Question

let’s say I have a class:

public class SomeClass{
    var name:String;
    public function SomeClass(n){
        name = n;
    }
}

If I do var s:SomeClass = SomeClass("test");, it tries to convert a string to SomeClass. How do I prevent it from doing that?

Sorry I’m new to AS3.

Answer 1

You’re missing the new operator:

var s:SomeClass = new SomeClass('test');

---

Unless you use the new operator, there really isn’t a good way to create a Class member in ActionScript. There are some noteable exceptions, however. Array, XML, XMLList, int, uint, Number, String, and Object should almost never use their constructors.

//To get a new array
var a:Array = [/*initial values*/];
// a new Object
var o:Object = {};

In AS, use of the class’s name as function is actually “Cast this to the class”. You can also do this through the as operator. The difference is that as will return null on failure the other means will throw an error:

// I NEED this to be a Foo, so I will force the matter.
var foo:Foo = Foo(otherVariable);

// It would be nice to have this as a Foo, but if it is null, whatever:
var foo:Foo = otherVariable as Foo.