Object style guide

[m218003(at)modell3.dkrz.de (Martin Schultz)]

Hi all,

    seems there is more and more activity going on objectwise these
days and some people try to standardize things. Looking at some of the
examples posted recently, I thought of two things (besides trying to
figure out what you folks did):

(1) The common procedure header seems inappropriate for object design,
   e.g. what is a "CALLING SEQUENCE" for an object?

(2) There is a basic structure to all *__define.pro files which one
   should not have to retype all the time.

Gee!, I thought, here's a template that addresses both. It provides a
new file header structure (which is still format-compatible with the 
old "analogue" one), and it provides a basic skeleton for any object 
definition. Under Unix you can easily use it like:
   sed 's/%NAME%/MyObject/' template__define.pro > myobject__define.pro
and you will find a file that awaits to become alive by you. On Windows
systems you will have to do a find/change and replace %NAME% by your
favorite, then "Save as ...".

I'd be extremely happy if (especially) the gurus among you would find it
equally useful to adopt a new format for the file header in object 
definition routines. The attached file should serve as a basis for 
discussion, I am open for any suggestions.

Cheers,
Martin in objectland ;-)


-- 
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
[[ Dr. Martin Schultz   Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie    [[
[[                      Bundesstr. 55, 20146 Hamburg             [[
[[                      phone: +49 40 41173-308                  [[
[[                      fax:   +49 40 41173-298                  [[
[[ martin.schultz@dkrz.de                                        [[
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
; Object definition 
;-------------------------------------------------------------
;+
; NAME:
;    %NAME%
;
; PURPOSE:
;
; CATEGORY:
;
; PROPERTIES:
;    public properties:
;    private properties:
;
; METHODS:
;    public methods:
;       GetProperty
;       SetProperty
;       Show
;       Init
;       Cleanup
;    private methods:
;    
; DESCRIPTION:
;
; INTERFACES:
;
; SIDE EFFECTS:
;
; MODIFICATION HISTORY:
;-
; Copyright
;-------------------------------------------------------------


; **********************************************************************
; **********************************************************************
; Get Properties of %NAME%
;
pro %NAME%::GetProperty,    $
                          _ref_extra=extra

   ; Fill in lines along
   ; if arg_present(KEYWORD) then KEYWORD = self.KEYWORD

end  ;  %NAME%::GetProperty


; **********************************************************************
; **********************************************************************
; Set Properties of %NAME%
;
pro %NAME%::SetProperty,        $
                          _ref_extra=extra

   ; Fill in lines along
   ; if n_elements(KEYWORD) eq 1 then self.KEYWORD = fix(KEYWORD)

end  ;  %NAME%::SetProperty


; **********************************************************************
; **********************************************************************
; Display %NAME%
;
pro %NAME%::Show

end  ;  %NAME%::Show


; **********************************************************************
; **********************************************************************
; Cleanup method
;
pro %NAME%::CleanUp


   print,'%NAME%::CleanUp'

end  ;  %NAME%::CleanUp


; **********************************************************************
; **********************************************************************
; Initialization method
;
function %NAME%::Init,   $
                          _ref_extra=extra


   success = 0

   ; check inputs and set defaults 
   ; Fill in lines along
   ; if n_elements(KEYWORD) eq 0 then KEYWORD = 0L
   ; self.KEYWORD = KEYWORD
   ; success = 1

   return,success

end  ;  %NAME%::Init


; **********************************************************************
; **********************************************************************
; Structure definition
;
pro %NAME%__Define

   temp = {%NAME%,             $
             dummy:-1   }

end  ;  %NAME%__Define