How can I define a generic table property in a base class?

Question

I have created a base page class that all other pages in my site inherit from.  I am trying to define a generic table property so that this property can be loaded and saved into a session variable during each page process. 

 

I have a DataContext of tables that include Products & Photos.

 

I am able to do this:

 

protected Product m_Product {get; set;}

 

but not this:

 

protected T m_Entity {get; set;} // error on 'T'

 

I am calling a load and save method during the page process as such:

 

protected T LoadEntity<T>()

{

if (Session["PageEntity"] == null)

return default(T);

return (T)Session["PageEntity"];

}

 

protected void SaveEntity<T>(T entity)

{

Session["PageEntity"] = entity;

}

 

Ideally I would like to execute these methods in the base class on m_Entity to load and save the current state of the table.

 

Is this possible? 

 

Answer 1

Hi

Yes it is possible, but to use a generic type as a module wide variable you need to define the generic type on the class level. Like:

public class EntityBucket<T> {

protected T m_Entity {get; set;}

protected T LoadEntity()
{
    if (Session["PageEntity"] == null)
    return default(T);

    return (T)Session["PageEntity"];
} 

protected void SaveEntity(T entity)
{
    Session["PageEntity"] = entity;
}

}

Answer 2

Thank you Patrik!  That works perfectly for me and solves the problem I have 100%.

 

David

Answer 3

Great Glad I could help!