} {


        puts "red brick"


    }
}
oo::objdefine inst {


    mixin A
}
inst m1              → prints "red brick"
inst m2              → error "unknown method m2"
oo::class create B {


    method m2 {} {


        puts "blue brick"


    }
}
oo::objdefine inst {


    mixin -append B
}
inst m1              → prints "red brick"
inst m2              → prints "blue brick"








SEE ALSO


next(3tcl), oo::class(3tcl), oo::object(3tcl)






KEYWORDS


class, definition, method, object, slot







  

    0.3
    TclOO