send

Type:	-	function (subr)
Source:	-	xlobj.c

Syntax

(send object message [args])

object - an object
message - message selector for object
arg - parameter sent to object method
returns - the object

Description

The 'send' function is the mechanism used to send a 'message' to an object. The 'message' is the message selector symbol that is used to select a particular action [method] from the object.

Examples

(setq myclass (send class :new '(var)))              ; create MYCLASS with VAR

(send myclass :answer :isnew '()                     ; set up initialization
                             '((setq var nil) self))

(send myclass :answer :set-it '(value)               ; create :SET-IT message
                              '((setq var value)))
  
(setq my-obj (send myclass :new))                    ; create MY-OBJ of MYCLASS
(send my-obj :set-it 5)                              ; VAR is set to 5

Built-in methods: The built in methods in XLISP include:

• :answer - add a method to an object
• :class - return the object's class
• :isnew - run initialization code on object
• :new - create a new object [instance or class]
• :show - show the internal state of the object

Message structure: The normal XLISP convention for a 'message' is to have a valid symbol preceeded by a colon like :isnew or ':my-message'. However, it is possible to define a 'message' that is a symbol without a colon, but this makes the code less readable.

See the send function in the XLISP 2.0 manual.

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