[F8] Instance Reference from within a custom class

I created a custom class, ThisTest:

Code:

---

class ThisTest{
        function ThisTest(){
                trace("This: " + this);
        }
}

---

and put the following code on the frame of a new fla.

Code:

---

import ThisTest;
anInstance = new ThisTest();

---

the output window shows:

Code:

---

This: [object Object]

---

instead of what I expected:

Code:

---

This: anInstance

---

Duh, generic objects return Object to normal this calls...

anInstance is just a reference(pointer) to the myTest object you have created in memory.

The object instance itself does not have a reference back to the reference (pointer) aInstance

as an anology consider a dog called Toby. Toby is just a reference (name) by which you can tell the dog to do things. The dog itself is not Toby, (its just an object, if u can call it that).

Hope that makes a bit of sense :)

so is there a way within a class to reference that specific instance of the class? Or to tell some third party that that instance exists? or, does it all have to happen externally to the class definition, where the instance was created?

Are you just creating one instance of the class? If so you can create a static property of the class that references the object.

Code:

---

class ThisTest{

        public static var instance:ThisTest;

        function ThisTest(){
                ThisTest.instance = this;
        }
}

---

my hope was to be able to create multiple instances, so I would be able to re-use the code.

However, I now believe that I was chasing down the wrong problem. And creating a reference to an object is not my issue.

SW thanks for your help.

your welcome :)