Using Variables in Application Classes

Variables are declared after the class definition (the end-class statement) before anything else. After you have declared a variable, you can use it anywhere in your program.

class Example
   method Example_M1(&par As string);
end-class;

Global boolean &b;

method Example_M1
   /+ &par as String +/
   &b = False;
end-method;

A private instance variable is private to the class, not just to the object instance. For example, consider a linked-list class where one instance needs to update the pointer in another instance. Another example is the following class declaration:

class Example private instance number &Num; end-class;

A method of Example could reference another instance of the Example &Num instance variable as:

&X = &SomeOtherExample.Num;

Avoid making every instance-scoped variable a public property. You should consider each variable individually and decide if it belongs in the public interface or not. If it does, decide if the variable warrants get or set modifiers and therefore should be a public property. If the variable only serves internal purposes to the class, it should be declared as a private instance variable.

PeopleSoft recommends avoiding global variables in application classes unless there is a situation where no other code works. Generally, an application class should not know about anything scoped outside of its instance. There are exceptions, since not all application classes should be standalone. For example, an application class that interacts with the Component Buffer must know about the Component Buffer objects.

PeopleSoft recommends against overriding of variables and of properties.

Since instance variables are private in scope, you cannot access them in subclasses, but you can redeclare them in subclasses. The same is true of public properties; you can even explicitly access the overridden or overriding property. However, overriding is not recommended.