System and method for supporting complex objects in an object oriented computing environment

摘要

A Complex Object class is provided for grouping hierarchically unrelated objects, i.e. objects which are unrelated to each other as parent and child objects, into Complex Objects in an object oriented computing environment. Each Complex Object includes a Complex Object Member frame, containing pointers to associated hierarchically unrelated objects, and Complex Object methods for performing actions on the hierarchically unrelated objects as a group. Accordingly, an object manager can send action messages to the Complex Objects to perform actions on the associated hierarchically unrelated objects using the associated Complex Object methods. As a result, customized programming for defining and utilizing Complex Objects is greatly reduced.