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> From: David Blache <microcsm@...> 
> To: <futurebasic@...> 
> Subject: Re: [FB] Fear and Loathing Guide 
> Date: Mon, 1 Dec 97 23:22:34 -0600 
> 
>Not sure what you are addressing as far as meta-info goes, but FB^3 
>objects do have multiple inheritance capability in that a class method 
>can inherit from any of its superclasses.  Is that what you are asking?
>
Not quite. In smalltalk, a class is actually an instance of another class
(called a meta-class) so classes are actually first-class objects with
behaviour, etc. (Java has something like this, but not as extensive).
With this type of facility, you can "reflect on" or determine the attributes
and behaviour a class has at runtime, and even make additions and
modifications. It's very useful when building dynamic systems, 
especially ones that have an uptime constraint of 24-by-7.
Anyway, one more question: I think Greg Neagle mentioned that he
believed the first release of FB^3 didn't really support encapsulation
(all data members are public). Can you comment on this?
Thanks (as usual) for the info...
KeithB
______________________________________________
Keith Bagley
Director of Technology
X-Act! Software
keithb@...