The Building Base Class

The Building Base Class

This section shows the code for the Building base class. Based on the discussion to this point in the chapter, the code is presented in Listing 17.1. (Listing 17.1 leaves out a few things from Table 17.1, just to make the code a little more manageable. You might want to add them after you've read the chapter.)

Listing 17.1 Code for the Building Base Class

 Option Explicit On Option Strict On Public Class Building  ' This is the base class, from which we derive the  ' apartment, commercial, and home classes.  ' =============== Symbolic Constants ================  Private Const APARTMENT As Integer = 0  Private Const COMMERCIAL As Integer = 1  Private Const HOME As Integer = 2  ' ================== Data Members ==================  Private mAddress As String     ' Street address  Private mPrice As Double      ' Purchase price  Private mMonthlyPayment As Double  ' Monthly payment  Private mTaxes As Double      ' Annual taxes  Private mType As Integer      ' Building type  ' ==================== Properties ======================  Public Property Address()      ' Address Property   Get    Return mAddress   End Get   Set(ByVal Value)    mAddress = Value   End Set  End Property  Public Property PurchasePrice()   ' Purchase Price Property   Get    Return mPrice   End Get   Set(ByVal Value)    mPrice = Value   End Set  End Property  Public Property MonthlyPayment()  ' Monthly Payment Property   Get    Return mMonthlyPayment   End Get   Set(ByVal Value)    mMonthlyPayment = Value   End Set  End Property  Public Property Taxes()       ' Property Taxes Property   Get    Return mTaxes   End Get   Set(ByVal Value)    mTaxes = Value   End Set  End Property  Public Property BuildingType()   ' Building Type Property   Get    Return mType   End Get   Set(ByVal Value)    If Value < APARTMENT OrElse Value > HOME Then     mType = -1  ' an error    Else     mType = Value    End If   End Set  End Property  ' ========================== Methods ========================  Protected Sub DisplayBaseInfo()   Dim BldType As String   ' Purpose: To display the base member data   Console.WriteLine("Address: " & mAddress)   Console.WriteLine("Purchase Price: " & FormatMoney(mPrice))   Console.WriteLine("Monthly Payment: " & FormatMoney(mMonthlyPayment))   Console.WriteLine("Property Taxes: " & FormatMoney(mTaxes))   Select Case mType    Case APARTMENT     BldType = "Apartment"    Case COMMERCIAL     BldType = "Commercial"    Case HOME     BldType = "Home"   End Select   Console.WriteLine("Building Type: " & BldType)  End Sub  ' =========================== Helpers =========================  Protected Function FormatMoney(ByVal num As Double) As String   ' Purpose: To format a dollar value   '   ' Argument list:   '  num     A double that is the dollar value to format   '   ' Return value:   '  string   A format dollar value string   Return Format(num, "$##########.00")  End Function End Class 

The code in Listing 17.1 begins by defining several symbolic constants for the three types of investment buildings . Next it defines five Private member variables of the base class. Each of these five definitions is followed by a Public property access method. This means that the member variables may be changed, but only through the class interface provided by the property access methods.

How could you provide data to a class that is not accessible outside its own class? Simple. You declare the data with the Private access specifier , but you do not provide a Public property access method for the data members. If you do this, even a derived class cannot have access to the Private members of the base class.

This is the first line of the Address() property access method:

 Public Property Address()      ' Address Property 

Because the property access method is Public , the Address() property method can be used to change the value of mAddress .

What would happen if you changed the Public keyword to Private ? That would limit the property access method to the Building class itself. Nothing outside the class could then use it. You would not be able to change the mAddress member of the Building class from outside the class because mAddress and its Address() property access method would both be Private . Even derived classes would not have access to mAddress in such a case.

Listing 17.1 provides Public property access methods for all member variables in the Building class. It is important to remember that these Private data members can be changed, but only after an object of the class has been instantiated . Even after the object has been created, the class member data can be changed only through the class interface you provide via the Public property access methods.

The Protected Access Specifier

Two methods are provided in the Building class. The first, DisplayBaseInfo() , is used to display the Building class member values for the current object. You use the Console.WriteLine() method to display the values in the Debug window. The second method, FormatMoney() , is used to display monetary values, each with a dollar sign and two decimal places.

Programmer's Tip

Visual Basic .NET has a function named FormatCurrency() that does the same thing as FormatMoney() . This section simply uses its own method for illustrative purposes.

Note that the DisplayBaseInfo() and FormatMoney() methods use the Protected keyword. Protected is another type of access specifier. However, Protected indicates that the programming element (for example, a data item, a method definition) is accessible from within its own class or a derived class.

When you use the Protected access specifier, the data and methods are usable within their own class or a derived class. If you used the Private access specifier for the DisplayBaseInfo() and FormatMoney() methods, objects of the derived classes would not have access to those methods. Because you want the derived classes to be able to take advantage of these two methods, you need to use the Protected access specifier.