Core

Class Hierarchy:

Object
Core

Namespace for core functionality.

Descendant Class Summary
`Core.Arrays.LargeMap`
`Core.Debug`
`Core.ListenerList`
`Core.ResourceBundle`

Class Method Summary
Internal	`_copyFunction()` Creates a duplicate copy of a function by wrapping the original in a closure.
Internal	`_createFunction()` Creates an empty function.
Public	`extend()` Creates a new class, optionally extending an existing class.
Public	`get()` Retrieves a value from an object hierarchy.
Internal	`_isVirtual()` Determines if the specified propertyName of the specified object is a virtual property, i.
Internal	`_inherit()` Installs properties from source object into destination object.
Public	`method()` Creates a new function which executes a specific method of an object instance.
Internal	`_processMixins()` Add properties of mixin objects to destination object.
Public	`set()` Sets a value in an object hierarchy.
Internal	`_verifyAbstractImpl()` Verifies that a concrete derivative of an abstract class implements abstract properties present in the base class.

_copyFunction

Creates a duplicate copy of a function by wrapping the original in a closure.

Parameters:: f - the function

Returns:: an effectively identical copy

_createFunction

Creates an empty function.

extend

Creates a new class, optionally extending an existing class. This method may be called with one or two parameters as follows:

Core.extend(definition) Core.extend(baseClass, definition)

Each property of the definition object will be added to the prototype of the returned defined class. Properties that begin with a dollar-sign ($) will be processed specially:

The $construct property, which must be a function, will be used as the constructor. The $load property, which must be a function, f provided, will be used as a static initializer, executed once when the class is *defined*. The this pointer will be set to the class when this method is executed.
The $static property, an object, if provided, will have its properties installed as class variables.
The $abstract property, an object or true, if provided, will define methods that must be implemented by derivative classes. If the value is simply true, the object will be marked as abstract (such that it does not necessarily need to provide implementations of abstract methods defined in its base class.)
The $virtual property, an object, if provided, defines methods that will be placed into the prototype that may be overridden by subclasses. Attempting to override a property/method of the superclass that is not defined in the virtual block will result in an exception. Having the default behavior NOT allow for overriding ensures that namespacing between super- and sub-types if all internal variables are instance during Core.extend().

Use of this method enables a class to be derived WITHOUT executing the constructor of the base class in order to create a prototype for the derived class. This method uses a "shared prototype" architecture, where two objects are created, a "prototype class" and a "constructor class". These two objects share the same prototype, but the "prototype class" has an empty constructor. When a class created with this method is derived, the "prototype class" is used to create a prototype for the derivative.

This method will return the constructor class, which contains an internal reference to the prototype class that will be used if the returned class is later derived by this method.

Parameters:: baseClass (Function) - the base class; definition (Object) - an associative array containing methods and properties of the class

Returns:: the constructor class

get

Retrieves a value from an object hierarchy. Examples: Given the following object 'o': { a: { b: 4, c: 2 }}

Core.get(o, ["a", "b"]) will return 4.


Core.get(o, ["a", "c"]) will return 2.

Core.get(o, ["a", "d"]) will return null.

Core.get(o, ["a"]) will return { b: 4, c: 2 }.

Core.get(o, ["b"]) will return null.

Core.get(o, ["d"]) will return null.




Parameters:

object 
- an arbitrary object from which the value should be retrieved

path 
(Array)
- an array of object property names describing the path to retrieve



Returns:


the value, if found, or null if it does not exist




_isVirtual


Determines if the specified propertyName of the specified object is a virtual
property, i.e., that it can be overridden by subclasses.







_inherit


Installs properties from source object into destination object.

In the case where the destination object already has a property defined
and the "virtualProperties" argument is provided, the "virtualProperties"
collection will be checked to ensure that property is allowed to be
overridden.  If "virtualProperties" is omitted, any property may be
overridden.


Parameters:

destination 
- the destination object

soruce 
- the source object

virtualProperties 
- (optional) collection of virtual properties from base class.







method


Creates a new function which executes a specific method of an object instance.
Any arguments passed to the returned function will be passed to the method.
The return value of the method will be returned by the function.

CAUTION: When adding and removing methods as listeners, note that two separately
constructed methods will not be treated as equal, even if their instance and method
properties are the same.  Failing to heed this warning can result in a memory leak,
as listeners would never be removed.


Parameters:

instance 
- the object instance

method 
(Function)
- the method to be invoked on the instance



Returns:


the return value provided by the method







_processMixins


Add properties of mixin objects to destination object.
Mixins will be added in order, and any property which is already
present in the destination object will not be overridden.


Parameters:

destination 
- the destination object

mixins 
(Array)
- the mixin objects to add







set


Sets a value in an object hierarchy.

Examples: 
Given the following object 'o': { a: { b: 4, c: 2 } }

Core.set(o, ["a", "b"], 5) will update the value of 'o' to be: { a: { b: 5, c: 2 } }
Core.set(o, ["a", "d"], 7) will update the value of 'o' to be:
{ a: { b: 4, c: 2, d: 7 } }
Core.set(o, ["e"], 9) will update the value of 'o' to be: { a: { b: 4, c: 2 }, e: 9 }
Core.set(o, ["f", "g"], 8) will update the value of 'o' to be: 
{ a: { b: 4, c: 2 }, f: { g: 8 } }
Core.set(o, ["a"], 10) will update the value of 'o' to be: { a: 10 }



Parameters:

object 
- an arbitrary object from which the value should be retrieved

path 
(Array)
- an array of object property names describing the path to retrieve



Returns:


the value, if found, or null if it does not exist







_verifyAbstractImpl


Verifies that a concrete derivative of an abstract class implements
abstract properties present in the base class.


Parameters:

constructorClass 
- the class to verify