AppDen

With the advent of MooTools 1.2.2 comes the ability to mark Class methods as private protected. Let’s take a look at some code.

var Person = new Class({

  initialize: function(name){
    this.name = name;
  },

  secret: function(){
    return 'I sometimes like girly drinks';
  }.protect(),  // <== MAGIC SAUCE

  describe: function(){
    return "Hi, I'm {name}. {secret}. I kid, I kid.".substitute({
      name: this.name,
      secret: this.secret()
    });
  }

});

var scott = new Person('Scott');

Notice the protect call on the secret method. It prevents outsiders from calling that method and believing false facts about that person.

scott.secret();
The method “secret” cannot be called.

It can, however, be called from within an another method.

scott.describe();
Hi, I’m Scott. I sometimes like girly drinks. I kid, I kid.

There you have it — a cool, new, undocumented feature available now in MooTools 1.2.2!

As I mentioned in my previous article, I have a working implementation of a Privates mutator (to privatize variables) for the latest version of MooTools, but I am waiting to see how post-initialization mutators will look in More. It’s something I’ve discussed at length with Aaron Newton, and hopefully will be available soon.