Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
ADM Reference

The need for two different syntaxes

Properties store the current state of the object, so reading and writing them is a high-frequency activity. It pays to optimize high-frequency activities, even when the net gain per operation is small. The pseudo-functions provide that slight optimization, and should be used in code that runs inside a SmartObject. Code that runs outside the Smart world—basic 4GL and Open4GL routines—should use the conventional get/set functions.

Figure 1–2 shows the {get} code reformatted and commented. The {set} code is very similar.

/* {get propname returnvar [ownerhandle]} */ &IF "{3}":U = "":U &THEN               /* if no handle is passed in... */    &IF DEFINED(xp{1}) NE 0 &THEN /* but there is an xp macro defined */ ASSIGN          ghProp = WIDGET-HANDLE(             /* pick up the handle to the */           ENTRY(1,                        /* target proc’s ADM-DATA table */           TARGET-PROCEDURE:ADM-DATA,               CHR(1)))                             ghProp = ghProp:BUFFER-FIELD('{1}':U) /* then pick up the handle */                                              /* to the slot for the prop */          {2} = ghProp:BUFFER-VALUE           /* and finally assign the */                                              /* value in the slot to */                                              /* the prop var passed in */ &ELSE /* and there is no xp macro defined */ {2} = dynamic-function(             "get{1}":U IN TARGET-PROCEDURE)  /* set the prop var by */                                              /* building and firing a call */                                              /* to the ordinary function */ &ENDIF                                 /* end xp-macro-defined */ &ELSE                                  /* a handle was passed in... */ &IF DEFINED(xp{1}) NE 0 &THEN         /* and if there is an xp macro */ ASSIGN         ghProp = WIDGET-HANDLE(           /* pick up the handle to */                 ENTRY(1,                  /* the passed-in handle’s */                  {3}:ADM-DATA,             /* props table */                  CHR(1)))         ghProp = ghProp:BUFFER-FIELD('{1}':U)  /* pick up the handle to */                                           /* the slot for the prop in */                                              /* that table */         {2} = ghProp:BUFFER-VALUE         /* and finally set the variable */                                              /* with contents of that slot */ &ELSE                                  /* but no xp macro defined */ {2} = dynamic-function(             /* set the var by building */              "get{1}":U IN {3})           /* and firing a call to the */                                              /* ordinary function */ &ENDIF                                /* end if-xp-macro-defined */ &ENDIF                                /* end if-no-handle-passed-in */

Figure 1–2: Commented source code of GET pseudo-function