Final/const keyword equivilant in Progress-4GL

Question

If I had a class with immutable members in Java, I would do this:

class MyClass {
    private final String name;
    private final int id;
    myClass(String name, int id) {
        this.name = name;
        this.id = id;
    }
    String getName() { return name; }
    int getId() { return id; }
}

In Progress-4GL, you'd typically see something like this: (Please, no lectures on Hungarian Notation. I hate it too, but it's very common in the Progress community, so it's something I just live with.)

CLASS MyClass :

    DEFINE VARIABLE mcName as CHARACTER NO-UNDO.
    DEFINE VARIABLE miId   as INTEGER   NO-UNDO.

    CONSTRUCTOR PUBLIC MyClass(INPUT ipcName AS CHARACTER,
                               INPUT ipiId AS INTEGER):
        ASSIGN mcName = ipcName
               miId   = ipiID.
    END. /* constructor(char,int)*/
END CLASS. /* MyClass */

I was told in that in Progress 10.2B, they added the ability to make constants/final variables. However, I am unable to find any reference to it anywhere. In my Architect (version 10.2A) I do see that FINAL is considered a keyword. But the documentation behind it simply eludes me.

And if you've ever tried to search for Progress documentation, you know my dilemma.

How can I do immutable variables in Progress 10.2B? Are there any gotchyas I need to be aware of?

Thanks!

EDIT 1 I found documentation on FINAL. It appears to only apply to classes and methods. My current approach is

CLASS ImmutableString :
    DEFINE PRIVATE VARIABLE mcValue AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO.

    CONSTRUCTOR PUBLIC ImmutableString(INPUT ipcValue AS CHARACTER) :
        ASSIGN mcValue = ipcValue.
    END.

    METHOD PUBLIC CHARACTER getValue() :
        RETURN mcValue. /* Is a defensive copy required? */
    END METHOD.
END CLASS.

Answer 1

You could also create a public property with a public "GET" and a private "SET":

   DEF PUBLIC PROPERTY Value AS CHAR NO-UNDO
      GET.
      PRIVATE SET.

   CONSTRUCTOR PUBLIC ImmutableString(INPUT ipcValue AS CHARACTER) :
       Value = ipcValue.
   END.

That's a little less code and does the same thing.

EDITED to change the property name to match the original poster's example.