How do I set a property which is an object?

[Guest]

I have the following class:

Public Class myObj

Dim x as myOtherObj

Public Property otherObject() As myOtherObj
Get
otherObject = x
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As myOtherObj)
' x is initially nothing
x = Value
' x is still nothing even though Value is not!
End Set
End Property

End Class

When I step thru Set() with a debugger, x starts out as nothing and remains
that way, even though value is not nothing.

Why is this?

And what's the 'proper' way to fix Set() ?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Hal Heinrich
VP Technology
Aralan Solutions Inc.

 

[Chris Murphy via DotNetMonster.com]

Read through the following code and you'll get a pretty clear idea on how
objects can contain references or instances of other objects. In my example
"MyClassA" is the the object that is subscribing to "MyClassB". Your
problem was that you were NOT instantiating a second object to be contained
in the first object. Instead what you were doing was returning a reference
to the object -- with no actual object present in the variable. My example
will probably throw a Object Type/Cast exception, but it's for illustrative
purposes. In any case, you can see how to affect properties of one object
in another object.

The other thing I thought I'd point out is that the syntax you were using
for the Object accessor in your class is from VB classic, and although it
is supported, it makes it much more confusing to read through your code.
Use the "Return" keyword and reference the actual property itself. FYI: a
good practice is to create object properties with the "Private" keyword for
security, and create a public accessor that can read or write from/to the
property. I hope this helps.

Public Class MyClassA
'property to contain objectPrivate _ObjectContainer As Object

'get/set property methods
Public Property ObjectContainer() As Object
Get
Return _ObjectContainer
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As Object)
_ObjectContainer = Value
End Set
End Property

'constructor
Public Sub New()
'instantiate a new object and
'assign it to the container property
ObjectContainer = New MyClassB()

'useage:
Console.WriteLine("My name is: " & ObjectContainer.MyName())
Console.WriteLine("My gender is: " & ObjectContainer.MyGender())

ObjectContainer.MyName = "Jane Smith"
ObjectContainer.MyGender = "Female"
Console.WriteLine("My new name is: " & ObjectContainer.MyName())
Console.WriteLine("My new gender is: " & ObjectContainer.MyGender())

End Sub
End Class

Public Class MyClassB
Private _MyName As String = "John Smith"
Private _MyGender As String = "Male"

'create get/set property methods
Public Property MyName() As String
Get
Return _MyName
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
_MyName = Value
End Set
End Property

Public Property MyGender() As String
Get
Return _MyGender
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
_MyGender = Value
End Set
End Property

'constructor
Public Sub New()
'instantiate a new
End Sub
Public Sub
End Class

 

[Guest]

The following should work:

dim obj as new myObj
dim otherobj as new myOtherObj (don't know what this but can be a class, etc.)

obj.otherObject = otherobj

Public Class myObj
Private x as myOtherObj

Public Property otherObject() As myOtherObj
Get
otherObject = x
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As myOtherObj)
' x is initially nothing
x = Value
' x is still nothing even though Value is not!
End Set
End Property

End Class

 

[Guest]

I wrote some code, shwon below, to state my problem more explicitly.
When I tested it, it ran fine - my problem went away.
When the code below reaches the messageBox statement,
"I'm contained -858" is displayed - the effect I want.
I'll post this problem again after some more research.

Thanks for your responses,
Hal Heinrich

Public Class containedClass
Private _a As String
Private _b As Integer
Public Property a() As String
Get
Return _a
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
_a = Value
End Set
End Property
Public Property b() As Integer
Get
Return _b
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As Integer)
_b = Value
End Set
End Property
End Class

Public Class containerClass
Private _x As String
Private _y As Integer
Private _cc As containedClass.containedClass

Public Property cc() As containedClass.containedClass
Get
Return _cc
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As containedClass.containedClass)
_cc = Value
End Set
End Property
Public Property x() As String
Get
Return _x
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
_x = Value
End Set
End Property
Public Property y() As Integer
Get
Return _y
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As Integer)
_y = Value
End Set
End Property
End Class

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim innerClass As New containedClass.containedClass, outerClass As New
containerClass.containerClass
innerClass.a = "I'm contained"
innerClass.b = -858
outerClass.x = "I contain objects"
outerClass.y = 57
outerClass.cc = innerClass
innerClass = Nothing
MessageBox.Show(outerClass.cc.a & " " & outerClass.cc.b.ToString)
End Sub