accessing auto implemented properties

Question

Just playing around with auto implemented properties and I ran into a small issue trying to get the accessor from a different method from where it was set.  I can get it to work from within the same method, but not outside.

 

How can this be done?

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Still new, but getting better. :)

Answer 1

Not sure what the block is at the top of your post.  I'll remove it.  Could you expound on what you're trying to do?  Perhaps post some code?

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Coding Light - Illuminated Ideas and Algorithms in Software
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Answer 2

Sorry about that block..  here something quick I typed up as an example.

    public class Customer
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }

    public class AutoImplementedCustomerManager
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Customer cust = new Customer();

            cust.Name = "Bob Smith";

            DisplayName();
        }

        private void DisplayName()
        {
            Customer cust = new Customer();

            Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}", cust.Name);

            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }

---

Still new, but getting better. :)

Answer 3

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Employee emp = new Employee { FirstName = "John", LastName="Grove" };
            Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", emp.FirstName, emp.LastName);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }

    class Employee
    {
        public String FirstName { get; set; }
        public String LastName { get; set; }

    }
}

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John Grove - TFD Group, Senior Software Engineer, EI Division, http://www.tfdg.com

Answer 4

You are instantiating a new instance of Customer and not setting the property.

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John Grove - TFD Group, Senior Software Engineer, EI Division, http://www.tfdg.com

Answer 5

Your trouble isn't with automatic properties... it's with variable scope, and the fact that setting an instance value of one instance of a type doesn't ensure that value is available in all situations.  Let's look at your code:

public class Customer
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }

    public class AutoImplementedCustomerManager
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Customer cust = new Customer();

            cust.Name = "Bob Smith";

  
            DisplayName(); // <--- this method call doesn't take a customer. 
        }

        private void DisplayName()
        {
            Customer cust = new Customer(); // <--- a completely separate customer from the one in Main()

            Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}", cust.Name); // <--- should show no name.  It's a new customer.

            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }


To get around this, you have to pass the value into the method. Like this:

public class Customer
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }

    public class AutoImplementedCustomerManager
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Customer cust = new Customer();

            cust.Name = "Bob Smith";

            DisplayName(cust); // <--- passing the customer into the method.
        }

        private void DisplayName(Customer cust) // <--- note the incoming method parameter
        {

            Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}", cust.Name);

            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }

Note how I'm passing the existing Customer instance to the method?  That's what you have to do in order to access the instance properly.

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Coding Light - Illuminated Ideas and Algorithms in Software
Coding Light Wiki • LinkedIn • ForumsBrowser

Answer 6

Try this

private void DisplayName(Customer cust)
{
    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(cust.Name))
        Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}", cust.Name);
}

static void Main()
        {
            Customer cust = new Customer();
            cust.Name = "Bob Smith";
            DisplayName(cust);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

---

John Grove - TFD Group, Senior Software Engineer, EI Division, http://www.tfdg.com