In MQL5, the keyword ‘this’ refers to the current instance of an object within a class. It allows you to access members and methods of the current object. When you’re working with object-oriented programming in MQL5, you often need to differentiate between the current instance and other instances of the same class. Here’s a brief overview of how ‘this’ is used:
- Accessing Object Members: You can use ‘this’ to access member variables and methods within the current object. For example:
class MyClass {
int myVariable;
void SetVariable(int value) {
this.myVariable = value;
}
int GetVariable() {
return this.myVariable;
}
}
In the above example, ‘this.myVariable’ refers to the member variable ‘myVariable’ of the current instance of MyClass.
- Passing Object References: ‘this’ can also be used to pass a reference to the current object as a parameter to methods or functions. This is useful when you need to pass the current object to another function or method. For example:
class MyClass {
void SomeMethod() {
AnotherMethod(this);
}
void AnotherMethod(MyClass& obj) {
// Do something with obj
}
}
Here, ‘this’ is passed as a reference to the AnotherMethod function, allowing it to operate on the current object.
- Constructor Initialization: In constructors, ‘this’ is used to differentiate between parameters with the same name as member variables. For example:
class MyClass {
int myVariable;
MyClass(int myVariable) {
this.myVariable = myVariable;
}
}
In this case, ‘this.myVariable’ refers to the member variable ‘myVariable’, while ‘myVariable’ refers to the parameter passed to the constructor.
Overall, ‘this’ is a crucial keyword in MQL5 for working with object-oriented programming, allowing you to interact with the current instance of a class effectively.