Symbol(3poc)

NAME

Symbol - Portable Object Compiler Symbol class

Symbol

Inherits from:

CAObject

Class Description

Maturity Index : Relatively Mature

For symbols created with the factory method str: , the first character of the str of the symbol object must be a letter. Subsequent characters can be letters or digits. Whitespace or control characters are not allowed.

Using the factory method chars:count: , it's possible to use arbitrary C strings as the value of the symbol; in this case Symbol just acts like a regular Objective C String class. If you intend to use the object as a mathematical symbol, it's not advised to do this as you might incorrectly interpret spaces etc. as mathematical operators.

Method types

Creation

Identity

Printing

Methods

str:

Creates a new symbol, and sets its value to a copy of aString . Returns nil if aString is not suited as value for a symbol (when the first letter is not a letter, for instance).

chars:count:

Creates a new symbol, and sets its value to a copy of the first numChars characters of aBuffer . For this method, there are no restrictions on the C string being used.

copy

Returns a new symbol object. Copies the string.

deepCopy

Equivalent to copy .

release

Frees the memory for the string value.

str

Returns the string value of the symbol. The first character is a letter, subsequent characters can be alphanumeric.

str:

Creates a new symbol, and sets its value to a copy of aString . Returns nil if aString is not suited as value for a symbol.

hash

Returns a hash value based upon the string.

isEqual:

Returns YES if the str's of both objects are equal.

compare:

Compares the str's of both objects.

isLetter

Whether the symbol consists of just one character (and hence, is a letter, not a digit).

printOn:

Prints the symbol to aFile .