assign a value to 'this'

[sde]

can you tell it's a java day for me? =)

i have a class called 'agent'

check out this code:

public agent(int agentID){
  agent a = AgentUtility.getAgentByID(agentID);
  this = a;
}

this code won't work because i can't assign a value to 'this' .. is there any way i can do this without having to go through each of 'this' properties and assign the value of 'a' properties?

[Belisarius]

Nope.

[Belisarius]

To be a bit more helpful, I think your problem is a matter of abstraction. You probably don't want to be getting an Agent in this fashion.

[sde]

ok thanks.

i just wanted to be able to instantiate an agent, but all my data handling is in the agent utility class. i think i see your point though. it is a bit redundant.

[joe_bruin]

i think you missed the point. i will spell it out blatantly:

DO NOT attempt to modify the 'this' pointer under any circumstances.
i'm pretty sure that java won't let you do it (but c++ will). it is not a question of style, or even good programming methods, it is a programming error to modify the 'this' pointer.

[sde]

blatent is good. i thought i did this in c#, but i was wrong. i just tried it and it says 'this' is read-only.

thanks