New
From Xojo Documentation
Used to create new instances of objects at runtime.
Usage
The New operator has these forms:
Standard Class Instantiation
objectReference = New ClassName [(param1, param2,...)]
Var objectReference As New ClassName [(param1, param2,...)]
| Part | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| objectReference | Must be a type of ClassName | Required; variable/property of type ClassName, its superclasses or implemented interfaces. |
| ClassName | A class name | Required. Any available class with a non-private constructor. |
Instantiating New Controls from a Control Set
objectReference = New ControlSetName
Var objectReference As New ControlSetName
| Part | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| objectReference | A desktop control type | Variable of type of the ControlSetName. |
| ControlSetName | Object name | The name of a control set in the current window. (Desktop Only) |
Notes
The constructor for a class is called whenever you create a new instance of it with the New statement.
The New operator can appear as a modifier on a Var statement that creates a new object. This usage takes the place of two lines of code: The Var statement that creates the object and a separate New statement that instantiates the object.
The New operator can only create a new instance of a control that already exists in the window or a menu item that already exists on a menu (desktop only). The object name acts as a template for creating the new instance of the control or menu item. The New operator works only if the control or menu item is in a control set. The object reference variable must be defined as the template's class type, one of its superclasses or an interface that it implements. For more information, refer to UserGuide:Desktop Control Sets.
Creating new instances of all other types of objects
The New operator can be used to create a new instance of any type of class (for controls see the notes above). The object reference must be defined as the class type, one of its superclasses or an interface that it implements.
Constructors
When you create a new object, you will sometimes want to perform some sort of initialization on the object. The constructor is a mechanism for doing this. A class’s constructor is the method that will be executed automatically when an instance of the class is created.
You write a constructor for a custom class by creating a new method for the class and naming it "Constructor". The drop-down list for the Method name field suggests this name and the names of all other methods that can be overridden. There can be multiple overloaded constructors.
When you create a constructor for any subclass, the Code Editor automatically inserts code that calls the constructor for its super class using the Super keyword. If there is more than one constructor, it inserts calls to all of them. This is because the subclass’s constructor overrides its super class’s constructor but the new subclass may not initialize itself correctly without a call to the super class’s constructor. You can edit the inserted calls in the event that this assumption is incorrect.
For example, this constructor creates a DateTime instance and sets it to the passed date. The parameters are year, month, and day.
If the parameters were omitted, the new date would be set to the current date.
Sample Code
This code creates a new instance of a PushButton called "Pushbutton1" then sets its caption. Add a PushButton to a window and name it PushButton1. Add it to a Control Set and set its Caption property to "Original".
In its Action event, create a clone of the pushbutton and enter this code
When you run the application and click the button, it creates a new pushbutton to its right that is the second element of the control set. You can tell by its caption that it is the new pushbutton that was created in the Action event of the original PushButton. Read the Desktop Control Sets topic to learn more about this.
This code creates and then displays a new instance of a Window called "AboutBox":
This code creates a new instance of a MenuItem called "WindowItem1":
This code creates a new instance of a MessageDialog box:
It is equivalent to the following two lines:
This code uses the MenuItem constructor to create a new menuitem in the Edit menu and assign it its Name property:
Constructors
This code creates a Date instance and sets it to 22 September, 2025, 9:15AM.
The following code is from the example project "Custom Drag" in the Examples folder. The main window consists of a Label control and a TextArea. The user can drag the text in the Label into the TextArea. This is not possible by default but the ability to drag the text is enabled by the code in the MouseDown event of the Label. It is:
d = New DragItem(Self, Me.Left, Me.Top, Me.Width, Me.Height)
d.Text = Me.Value
d.Drag
The following code creates a new FolderItem. You can create a copy of a FolderItem by passing the FolderItem to be copied to the constructor. The result is a copy of the passed FolderItem rather than a reference to it.
The following code creates a new Picture instance that has an alpha channel (i.e., a transparency parameter).
Var height As Integer = 2000
// Creates new picture
Var pic As New Picture(width, height)
This constructor creates a Picture object that will mirror the content that is drawn into a Canvas in its Paint event.
See Also
Var command; Nil datatype; Constructor; UserGuide:Object-Oriented Programming, UserGuide:Desktop Control Sets topics