AS3: Can I create a new instance of an object but also using it as something to hold the return data?

Question

I apologize if my title is not clear. I mean if I have a class that does something and returns a string, could I do something like this?

example:String = new MyClassThatReturnsStrings(1234);

If I cannot, how do I handle returns for a class? Thanks

Answer 1

A constructor can't return a value. You need to move the calculation that return something in another method other than constructor and after instantiating the class you need to call that method. Like this:

var myClass:MyClass = new MyClass();
var example:String = myClass.methodThatCalculateAndReturn(1234);

You can do this in one line if you don't need the object in anywhere else. Like this:

var example:String = (new MyClass()).methodThatCalculateAndReturn(1234);

Answer 2

As an alternative to taskinoor's answer , you could define the method as static :

public class MyClass
{
    public function formatNumber(number : Number) : String
    {
        return number.toString();
    }
}

var value : String = MyClass.formatNumber(1234);

Or you can skip the class entirely and declare the function globally:

package com.package.name
{
    public function formatNumber(number : Number) : String
    {
        return number.toString();
    }
}

var value : String = formatNumber(1234);