A method is a concept from object-oriented development. It is some logic that executes in the context of an object. You should consult an object-oriented reference for details if you are unsure of its meaning. The following discussion is confined to aspects of methods that are specific to Agile Business Suite.
Method invocation
Methods can be called explicitly by name in logic, or implicitly as part of a processing cycle.
Built-in methods
Agile Business Suite provides a number of built-in framework methods for certain model entities. Some these methods occupy specific roles within the Agile Business Suite processing cycles. Others are available as utility functions.
The following table lists a summary of some of the more significant built-in methods. Refer to Built-In Methods and Method Reference for a comprehensive list of built-in methods.
| Method | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|
| StartUp | Segment | Called on segment start up. |
| CloseDown | Segment | Called on segment shut down. |
| ProcessMsg | Segment | Performs the segment cycle. |
| Construct | Ispec or event | Called before the class's user interface is displayed. |
| Prepare | Ispec or event | Called before the class's Main method is called. |
| Edit | Copy ispec | Called during the validation phase of the Copy processing cycle. The copy ispec's Main method is not called during this phase. |
| Main | Ispec, event, or report frame 0, migrated as Main | Called after the class's Prepare method (if it exists) is called. |
| Load | Class with persistent attributes | Called to load a class's persistent attributes. |
| Store | Class with persistent attributes | Called to store a class' persistent attributes. |
| Purge | Class with persistent attributes | Called to physically delete the most recently accessed class record from the database. |
| Update | Class with persistent attributes | Called to update the current record (last read into the instance). |
Note: You can override some of the above built-in methods. The overridable built-in methods can be identified by checking its IsFinal property. If this property is set to False, you can override the method and if it is True you cannot. You can also check which methods are overridable by opening the Overrides tab for a class. Methods that can be overriden are shown in the Add New Override list. You cannot change the Visibility property of a built-in method or any method that overrides a built-in method.
Refer to the Agile Business Suite Developer Online Help for more information on entering logic.
The default window is Logic. Refer to Method Properties for properties applicable to Methods.