Object oriented method management system and software for managing class method names in a computer system

摘要

A method, system and program for effectively managing class method names by collecting representations of all of the names and additional supporting information in a single data structure. Management is accomplished by the operation of an algorithm in the memory of a processor which employs two mechanisms. First, the class method procedure tables are initialized by class specific procedures. This allows applications to access the methods without requiring externalization of the method means. The information provided by the specific procedures is retained by the class object and is accessible via class methods whenever the information is required. Second, any additional supporting information for methods, in particular the offset in the method procedure table for each method, is recorded in a single externally named data structure. The combination of the two mechanisms eliminates the requirement of external names on a per method basis.