TypeDefinition object

TypeDefinition is used in the VariableDefinition class.

Information about the type of a variable. The variable can be a single value, an object, or an array. TypeDefinition is an abstract class that is the ancestor of ClassDefinition, SimpleTypeDefinition, and EnumerationDefinition. It has no events.

Properties

TypeDefinition property

Datatype

Description

Category

TypeCategory

Specifies whether the type is simple, enumerated, or a class or structure. Values are:

SimpleType!

EnumeratedType!

ClassOrStructureType!

ClassDefinition

PowerObject

An object of type PowerObject containing information about the class definition of the object or control.

DataTypeOf

String

The system class name or simple datatype of the variable. DataTypeOf is a string representation of a value of the Object enumerated datatype. Values are lowercase with no exclamation point. Sample values include:

window

string

any

dropdownlistbox

For objects you have defined, the datatype is the system class from which your object is inherited.

IsStructure

Boolean

Indicates whether the type is a structure.

IsSystemType

Boolean

Indicates whether the type is defined by PowerBuilder as opposed to a type defined in a PBL by a user.

IsVariableLength

Boolean

Specifies whether the datatype has a fixed size. Values are:

TRUE  -- The datatype is variable length, meaning the datatype is a string, any, blob, or unbounded array.

FALSE -- The datatype is a fixed length.

IsVisualType

Boolean

Indicates whether the type is a visual (displayable) or nonvisual type. Values are:

TRUE  -- The type is visual, for example, a window or a control.

FALSE -- The type is non-visual, for example, a class user object or a simple datatype.

LibraryName

String

The fully qualified name of the library the type was loaded from. The library might no longer contain the type. If a program manipulates the contents of libraries, its class could have been moved or deleted after it was loaded.

Name

String

The name of the type. For a nested type, the name is returned in the form of libraryEntryName`typeName


Functions

TypeDefinition function

Datatype returned

Description

ClassName

String

Returns the name assigned to the object

GetContextService

Integer

Creates a reference to a context-specific instance of the specified service

GetParent

PowerObject

Returns a reference to the name of the parent object

TypeOf

Object

Returns the type of the object