Documentation for Ice 3.5. The latest release is Ice 3.7. Refer to the space directory for other releases.

Slice does not offer a dedicated union construct because it is redundant. By deriving classes from a common base class, you can create the same effect as with a union:

Slice
interface ShapeShifter {
    Shape translate(Shape s, long xDistance, long yDistance);
};

The parameter s of the translate operation can be viewed as a union of two members: a Circle and a Rectangle. The receiver of a Shape instance can use the type ID of the instance to decide whether it received a Circle or a Rectangle. Alternatively, if you want something more along the lines of a conventional discriminated union, you can use the following approach:

Slice
class UnionDiscriminator {
    int d;
};

class Member1 extends UnionDiscriminator {
    // d == 1
    string s;
    float f;
};

class Member2 extends UnionDiscriminator {
    // d == 2
    byte b;
    int i;
};

With this approach, the UnionDiscriminator class provides a discriminator value. The "members" of the union are the classes that are derived from UnionDiscriminator. For each derived class, the discriminator takes on a distinct value. The receiver of such a union uses the discriminator value in a switch statement to select the active union member.

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