Define your own variable types

[JkWhoSaysNi]

By function inheritance I mean that when you call function() in a child, it's possible to also call it in the parent.

e.g.

function() is called.

function() calls parent::function()

[parent::function() calls grandparent::function()]

then whatever has to happen in function() occurs.

[Tolnaftate2004]

Originally Posted by JkWhoSaysNi

By function inheritance I mean that when you call function() in a child, it's possible to also call it in the parent.

Typically in OOP, this is not the desired effect. The parent function should only be called if the child does not have a function of the same name (should be a virtual function).

[JkWhoSaysNi]

Not true. In a lot of OO lanuguages in the child class you can choose to redefine (inherit) or override (no inheritance) or even in some languages, undefine the function.

E.g. in Eiffel (which probably has one of the best OO models going) to allow for real multiple inheritance you can choose to rename, redefine or undefine (or a few others iirc)
code example

PHP Code:

class
 child
inherit
 parent
  redefine functionName
end
feature 
 functionName 
  do 
    precursor --run the function of the same name in the parent
     --then do whatever
  end 


Similar functionality is available in Delphi.

[Tolnaftate2004]

Originally Posted by JkWhoSaysNi

rename, redefine or undefine

Okay, well perhaps I misunderstood, but none of these seem to be of real interest for graal datatypes joining classes.

[Inverness]

Inheritance in Graal doesn't work like that, you're not supposed to overwrite functions or variables. You're just supposed to extend the functionality of the supertype without changing it or complete its functionality if the supertype is abstract. If you observe the object type structure on the Wiki you'd notice that functions and variables are never overwritten by subtypes.

An example of this is the TXMudContainer type on Aeon. Its abstract and gives all subtypes (most especially TXMudPlayer) the ability to hold items. This allows for easy moving of item objects between players, npcs, and containers in the world like barrels and crates.

One of the tools I find invaluable for modularity and object types is this function, triggerAll():

PHP Code:

public function triggerAll(eventname, param0, param1, param2, param3, param4, param5, param6, param7, param8, param9) {
  this.scriptlogmissingfunctions = false; // for no RC errors.
  
  temp.i = 0;
  temp.list = this.joinedclasses;
  
  list.remove("util_triggerall"); // Class with this script
  makevar(eventname @ "_base")(param0, param1, param2, param3, param4, param5, param6, param7, param8, param9);
  for (i = 0; i < list.size(); i ++) {
    makevar(eventname @ "_" @ list[i])(param0, param1, param2, param3, param4, param5, param6, param7, param8, param9);
  }
} 


I don't find the classname::functionname() syntax too reliable.