General Info: Member Field

Also known as a Class Field.

A class variable defined with a specific class visibility, usually private visibility. A member property is different than a member field. A member property uses a member field to store values through accessor methods (getters and setters). For example, it is common to use a private member field to store the current value of a property. The current values of all the class member fields is the current state of the object.

Languages Focus: Member Field

What modifiers apply to member fields, if any? Typical member field modifiers include scope modifiers (private, protected, etc.) and read-only. Can you initialize the value of a member field when declared ensuring a default value?

TCyborg = class(TObject)
private
  FSerialNumber: String='A100';
public
  FCyborgName: String;
  FCyborgAge: Integer=0;
  FSeriesID: Integer=100;
end;

Static Data

The following is an example of how to create static data in Delphi using a  unit variable and a class function to get the value (you could also use a class procedure to set the value).

• Delphi Instance Counter (static data example)