Teach Yourself Borland C++ in 14 Days - portal

320 Day 9
NOTE
NOTE
If you invoke the Object Repository when you already have a project
open, you will see an additional tab in the Object Repository. The tab
will have the name of your project on it. Clicking on this tab will
display a page that contains all the objects currently in the project. This
allows you to quickly reuse a form or other object by simply selecting it
from the Object Repository.
Across the bottom of each page you see three radio buttons. These buttons, labeled Copy,
Inherit, and Use, determine how the selected object is implemented.
Depending on the object selected, some (or all) of the radio buttons
may be disabled. For example, all three radio buttons are always grayed
out when the New page is displayed. This is because Copy is the only
option available for objects on this page, so C++Builder grays out all
choices and applies the Copy option automatically.
Copy
When you choose the Copy radio button, C++Builder creates a copy of the object selected
and places it in your application. At that point you are free to modify the object in any way
you choose. The original object in the Repository is not altered when you make changes to
the new object in your application.
To illustrate, let’s say you had an often-used form (a form in the traditional sense, not in the
C++Builder sense) printed on paper—a work schedule, for instance. Let’s say that you
wanted to fill in that form with scheduling information. You wouldn’t modify the original
form because it would then be unusable for future reuse. Instead, you would put the original
form in the copy machine, make a copy, and then return the original to some location for
safekeeping. You would then fill out the copy of the form as needed. Making a copy of an
object in the Repository works in exactly the same way. You are free to modify the copy in
any way you choose while the original remains safely tucked away. Making a copy is the safest
method of object usage.