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Next: 5.3 Methods Up: 5. Classes Previous: 5.1 Class definitions

5.2 Class instantiation

Classes must be created using their constructor. Remember that a class is a pointer to an object, so when you declare a variable of some class, the compiler just allocates a pointer, not the entire object. The constructor of a class returns a pointer to an initialized instance of the object. So, to initialize an instance of some class, you would do the following :

  ClassVar := ClassType.ConstructorName;
You cannot use the extended syntax of new and dispose to instantiate and destroy class instances. That construct is reserved for use with objects only. Calling the constructor will provoke a call to getmem, to allocate enough space to hold the class instance data. After that, the constuctor's code is executed. The constructor has a pointer to it's data, in self. Remark :

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1999-06-10