lists@lowfrequency.or

Hopefully there is a very quick answer to this issue, either yes or 

I'm having a lot of trouble setting/retrieving information from a 

Global variable. Specifically, adding string or object properties to 

a Global seems to work just fine, but for some reason I can't attach 

an Array and make it stick. The following code demonstrates this - I 

create a Global object ( asGlobal = new Global("AuthoringSystem") ) 

and then attach an Object to it (SurfaceManager) and attach the 

property "className" to that, and assign that a string value. All is 

good, I can print that to the Max window. But after creating an 

Array (asGlobal.SurfaceManager._surfaces), the Array becomes 

undefined after the function that created it is finished. So I'm 

confused, perhaps I'm making some very dumb mistake (always 

possible), or is there an issue with attaching Arrays to Global 

Code attached below, on Max 4.5.7 on OS X 10.4.6.

/****************** Begin JS file ****************/

// class for managing Surface data objects storage and retrieval

        //internal representation of global SurfaceManager

        asGlobal = new Global("AuthoringSystem");

        if (!asGlobal.SurfaceManager)

            if (debug) post("Creating new SurfaceManagern");

            asGlobal.SurfaceManager = new Object();

            this.sm = asGlobal.SurfaceManager;

            // here's where the problem is - need to attach an Array to Global 

            // put some data in just for testing, otherwise this should be 

            this.sm._surfaces = new Array("poop", "cats");

            this.sm.className = "SurfaceManager";

            post (asGlobal.SurfaceManager._surfaces[0] + "n");

        // this prints out correctly

         if (debug) post("ClassName : " + this.sm.className + "n");

        //this will cause an error showing that _surfaces is undefined, for 

         if (debug) post(this.sm._surfaces[0]);

         this.sm._surfaces.push(s);

// wrapper for SurfaceManager's addSurface()

    for (var n = 0; n < arguments.length; n++) {

// in case we need to re-initialize Global vars (say, for testing)

    var smg = new Global("AuthoringSystem");

Hopefully there is a very quick answer to this issue, either yes or  
no...

I'm having a lot of trouble setting/retrieving information from a  
Global variable.  Specifically, adding string or object properties to  
a Global seems to work just fine, but for some reason I can't attach  
an Array and make it stick.  The following code demonstrates this - I  
create a Global object ( asGlobal = new Global("AuthoringSystem") )  
and then attach an Object to it (SurfaceManager) and attach the  
property "className" to that, and assign that a string value.  All is  
good, I can print that to the Max window.  But after creating an  
Array (asGlobal.SurfaceManager._surfaces), the Array becomes  
undefined after the function that created it is finished.  So I'm  
confused, perhaps I'm making some very dumb mistake (always  
possible), or is there an issue with attaching Arrays to Global  
variables and then reading them back?

/****************** Begin JS file ****************/
var debug = true;

// class for managing Surface data objects storage and retrieval
function SurfaceManager()
{
		//internal representation of global SurfaceManager
		this.sm = null;

		asGlobal = new Global("AuthoringSystem");

		if (!asGlobal.SurfaceManager)
		{
			if (debug) post("Creating new SurfaceManagern");

			asGlobal.SurfaceManager = new Object();
			this.sm = asGlobal.SurfaceManager;

			// here's where the problem is - need to attach an Array to Global  
asGlobal.SurfaceManager
			// put some data in just for testing, otherwise this should be  
"new Array()"
			this.sm._surfaces = new Array("poop", "cats");

			//debugging
			post (asGlobal.SurfaceManager._surfaces[0] + "n");

	 addSurface = function (s)
	 {
		// this prints out correctly
	 	if (debug) post("ClassName : " + this.sm.className + "n");
		//this will cause an error showing that _surfaces is undefined, for  
some reason, but shouldn't be.
	 	if (debug) post(this.sm._surfaces[0]);

// wrapper for SurfaceManager's addSurface()
function addSurface() {
	var args = new Array();

	for (var n = 0; n < arguments.length; n++) {
		args.push(arguments[n]);
	}

// in case we need to re-initialize Global vars (say, for testing)
function init() {
	var smg = new Global("AuthoringSystem");
	smg.SurfaceManager = null;
	sm = new SurfaceManager();
}


global-data-types-issue-with-arrays

So to clarify my question (slightly), the problem isn't the Global 

object itself, but in me trying to create an array that is a property 

of an object, inside a class. That sounds convoluted, so what I mean 

is I have class SurfaceManager-->Object sm-->Array surfaces. No good 

- the Object named sm is fine, as is any other first-level property, 

but its sm->Array property called "surfaces" disappears after the 

So, there's a good reason why I'd want to create an Object that has 

properties in the Global object - to use it as a namespace, so I can 

register classes and store data in it for further use. But if I just 

create a Global and assign a lot of properties to it, what if I 

wanted to clear them out later? It would be a lot easier for me to 

add/remove single Objects to a main Global object, each one 

containing the bunches of properties that I want to make accessible 

Does that make sense? You can certainly do this in Actionscript, and 

Java, but is this a Javascript limitation or a Max js bug? Do I need 

to create an entirely new class for each second-level Object?

So to clarify my question (slightly), the problem isn't the Global  
object itself, but in me trying to create an array that is a property  
of an object, inside a class.  That sounds convoluted, so what I mean  
is I have class SurfaceManager-->Object sm-->Array surfaces.  No good  
- the Object named sm is fine, as is any other first-level property,  
but its sm->Array property called "surfaces" disappears after the  
constructor is called.

So, there's a good reason why I'd want to create an Object that has  
properties in the Global object - to use it as a namespace, so I can  
register classes and store data in it for further use.  But if I just  
create a Global and assign a lot of properties to it, what if I  
wanted to clear them out later? It would be a lot easier for me to  
add/remove single Objects to a main Global object, each one  
containing the bunches of properties that I want to make accessible  
to the rest of the code.

Does that make sense?  You can certainly do this in Actionscript, and  
Java, but is this a Javascript limitation or a Max js bug? Do I need  
to create an entirely new class for each second-level Object?

Hmm... looks like no one knows the answer to this? (queue crickets 

I changed my code to get around it (have to finish this on time), but 

I'm curious if I've overstepped the bounds of js with this one, or if 

I'm simply doing this the hard/wrong way for js.

Hmm... looks like no one knows the answer to this?  (queue crickets  
chirping on the javascript-dev list)

I changed my code to get around it (have to finish this on time), but  
I'm curious if I've overstepped the bounds of js with this one, or if  
I'm simply doing this the hard/wrong way for js.

Probably the delay in answer is that your code is somewhat 

complicated (and actually confusingly organized with redundant 

namings of variables and classes). At least that's why I didn't take 

the time to go through it. I'd recommend asking these questions in 

general terms (rather than w/r/t surface managers, subclasses, etc. 

which don't have to do with the question at hand), or al least strip 

it down to something someone can glance at quickly and answer your 

problem. It appears to me that you may be confused w/r/t object 

oriented programming in JS and/or variable scope.

The following code works for me, calling test set and testgrab from 

two different instances of js, demonstrating that this is possible 

with the global object, but note the subtle distinction in object 

scope and how you can't simply reference the object set to your 

global repository from any js instance. You need to do it through the 

var myrepository = new Global("my_global_repository");

    myrepository.charlie.a = new Array("poop", "cats");

    // this should work from any instance

    myrepository.charlie.a.push("another");

    // this will *only* work from the js instance which called testset()

    // since otherwise "extref" is undefined. perhaps this is your error

    post(myrepository.charlie + "n");

    post(myrepository.charlie.s + "n");

    post(myrepository.charlie.a + "n");

Let me know if you have problems with the above and don't feel that 

it's an adequate demonstration of your problem.

Probably the delay in answer is that your code is somewhat  
complicated (and actually confusingly organized with redundant  
namings of variables and classes). At least that's why I didn't take  
the time to go through it. I'd recommend asking these questions in  
general terms (rather than w/r/t surface managers, subclasses, etc.  
which don't have to do with the question at hand), or al least strip  
it down to something someone can glance at quickly and answer your  
problem. It appears to me that you may be confused w/r/t object  
oriented programming in JS and/or variable scope.

The following code works for me, calling test set and testgrab from  
two different instances of js, demonstrating that this is possible  
with the global object, but note the subtle distinction in object  
scope and how you can't simply reference the object set to your  
global repository from any js instance. You need to do it through the  
global mechanism.

var myrepository = new Global("my_global_repository");
var extref;

function testset()
{
	extref = new Object();
	myrepository.charlie = extref;
	myrepository.charlie.s = "foo";
	myrepository.charlie.a = new Array("poop", "cats");
}

function testgrab()
{
	// this should work from any instance
	myrepository.charlie.a.push("another");

	// this will *only* work from the js instance which called testset()
	// since otherwise "extref" is undefined. perhaps this is your error
	extref.a.push("and another");

	post(myrepository.charlie + "n");
	post(myrepository.charlie.s + "n");
	post(myrepository.charlie.a + "n");
}

Let me know if you have problems with the above and don't feel that  
it's an adequate demonstration of your problem.

Global data types issue with Arrays?