Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
Object-oriented Programming

Defining data members

Variables and other data elements that are defined within the main block of a class are known as its data members. The DEFINE statements for data members include support for an access modifier. The allowable access modifiers (PRIVATE, PROTECTED, or PUBLIC) differ depending on the type of data member. By default, all data members are PRIVATE. For more information on defining data members, see the "Defining data members within a class" section.

Comparison with procedure-based programming

Progress supports data members in classes in much the same way as data elements that you define in the main block of a persistent procedure. However, all data elements in a procedure are implicitly private. Procedures also allow the sharing of global variables among procedures. However, Progress does not allow global variables, which can only be defined and shared among procedures, to be directly accessed by classes.