A class describing the characteristics of a variable, property, or argument. VariableDefinition is used as a property in the ClassDefinition and ScriptDefinition objects. It has no events.
You cannot start with a variable in your application and get a VariableDefinition object for it. Instead, you access the VariableDefinition instances that are elements of the VariableList array of a ClassDefinition instance or the ArgumentList array of a ScriptDefinition instance.
The VariableDefinition object has information about:
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The variable's name and type
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Whether the variable is a scalar or an array and information about the array
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The variable's initial value, whether the value overrides an ancestor's value, and whether the variable is a constant
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The read and write access levels for the variable
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The scope of the variable (global, shared, instance, local, argument), including whether the variable is an argument and how the argument is passed
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VariableDefinition property |
Datatype |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
CallingConvention |
ArgCallingConvention |
The way an argument is passed when Kind is VariableArgument! Values are: ByReferenceArgument! ByValueArgument! ReadOnlyArgument! VarListArgument! VarListArgument! applies only to arguments for built-in PowerBuilder functions. They are shown as ellipses in the Browser. For an example, see the section called “ImportString” in DataWindow Reference. |
|
Cardinality |
VariableCardinalityDefinition |
Cardinality information for the variable. |
|
ClassDefinition |
PowerObject |
An object of type PowerObject containing information about the class definition of the object or control. |
|
InitialValue |
Any |
The initial value of the variable. Not valid when Kind is VariableArgument!. |
|
IsConstant |
Boolean |
Indicates whether the variable is a constant. Not valid when Kind is VariableArgument!. |
|
IsControl |
Boolean |
Indicates whether the variable is a control defined as a nested class within its parent, rather than an instance variable with a control class as its datatype. Valid only when Kind is VariableInstance!. |
|
IsUserDefined |
Boolean |
Indicates whether the variable is a user-defined variable, instead of a property or variable defined by PowerBuilder. Always true for local variables. True for arguments if the function was also user-defined. |
|
Kind |
VariableKind |
The scope of the variable. Values are: VariableGlobal! VariableShared! VariableInstance! VariableArgument! VariableLocal! Global variables are found only in the Application object. Argument and local variables are found only in scripts. |
|
Name |
String |
The name of the variable. |
|
OverridesAncestorValue |
Boolean |
Indicates whether the current initial value overrides an ancestor's initial value. Valid only when Kind is VariableInstance! |
|
ReadAccess |
VarAccess |
The read access to the variable. Values are: Private! Public! Protected! System! Not valid when Kind is VariableArgument! or VariableLocal! |
|
TypeInfo |
TypeDefinition |
Type information for the variable. |
|
WriteAccess |
VarAccess |
The write access to the variable. Values are: Private! Public! Protected! System! Not valid for VariableArgument! or VariableLocal! |
