I have been rattling my brains (and occasionally those of my friends) regarding the basic SimulaE Object model, which up to this point has served its purpose. Though the time has come for it to evolve. It can implemented in a simpler manner and I have known this in my mind all along though it hasn't been an issue in the process of designing the parser which has for the most part been satisfactorily completed. Now that my focus has returned to the object model, I feel it a fine time to share that update thus far. Comments are always welcome and most are appreciated.
The fault before was that I broke the objects into the wrong sub classes. Originally I had the parent Object class, and subclasses for Room objects, Exist Objects and Person Objects. This is a horrible idea and leads to unnecessary complexity.
The newest model:
Object (super class)
MovableObject (isa Object)
PortalObject (isa Object, isnota MovableObject)
PortalObjects, hereafter POB are a much more dynamic version of the previous "room" objects. A POB behaves in the following manner(s):
1. Object(s) enter into the object containing said portal.
2. Exits an object when contained therein.
3. Can exit (when specified) to a specific object, though by default exists to the parent container object.
If a MovableObject, hereafter MOB, is not contained within the same container as the POB, POB leads into the container.
If the MOB is contained within the same container as the POB, POB leads out of the container.
By working in this manner, we ensure that the simulation object model more closely mimics the real world, whilst still allowing for exceptions to transpire for non-real world based applications of this group of models as well as anything they may be working on at CERN in Switzerland which breaks our current understanding of physics.
I haven't had time to implement this new set of models yet, but as I write that code, I will be posting the revised Python source.
