Systems, methods and computer program products for generating and validating user defined object classes in an object oriented programming environment after build time

摘要

User-created object classes may be generated after build-time without requiring modification to and recompiling of the program code. Every class within an object oriented programming environment is assigned a unique class identifier. Every class within a particular hierarchy is assigned a selector identifier. The exemplary class comprises a registration table having a vendor class portion and a user class portion. Classes defined at build-time are registered in the vendor portion of the registration table. User-created object classes are assigned selector identifiers having values of existing classes. These selector identifiers, along with the respective name of the user-created object class, are registered in the user class portion of the registration table. The instantiation of objects from user-created object classes is handled by searching the user class portion of the registration table prior to the vendor class portion. Object validation is achieved by searching the subclass table of the object class for the appropriate class identifier.