.TH "symbol" 3 "Oct 12, 2003"
.SH Symbol
.PP
.B
Inherits from:

CAObject
.SH Class Description
.PP
Maturity Index : Relatively Mature
.PP
For symbols created with the factory method 
.B
str:
, the first character of the 
.B
str
of the symbol object must be a letter\&.  Subsequent characters can be letters or digits\&.  Whitespace or control characters are not allowed\&.
.PP
Using the factory method 
.B
chars:count:
, it\&'s possible to use arbitrary C strings as the value of the symbol; in this case 
.B
Symbol
just acts like a regular Objective C String class\&.  If you intend to use the object as a mathematical symbol, it\&'s not advised to do this as you might incorrectly interpret spaces etc\&. as mathematical operators\&.
.SH Method types
.PP 
.B
Creation
.RS 3
.br
* str:
.br
* chars:count:
.br
* copy
.br
* deepCopy
.br
* release
.RE
.PP 
.B
Identity
.RS 3
.br
* str
.br
* str:
.br
* hash
.br
* isEqual:
.br
* compare:
.br
* isLetter
.RE
.PP 
.B
Printing
.RS 3
.br
* printOn:
.RE
.SH Methods
.PP 
str:
.RS 1
+
.B
str
:(STR)
.I
aString
.RE
.PP
Creates a new symbol, and sets its value to a copy of 
.I
aString
\&.  Returns 
.B
nil
if 
.I
aString
is not suited as value for a symbol (when the first letter is not a letter, for instance)\&.
.PP 
chars:count:
.RS 1
+
.B
chars
:(STR)
.I
aBuffer
.B
count
:(int)
.I
numChars
.RE
.PP
Creates a new symbol, and sets its value to a copy of the first 
.I
numChars
characters of 
.I
aBuffer
\&.  For this method, there are no restrictions on the C string being used\&.
.PP 
copy
.RS 1
-
.B
copy
.RE
.PP
Returns a new symbol object\&.  Copies the string\&.
.PP 
deepCopy
.RS 1
-
.B
deepCopy
.RE
.PP
Equivalent to 
.B
copy
\&.
.PP 
release
.RS 1
-
.B
release
.RE
.PP
Frees the memory for the string value\&.
.PP 
str
.RS 1
- (
STR
)
.B
str
.RE
.PP
Returns the string value of the symbol\&.  The first character is a letter, subsequent characters can be alphanumeric\&.
.PP 
str:
.RS 1
-
.B
str
:(STR)
.I
aString
.RE
.PP
Creates a new symbol, and sets its value to a copy of 
.I
aString
\&.  Returns 
.B
nil
if 
.I
aString
is not suited as value for a symbol\&.
.PP 
hash
.RS 1
- (
unsigned
)
.B
hash
.RE
.PP
Returns a hash value based upon the string\&.
.PP 
isEqual:
.RS 1
- (
BOOL
)
.B
isEqual
:
.I
b
.RE
.PP
Returns YES if the str\&'s of both objects are equal\&.
.PP 
compare:
.RS 1
- (
int
)
.B
compare
:
.I
b
.RE
.PP
Compares the str\&'s of both objects\&.
.PP 
isLetter
.RS 1
- (
BOOL
)
.B
isLetter
.RE
.PP
Whether the symbol consists of just one character (and hence, is a letter, not a digit)\&.
.PP 
printOn:
.RS 1
-
.B
printOn
:(IOD)
.I
aFile
.RE
.PP
Prints the symbol to 
.I
aFile
\&.