Proposed new SimObject class system.

[lukaspj]

Hey, I've been learning a bit more about C# and I have a new proposal for the SimObject system, to replace this syntax:

SimObject sim = 42;
sim["Fish"] = 2;
Console.WriteLine(sim["Fish"] + sim.mID);

SimObject sim = (dynamic)new TorqueID(42);
sim.Dynamics.Fish = 2;
Console.WriteLine(sim.Dynamics.Fish + sim.mID);

It's more verbose but I think it's clearer what happens. Also, this has the advantage of not having to create implicit converters for each of the inherited classes.

Using:

   class TorqueID : DynamicObject
   {
      private int mID;

      public TorqueID(int ID)
      {
         mID = ID;
      }

      public override bool TryConvert(ConvertBinder binder, out object result)
      {
         if (binder.Type.GetConstructor(new Type[] { typeof(int) }) != null)
         {
            result = Activator.CreateInstance(binder.Type, mID);
            return true;
         }
         result = null;
         return false;
      }
   }

Makes the TorqueID class implicitly convert to any class with a constructor of format: "public C(int id)" which it's fair to assume that each SimObject will have. Which means the boiler plate code for SimObject is nothing more than:

   class SimObject
   {
      public int mID;
      public dynamic Dynamics;

      public SimObject(int ID)
      {
         mID = ID;
         Dynamics = new DynamicVariables(mID);
      }
   }
   class DerivedSimObject : SimObject
   {
      public DerivedSimObject(int ID) 
         : base(ID)
      {
      }
   }

Ofc, this introduces dynamics which means types will be evaluated at run-time. But this makes sense when you consider that it's modelled to match TorqueScript. You can find a Gist of a minimal running example here.

I'm not completely done with rethinking the SimObjects, I'm gonna look at object instancing next.

Thoughts?