Initializing a Class with parameters

One of the major shortcomings of VBScript Classes is the fact that you can't do this:

 Class Person
     Private m_Age
     Private m_Name
 
     Public Sub Class_Initialize(Name, Age)
         m_Name = Name
         m_Age = Age
     End Sub
     
     Public Property Get Name 
         Name = m_Name
     End Property
     Public Property Let Name(v)
         m_Name = v
     End Property
     
     Public Property Get Age
         Age = m_Age
     End Property
     Public Property Let Age(v)
         m_Age = v
     End Property
 End Class
 
 Dim TheDude : Set TheDude = New Person("John",40)
 

Looks perfectly reasonable, but try it and you'll get the following error:

Microsoft VBScript compilation error: Class initialize or terminate do not have arguments

So what is a person to do if they want a little OOP in their VBS? After a bit of hackery, I've come up with a somewhat decent alternative I think:

 Class Person
     Private m_Age
     Private m_Name
 
     Public Default Function Init(Name, Age)
         m_Name = Name
         m_Age = Age
         
         Set Init = Me
     End Function
     
     Public Property Get Name 
         Name = m_Name
     End Property
     Public Property Let Name(v)
         m_Name = v
     End Property
     
     Public Property Get Age
         Age = m_Age
     End Property
     Public Property Let Age(v)
         m_Age = v
     End Property
 End Class
 
 Dim TheDude : Set TheDude = (New Person)("John",40)
 

Have an opinion on this hackish pattern?

I learned something like this from a contribution of Justin Piper to the
microsoft.public.scripting.vbscript newsgroup. It's a way to get something
like constructors with parameters in VBScript; but instead of using the
Default feature of VBScript, I'd write plain init* functions (as much as
I need) and call them like

   Dim TheDude : Set TheDude = New Person.init("John",40)

Sorry for the late response, but since you were asking for opinions ...

When I have the choice between

Set foo = (New Bar)(23, 42)

and

Set foo = New Bar.Init(23, 42)

I'd prefer the former. If you need more than a single set of initialization parameters, you still have the option of using additional Init*() methods and falling back to the latter style.

I wouldn't worry too much about hackish-ness, because without real c'tor/d'tor, polymorphism or inheritance, VBScript classes are hackish anyway.

In my opinion, there are two cons against the 'use the default function' strategy:

1. a class with a default init method can't have a default property ("Microsoft VBScript compilation error: Cannot have multiple default property/method in a Class")
2. If you (must) fall back to the explicit init*() method(s), your code mixes two different styles of object construction

and - as far as I can see - not a single pro.

ehvbs
1. a class with a default init method can't have a default property ("Microsoft VBScript compilation error: Cannot have multiple default property/method in a Class")

True. But in a situation where you need something else to be the Default for the class, you'd make that the Default and fall back to using .Init() for initialization.

ehvbs
2. If you (must) fall back to the explicit init*() method(s), your code mixes two different styles of object construction

Of course you wouldn't mix them. If multiple .Init*() methods are required, one would use .Init*() for every instantiation. Everything else would indeed be bad style.

ehvbs
and - as far as I can see - not a single pro.

Perhaps it's just me, but I find "(New Bar)(a,b)" better readable than "New Bar.Init(a,b)". Unless one of the two issues you outlined applies, I'd prefer the "short" version.