Question regarding package

Question regarding package

[joe Tsai]

Hi,

I have a newbie question.

for example if I wrote generic package call Gen_List.  I can use it with the
following ways,

package Stuff is newGen_List(Integer);
use Stuff;

the question is that if I can assign a package as type?

type thing is
  .....

Thanks

Joe

Re: Question regarding package

[Marin D. Condic]

joe Tsai wrote:
> for example if I wrote generic package call Gen_List.  I can use it with the
> following ways,
> 
> package Stuff is newGen_List(Integer);
> use Stuff;
> 
> the question is that if I can assign a package as type?
> 
> type thing is
>   .....
> 
Your question is not 100% clear - maybe you should explain a little more
about what you want to accomplish & we can help point the way.

In general, the answer to your question is "no". A package is a
conglomeration of types, objects, subprograms and tasks. Making it
generic does not really change this. A type is a definition of how to
interpret raw memory. (O.K. not *strictly* accurate, but good enough for
this purpose.) How could a type contain actual memory for objects?
Declaring new objects of that type starts getting you into a paradox of
sorts.

You might think of a generic package instantiation as a kind of object
declaration. The generic package is similar to a type and the instance
is similar to an object - a specific occurence of the general
definition. 

If you had something else in mind, post more detail and I'm sure someone
will be glad to point out that I don't know what I'm talking about. :-)

MDC
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