A ClassFactory instance is a "factory object" which Flex uses
to generate instances of another class, each with identical properties.
You specify a generator class when you construct
the factory object.
Then you set the properties property on the factory object.
Flex uses the factory object to generate instances by calling
the factory object's newInstance() method.
The newInstance() method creates a new instance
of the generator class, and sets the properties specified
by properties in the new instance.
If you need to further customize the generated instances,
you can override the newInstance() method.
The ClassFactory class implements the IFactory interface.
Therefore it lets you create objects that can be assigned to properties
of type IFactory, such as the itemRenderer property of a List control
or the itemEditor property of a DataGrid control.
For example, suppose you write an item renderer class named
ProductRenderer containing
a showProductImage property which can be true
or false.
If you want to make a List control use this renderer, and have each renderer
instance display a product image, you would write the following code:
var productRenderer:ClassFactory = new ClassFactory(ProductRenderer);
productRenderer.properties = { showProductImage: true };
myList.itemRenderer = productRenderer;
The List control calls the newInstance() method on the
itemRenderer to create individual instances of ProductRenderer,
each with showProductImage property set to true.
If you want a different List control to omit the product images, you use
the ProductRenderer class to create another ClassFactory
with the properties property set to
{ showProductImage: false }.
Using the properties property to configure the instances
can be powerful, since it allows a single generator class to be used
in different ways.
However, it is very common to create non-configurable generator classes
which require no properties to be set.
For this reason, MXML lets you use the following syntax:
Creates a new instance of the generator class,
with the properties specified by properties.
ClassFactory
Property Detail
generator
property
public var generator:Class
Language Version :
ActionScript 3.0
Product Version :
Flex 3
Runtime Versions :
Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1
The Class that the newInstance() method uses
to generate objects from this factory object.
properties
property
public var properties:Object = null
Language Version :
ActionScript 3.0
Product Version :
Flex 3
Runtime Versions :
Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1
An Object whose name/value pairs specify the properties to be set
on each object generated by the newInstance() method.
For example, if you set properties to
{ text: "Hello", width: 100 }, then every instance
of the generator class that is generated by calling
newInstance() will have its text set to
"Hello" and its width set to
100.
The default value is null.
Constructor Detail
ClassFactory
()
Constructor
public function ClassFactory(generator:Class = null)
Language Version :
ActionScript 3.0
Product Version :
Flex 3
Runtime Versions :
Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1
Constructor.
Parameters
generator:Class (default = null) — The Class that the newInstance() method uses
to generate objects from this factory object.
Method Detail
newInstance
()
method
public function newInstance():*
Language Version :
ActionScript 3.0
Product Version :
Flex 3
Runtime Versions :
Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1
Creates a new instance of the generator class,
with the properties specified by properties.
This method implements the newInstance() method
of the IFactory interface.