Dear moderators,
this is a generic question which is independent of http://scn.sap.com/thread/3582195, so PLEASE keep this open.
Hello everybody,
I am not sure what is the most appropriate/robust way to change attributes of a class by the class' own private methods - just change them or use a parameter? Simple example:
CLASS sample_class DEFINITION.
PUBLIC SECTION.
METHODS main.
PRIVATE SECTION
DATA attribute TYPE c.
METHODS:
meth1,
meth2 CHANGING ch_attribute TYPE c.
...
ENDCLASS.
CLASS sample_class IMPLEMENTATION.
METHOD main.
me->meth1.
me->meth2( attribute ).
METHOD meth1.
me->attribute = 'X'.
ENDMETHOD.
METHOD meth2.
ch_attribute = 'X'.
ENDMETHOD.
ENDCLASS.
Would you prefer meth1 or meth2 or does one of the solutions even raise problems that I don't see? Of course, if a method changes lots of attributes it is impractical to use parameters, but besides that?
created by Tomas Buryanek in ABAP Development
Difference would be third method:
set_attribute IMPORTING i_value TYPE c.
...
METHOD set_attribute.
me->attribute = i_value.
ENDMETHOD.
...
lo=>set_attribute( 'A' ).
which is example of classic "setter" method.
For this topic check theory and usage of encapsulation OOP principle. It will help understand 