Barney said, "I much prefer a validate() method separate from the individual getters and setters."
Sean pretty much said the same thing. I can understand the reasoning behind these comments and I like the fact that I can wrap up temporary storage of data PLUS validation of that same data, all in one object. That makes it very handy to carry around for multiple purposes. On the other hand, that is where the limitation is, in my mind. Let's say I have a user-related object with the following instance variables: UserBean.cfc ID# SSN BirthDate FirstName LastName Email I also have the setters and getters for each instance variable. These are all string data types. In addition, I have a validate() method that checks, obviously, for valid data. I want to reuse this same user-related CFC for multiple purposes. One use is with a DAO to manage the database operations. This requires me to fill "all" variables and validate them. My other use is to wrap up "some" instance variables, but not all, for a completely different use, but still user related. For example, I only need to pass FirstName, LastName and Email. Rather than create a new bean with only these instance variables, I just want to use "part" of my UserBean CFC. This is all fine until I run the validate() method. Then, it will tell me that ID, SSN and BirthDate are required and/or not of the necessary data type. This leads me back to Roland's comment where he uses a struct as a data object and not an entire CFC. In Roland's case, his struct can't validate itself as a CFC can. Therefore, he must do validation outside of the data struct. On the other hand, a struct can't define itself using an init() like a CFC can. (Unless you write a function that returns a struct with empty keys.) To sum it up, how can I use a bean-type CFC to pass several data elements, validate the data, yet still not "always" require validation? Thanks MAD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:189299 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
