[Gambas-user] My confusion Re: New Syntax, SUPER && !comprehension(mine) Re.: SUPER example at gambasdoc

Mon May 12 23:14:41 CEST 2014

Well, now I am aware of the inconsistency so when I see it I'll know 
what is being done and double check the datatype to see what is being 
manipulated. I still think it is bad form; but that's just me.

On 05/12/2014 01:18 PM, Fabien Bodard wrote:
> yes and that's why you need to use good naming for your variables !!
>
>
> Dim cX as New Collection
>
> Dim aX as New Integer[]
>
>
> You now all classes can use that syntax too :
>
> MyClass[0]=toto
>
> If the special procedure _put(index as integer) is declared. The []
> are not specific to the arrays or collections.
>
>
>
>
>
> 2014-05-12 18:31 GMT+02:00 Stephen<sbungay at ...3301...>:
>>    Hi Fabien!
>>
>>
>>> Le 12 mai 2014 12:12, "Stephen"<sbungay at ...3301...>   a écrit :
>>>> Hi Tobias, thanks for the reply, things got busy and I'm just getting
>>>> back to the keyboard.
>>>>
>>>> It was how things were being done in the (broken) GAMBASDOC example
>>>> confused me.
>>>> In one area the programmer is using the Add method of a string object
>>>> array, but this line
>>>>
>>>> $cPos[Key] = $aKey.Count
>>>>
>>>> caused me to pause.
>>>>
>>>> My thought at the time of reading it went something like this:
>>>>
>>>> "What being done here? There's been no use of the Add method! How can
>>>> you reference
>>>> something that doesn't yet exist and why is no error being thrown for
>>>> doing so"?
>>> A collection automatically add an non existant entry ... Or just assign the
>>> new value... If the value is null then the entry is deleted.
>>>
>> Yes, it is a convenient way of adding, editing, or deleting items from a
>> collection,
>> but I personally will never use it. Why? Because IMHO it introduces
>> inconsistencies in the language. The short form of adding, updating, or
>> deleting items to/from a collection exactly mimics the syntax of assigning
>> a value to an array element, but they can not actually be used the same way;
>>
>> ' This throws an error
>> DIM X AS NEW Integer[]
>> X[0] = 1
>>
>>
>> ' This doesn't
>> DIM X AS NEW Collection
>> X[0] = 1
>>
>> Even GambasDoc lead me astray as it says a collection is a "class" that
>> "acts like a read
>> <http://gambasdoc.org/help/comp/gb/collection/_get?view>  / write
>> <http://gambasdoc.org/help/comp/gb/collection/_put?view>  array.", but it
>> doesn't does it? The second example above doesn't work with an array
>> unless the element has been Added
>> first, which IMHO is as it should be.
>>
>>>> Now I think that the Add method of the collection is being implicitly
>>>> called using older
>>>> non OOP array assignment syntax.
>>>>
>>>> IMHO enforcing the explicit use of the object's Add method
>>>>
>>>> $cPos.Add($aKey.Count, Key)
>>>>
>>>> might take more keystrokes, but it definitely better communicates what
>>>> is being manipulated (an object vs an array) and what is being done
>>>> (Adding).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 05/08/2014 09:28 AM, Tobias Boege wrote:
>>>>> On Thu, 08 May 2014, Stephen wrote:
>>>>>>       Looking at the thread "New syntax for using variables arguments in
>>> a
>>>>>> function call" I realized that I needed to really brush up on my
>>>>>> somewhat marginal understanding of the evolving (a good thing) GAMBAS
>>>>>> and OOP. Not fully understanding "SUPER" (I've never used it but can
>>> see
>>>>>> a use for it) I trotted off to Google and the GAMBAS documentation,
>>>>>> where much reading was done, and (as usual) more questions raised.
>>>>> If you write a class and inherit from another class, you can override
>>>>> methods and properties in your inheriting class. However, sometimes the
>>>>> inherited class does a pretty good job already and you don't want to
>>>>> reinvent the wheel for doing something. That's when Super comes into
>>> play
>>>>> because Super knows where the method and property implementations of the
>>>>> inherited class (the super class) are. So you can still call methods of
>>>>> the super class in your subclass that you have actually just overridden.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the example below, you want to skim data in ListBox' Add() method but
>>>>> you don't want to implement the actual addition of a new element so you
>>>>> resort to the original ListBox' Add() implementation - which is
>>> available
>>>>> as Super.Add() and knows how to do the thing.
>>>>>
>>>>>>       Studying the "SUPER" example at
>>> http://gambasdoc.org/hemp/lang/super,
>>>>>> I wondered at the purpose of a collection that seems not to be used but
>>>>>> once and some syntax in it's use in the example, which didn't make any
>>>>>> sense to my old brain. Below is a snippet from the example (where $cPos
>>>>>> is a collection, $aKey an Array of String Objects (I think) and Key a
>>>>>> string object;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> $cPos.Clear
>>>>>> $cPos[Key] = $aKey.Count
>>>>>> $aKey.Add(Key)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>       OK, the first line clears the collection, got it, and the last line
>>>>>> adds the contents of "String" to $aKey, got that.... but what does the
>>>>>> second line do? It looks like it is adding the count of elements in
>>>>>> $aKey to the collection $cPos... but in OOP I would use a method call
>>>>>> i.e. $cPos.Add(Key,Key). Oh, and in trying to implement the example
>>>>>> GAMBAS (3.5.3) complained that "ListBox.Add is incorrectly overridden".
>>>>>>
>>>>> $cPos[Key] = $aKey.Count followed by $aKey.Add(Key) will store the
>>> *index*
>>>>> of Key in the $aKey array in the $cPos collection, indexed by the
>>> *value* of
>>>>> the key. (Think about it.)
>>>>>
>>>>> That means if the user gives you a Key, you can look up the index of
>>> that
>>>>> key in the $aKey array using $cPos[Key], i.e. the statement
>>>>>
>>>>>      $aKey[$cPos[Key]]
>>>>>
>>>>> will always return Key (or raise an error, but see below for that). This
>>>>> also explains why the Collection is named $cPos.
>>>>>
>>>>> Not sure what that implies or what we can do with it and how
>>> $cPos.Clear()
>>>>> fits into the picture because it already deletes that additional
>>> information
>>>>> we collected...
>>>>>
>>>>> Either I don't get it or the example is just broken (I'd prefer the
>>> second
>>>>> option, of course :-)).
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Tobi
>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Kindest Regards
>>>> Stephen A. Bungay, Prop.
>>>> Smarts On Site
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Kindest Regards
>> Stephen A. Bungay, Prop.
>> Smarts On Site
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> "Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE
>> Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos.
>> Get unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform available
>> Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free."
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>
>

-- 
Kindest Regards
Stephen A. Bungay, Prop.
Smarts On Site