How to call a found objects method?

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#1

Using a metatable, i can’t see to call an objects method:

Block = {}
Block.__index = Block

function Block.new()
	
	local newblock = {}
	setmetatable(newblock, Block)
	
	newblock.part = Instance.new("Part")
	newblock.part.Name="myPart"
	newblock.part.Position = Vector3.new(-10,0,-10)
	newblock.part.Parent = workspace
	return newblock	
end

function Block:ChangeColour()	
	self.Color = Color3.fromRGB(190, 183, 80)
end
	
return Block

-- server script:
local ServerStorage = game:GetService("ServerStorage")
local Block = require(ServerStorage.Block)

local block1 = Block.new()

local b=workspace:FindFirstChild("myPart")

-- this causes an error: ChangeColour is not a valid member of Part "Workspace.myPart" 
b:ChangeColour()
#2

Ok, so I see 2 mistakes here.

First, this is bad practice since there might be multiple parts of the same name in the workspace.

local b=workspace:FindFirstChild("myPart")

It’s better to do this instead

local b = block1.part

Now you are certain you got the right part :grin:

Secondly

b:ChangeColour()

This is wrong, because you are referring to a part and then calling ChangeColour on it. This is not possible.

I think you meant this instead, but got a little confused:

block1:ChangeColour()

Edit:

After taking a even more thorough look, I realized you are changing self.Color. I get where this is coming from, but ‘self’ is referring to the newblock table, not the part. So do this instead:

function Block:ChangeColour()	
	self.part.Color = Color3.fromRGB(190, 183, 80)
end
#3

The change colour function is arbitrary I accept the code in there was wrong, but I’m just trying to figure out how to get the the object in the table from the part so I can call the methods on the part.

And yes I could use block1 but you may not always have that reference - you may just have the part from a collision event for example.

how do I reference the wrapper object and hence its methods once I have the part?

#4

You simply can’t. But you could have a dictionary in your code where the keys are the Parts and the values are the ‘objects’.