C# compiler error: "cannot have instance field initializers in structs" - c#

I need advice on structures.
I have 2 sections of code. The first section is as below:
namespace Project.GlobalVariables
{
class IOCard
{
struct InputCard
{
public string CardNo;
public int BaseAddress;
public int LowerAddress;
public int UpperAddress;
public int[] WriteBitNo = new int[16];
public int[] ReadBitNo = new int[16];
}
static InputCard[] InputCards = new InputCard[5];
public static string ACardNo = InputCards[1].CardNo;
public static string BCardNo = InputCards[2].CardNo;
}
}
The second portion is as below:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
IOCard.ACardNo = "Card A";
IOCard.BCardNo = "Card B";
MessageBox.Show(IOCard.ACardNo);
MessageBox.Show(IOCard.BCardNo);
}
My plan is to be able to assign and retrieve InputCards component by using IOCard as shown in Form1_Load.
However, when I compile the code, I get the following error.
Error 1 'Project.GlobalVariables.IOCard.InputCard.WriteBitNo': cannot have instance field initializers in structs E:\Programming\New platform\StandardPlatform\StandardPlatform\Project\GlobalVariables.cs 16 26 StandardPlatform
Can someone tell me how to solve the error?
Please advise. Thanks.
Here are the classes that I have attempted to create and use, but failed.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace Project.GlobalVariables
{
static class IOCard
{
public const int TotalInputCard = 10;
public const int TotalOutputCard = 10;
public class InputCard
{
public string CardNo = "1";
public int BaseAddress;
public int LowerAddress;
public int UpperAddress;
public int[] WriteBitNo = new int[16];
public int[] ReadBitNo = new int[16];
}
public class OutputCard
{
public string CardNo;
public int BaseAddress;
public int LowerAddress;
public int UpperAddress;
public int[] WriteBitNo = new int[16];
public int[] ReadBitNo = new int[16];
}
public static InputCard[] InputCards = new InputCard[TotalInputCard];
public static OutputCard[] OutputCards = new OutputCard[TotalOutputCard];
public static int X100 = InputCards[0].WriteBitNo[0];
public static int Y100 = OutputCards[0].WriteBitNo[0];
}
}
I tried to use these in the Form_Load, like so:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
IOCard.X100 = 1;
IOCard.Y100 = 1;
}
No matter how much I have tried to search on the net for answers, I have got nowhere.
Please advise. Thanks.

In C#, a struct value is not a reference to an object in the way a value of a class type is. The value of a struct is the "union" of all the values of the instance fields of the struct.
Now, the default value of a struct type is the value where all those fields have their default values. Since the beginning of C#, the syntax:
new S() // S is a value-type
where S is a struct type, has been equivalent to the default value of that struct. There is no constructor call! This is the exact same value which can (nowadays) also be written
default(S) // S is a value-type
Now, things like
struct S
{
int field = 42; // non-static field with initializer, disallowed!
// ...
}
are illegal (cannot have instance field initializers in structs). They could give the impression that the field of a new S() would be 42, but in fact the field of new S() must be the default value of int (which is zero, distinct from 42).
With this explanation, you also see why it is not possible to create a non-static, zero-parameter constructor for a struct type, in C#.

What's it's trying to say is that when you have InputCards = new InputCard[5]; it will allocate a block of memory 5 times the size of an InputCard structure and set all of its bytes to 0. There is no opportunity to execute the int[] WriteBitNo = new int[16]; and such assignments, so you cannot have them.
Your options are to either manually call an initializer for your structs or make it a class and manually initialize the InputCards array with 5 new instances of InputCard.

You will neither be able to initialize a struct's fields nor define a default constructor to initialize it's fields. After looking at your struct, I recommend you use a class instead. It's not recommended to use a struct for a scenario where you have a bunch of fields.

Try this. Initialize the InputCard with a factory function Create():
namespace Project.GlobalVariables
{
class IOCard
{
struct InputCard
{
public string CardNo;
public int BaseAddress;
public int LowerAddress;
public int UpperAddress;
public int[] WriteBitNo;
public int[] ReadBitNo;
static InputCard Create()
{
return new InputCard()
{
CardNo = string.Empty,
WriteBitNo = new int[16],
ReadBitNo = new int[16]
};
}
}
static InputCard[] InputCards = new InputCard[]
{
InputCard.Create(),
InputCard.Create(),
InputCard.Create(),
InputCard.Create(),
InputCard.Create()
};
public static string ACardNo = InputCards[1].CardNo;
public static string BCardNo = InputCards[2].CardNo;
}
}

Use class instead of structure. Structure is used for small types like Point, which are faster to create on the stack and copy, than to create dynamically and pass by reference.

Not sure about the exception, but i have a solution.
You should not use "struct" for this class, it is too much (and storing too much data). If you define it as "class", the same code would work fine.

Is there a particular reason why you want this to be a struct rather than a class?
If you make it a class, it works just fine.

Related

How do I give a class an array that can be accessed by class methods?

I have just started learning OOP. I am making my own class which builds on an array. It has an attribute called length and an array that is of that length.
However, the actual value of length is only declared in the constructor, so my array is stuck as a private variable within the constructor.
How do I implement one such that the array has a certain user-chosen length and is able to be accessed by the class' methods?
public class myClass
{
private int length; //This is an attribute of my class
public myClass(int myLength)
{
length = myLength;
int[] myArray = new int[length];
}
}
I want myArray to be accessible but this is not possible because it is a local variable in the constructor. I think if it was in Python I could just make it a global variable. (Although I think that I would still like to keep this array private as it is also an attribute).
Thanks!
Note: This is not homework but rather something I've been challenging myself to do.
Here's how your class could look like, the OOP way:
public class MyClass
{
public readonly int Length;
public int[] Data { get; private set; }
public MyClass(int dataLength)
{
Length = dataLength;
Data = new int[dataLength];
}
}
Here:
The Data array is constructed with the user-specified length.
You can access both Length and Data from inside and outside the class
Once instantiated, the Length property cannot be modified
Another way would be to make Length return directly the Length property of the array, as long as it was instantiated:
public class MyClass
{
public int Length { get { return Data == null ? 0 : Data.Length; } }
public int[] Data { get; private set; }
public MyClass(int dataLength)
{
Data = new int[dataLength];
}
}
Revised answer as you have added more code to the question:
You have unwittingly solved your own problem. Take a look at your private int length; declaration. After the object the initialized with the constructor public myClass(int myLength), the length variable is still accessible within the object.
The sample code below has a new public int GetLengthPlusOne() method to access the length variable. Similarly, you can now use the myArray variable in another method.
MyOtherClass
public class MyOtherClass
{
public void SampleMethod()
{
MyClass cls = new MyClass(5);
Console.WriteLine(cls.GetLengthPlusOne()); //Output: 6
var arr = cls.myArray;
}
}
MyClass
public class MyClass
{
private int length; //This is an attribute of my class
/*
* Declaring this within the class instead of the constructor allows it
* to be persisted in an instance of the class. This is a property.
*/
public int[] myArray { get; set; }
public MyClass(int myLength)
{
length = myLength;
myArray = new int[length];
}
public int GetLengthPlusOne()
{
return length + 1;
}
}
Side note on naming conventions:
For C#, Class names start capitalized (MyClass), whilst instances of a class start with a lower-case (myClass). Have a look at the documentation for more info.

C# anonymous value types nature

Consider the flowing code snippet
static void Main()
{
var x = new MyStruct
{
Item = new StringWrapper("abc")
};
Console.WriteLine(x.Item.PublicField);
x.Item.SetValue("xyz");
Console.WriteLine(x.Item.PublicField);
var y = new
{
Item = new StringWrapper("abc")
};
Console.WriteLine(y.Item.PublicField);
y.Item.SetValue("xyz");
Console.WriteLine(y.Item.PublicField);
}
public struct MyStruct
{
public StringWrapper Item;
}
public struct StringWrapper
{
public string PublicField;
public StringWrapper(string v)
{
PublicField = v;
}
public void SetValue(string v)
{
PublicField = v;
}
}
And the output:
abc
xyz
abc
abc
MyStruct can be declared as class, and the output will remain the same.
{abc, abc} part of output is a surprise for me, as I expect anonymous type to be converted to class or struct and behave the same.
I feel like I'm missing something obvious here and will appreciate any help.
Thanks.
The difference here is that your MyStruct (struct or class) exposes a public field while anonymous classes (new { }) expose public properties.
When you access a value type from a field or variable, you do not get a copy, you access the instance directly. Therefore making changes to it stores them in the instance.
When you instead access it via a property or method, you get a returned copy of your StringWrapper and changing that doesn't change what is stored in the anonymous classes private field.
Just to demonstrate, you can get the same behavior by making your Item field a property too:
public StringWrapper Item { get; set; }

C# how to invoke a field initializer using reflection?

Say I have this C# class
public class MyClass {
int a;
int[] b = new int[6];
}
Now say I discover this class using reflection and while looking at the fields I find that one of them is of type Array (ie: b)
foreach( FieldInfo fieldinfo in classType.GetFields() )
{
if( fieldInfo.FieldType.IsArray )
{
int arraySize = ?;
...
}
}
I know it's not guaranteed that the array has a field initializer that creates the array but if it does I would like to know the size of the array created by the field initializer.
Is there a way to call the field initializer ?
If there was I would do something like this:
Array initValue = call field initializer() as Array;
int arraySize = initValue.Length;
The only was I found is to create an instance of the whole class but I would rather not do it like this as it's overkill...
Well, you can't.
The following code:
public class Test
{
public int[] test = new int[5];
public Test()
{
Console.Read();
}
}
will be compiled as:
public class Program
{
public int[] test;
public Program()
{
// Fields initializers are inserted at the beginning
// of the class constructor
this.test = new int[5];
// Calling base constructor
base.ctor();
// Executing derived class constructor instructions
Console.Read();
}
}
So, until you create an instance of the type, there is no way to know about the array size.
I dont think you have an option but to create an instance of the class as it doesnt exist until you do that.

Save Generated Random Numbers for later use

This following code will get me a random number:
Random r = new Random();
int srandom = r.Next(2147483647);
I want to save it to a string/int/long or some how so I will be able to use the same number. So for example if I call srandom now I will get random number but after a while it will change. I would like it to stay the same.
You can create a static field in your class, and initialize it once in the program lifecycle by setting it from the static constructor :
public class YourClass{
private static readonly int g_RandomInt;
static YourClass(){
g_RandomInt = new Random().Next();
}
public void InstanceMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine(g_RandomInt);
}
}
You can do the following:
Globals8.GlobalInt8 = Globals8.GlobalInt8.HasValue ? Globals8.GlobalInt8 : srandom;
And you declare the variable GlobalInt8 as a nullable int like this:
public static class Globals8
{
private static int? globalInt8 = default(int?);
public static int? GlobalInt8
{
get { return globalInt8;}
set { globalInt8 = value;}
}
}
The same thing can be applied to the long variable. What happens here that you initialize the value to the default value which is similar to null in reference object. After that you check if the variable has value then you ignore it. Else you set its value.
Hope this was useful.

C# Language Enum Declaration

Hi Is there a way to declare an enum or to customize the way of declaring an enum which returns an object in C#?
private enum testEnum
{
firstname =1
,lastname = 2
}
and if we want to return the names rather than 1 and 2 ?
like testEnum.firstname returns 1 .
I want to declare an enum to return objects like in Java . is it possible?
You can do this:
public class NameEnum
{
static NameEnum()
{
FirstName = new NameEnum("FirstName");
LastName = new NameEnum("LastName");
}
public static NameEnum FirstName { get; private set; }
public static NameEnum LastName { get; private set; }
private NameEnum(string name)
{
this.Name = name;
}
public string Name { get; private set; }
}
Is that close enough?
http://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/system.enum.aspx
An enumeration is a set of named constants whose underlying type is any integral type except Char. If no underlying type is explicitly declared, Int32 is used. Enum is the base class for all enumerations in the .NET Framework.
You can use interfaces for this:
interface IColorEnum {};
class ColorEnum: IColorEnum
{
public static const Red = new ColorEnum();
public static const Green = new ColorEnum();
public static const Blue = new ColorEnum();
};
And use it like usual:
void foo(IColorEnum color)
{
if(color == ColorEnum.Red) {...}
}
Update+improve: you can even drop interface and just use class with couple of public static fields with type of this class and private constructor to prevent creating new instances of it:
class ColorEnum
{
private ColorEnum() {};
public static const Red = new ColorEnum();
public static const Green = new ColorEnum();
public static const Blue = new ColorEnum();
};
The docs state:
Every enumeration type has an underlying type, which can be any integral type except char.
Assuming you mean object to be complex/reference type. then the answer to your question is no. You could always create a class with named properties containing reference types.
I guess that you be a class exposing static fields that can then be of any type you want.
I think this is only possible in java.
It seems that you want to implement singleton the Joshua Bloch way.

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