CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#methodsreturn
cookiepuss
cookiepuss

Reputation: 33

Method must have return type (C#)

so I've been following along C# with this book.

http://www.robmiles.com/c-yellow-book/Rob%20Miles%20CSharp%20Yellow%20Book%202011.pdf on page 81-82 I get this code from there and add another method from page 82 resulting in:

using System;      

enum AccountState
{
    New,
    Active,
    UnderAudit,
    Frozen,
    Closed
};

struct Account
{
    public AccountState State;
    public string Name;
    public string Address;
    public int AccountNumber;
    public int Balance;
    public int Overdraft;
};
class Bankprogram
{
    public static void Main()
    {   
        Account RobsAccount;    
        RobsAccount.State = AccountState.Active;    
        RobsAccount.Name = "Rob Miles";    
        RobsAccount.AccountNumber = 1234;    
        RobsAccount.Address = "his home";       
        RobsAccount.Balance = 0;    
        RobsAccount.Overdraft = -1;    
        Console.WriteLine("name is " + RobsAccount.Name);    
        Console.WriteLine("balance is : " + RobsAccount.Balance );      
    }
    public void PrintAccount(Account a)
    {
        Console.WriteLine ("Name" + a.Name);    
        Console.WriteLine ("Address :" + a.Address);    
        Console.WriteLine ("Balance:" + a.Balance);
    }

    PrintAccount(RobsAccount);
}

but I get an error: Method Must have return type. referring to the "PrintAccount(RobAccount);"

I know this question has been asked before but none of them looked similar to my problem.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 36459

Answers (7)

Steve
Steve

Reputation: 216353

Probably is a typo. Don't know if yours or in the book.

The call to PrintAccount should be made inside a method of the class BankProgram. As written, the call is outside from any method and this is an error.
More, the PrintAccount method, if called from inside the Main, should be also static because to call an instance member method you need to create an instance of the BankProgram class

class Bankprogram 
{ 
    public static void Main() 
    {    
        Account RobsAccount; 
        RobsAccount.State = AccountState.Active; 
        RobsAccount.Name = "Rob Miles"; 
        RobsAccount.AccountNumber = 1234; 
        RobsAccount.Address = "his home"; 
        RobsAccount.Balance = 0; 
        RobsAccount.Overdraft = -1; 
        Console.WriteLine("name is " + RobsAccount.Name); 
        Console.WriteLine("balance is : " + RobsAccount.Balance ); 
        PrintAccount(RobsAccount);

        // OR - if you really want to keep NON STATIC the method PrintAccount
        // BankProgram bp = new BankProgram();
        // bp.PrintAccount(RobsAccount);
    } 

    public static void PrintAccount(Account a) 
    { 
        Console.WriteLine ("Name" + a.Name); 
        Console.WriteLine ("Address :" + a.Address); 
        Console.WriteLine ("Balance:" + a.Balance); 
    } 
}

Upvotes: 0

Nikhil Agrawal
Nikhil Agrawal

Reputation: 48600

There are 2 problems

Problem 1: Your method calling is directly inside a class. It has to be inside a method. We declare methods in class, not call them.

Problem 2: Static methods are called inside static methods so your PrintAccount method should also be static.

Solution: This should be the class structure.

//Previous code as it is
class Bankprogram
{
    public static void Main()
    {   
        //Previous code as it is
        PrintAccount(RobsAccount);
    }
    public static void PrintAccount(Account a)
    {
        //Method code as it is
    }  
}

Upvotes: 4

Chris Beemster
Chris Beemster

Reputation: 362

There's two things wrong here;

  • You are trying to call your PrintAccount method from the class, not from any method. That will obviously not work.
  • Your PrintAccount method is not a static method, thus can only be reached when your class is instantiated. That means that you will not be able to call it from your main function.

Try to change the following two things:

  • Make your PrintAccount a static method
  • Call the PrintAccount method from your main method.

Your code will then look like this:

public static void Main()
{   
    Account RobsAccount;
    RobsAccount.State = AccountState.Active;
    RobsAccount.Name = "Rob Miles";
    RobsAccount.AccountNumber = 1234;
    RobsAccount.Address = "his home";
    RobsAccount.Balance = 0;
    RobsAccount.Overdraft = -1;
    Console.WriteLine("name is " + RobsAccount.Name);
    Console.WriteLine("balance is : " + RobsAccount.Balance );
    PrintAccount(RobsAccount);
}

public static void PrintAccount(Account a)
{
    Console.WriteLine ("Name" + a.Name);
    Console.WriteLine ("Address :" + a.Address);
    Console.WriteLine ("Balance:" + a.Balance);
}

Good luck!

Upvotes: 0

Claudio Redi
Claudio Redi

Reputation: 68440

The problem is that the compiler thinks that PrintAccount(RobsAccount); is a method definition and that's why is requiring for a return type.

You have to call that method inside another method, you can't call it on the void.

Upvotes: 8

Ed Swangren
Ed Swangren

Reputation: 124790

PrintAccount(RobsAccount);

When do you expect that function to be called exactly? You have plopped it in the middle of a class definition (which is why you get the error). Do you expect it to be called when the program starts? When the first instance of your class is created? It doesn't make sense; classes are templates for objects.

If you want to call a method you must do so from another method (static initialization aside for now). So, remove that line, and then in main...

static void Main(...) 
{
    PrintAccount();
}

Also note that your design is very strange. You have defined main inside of your Bankprogram class (why?) and everything is static. Do you only intend to allow for one account where every property of said account is hard-coded? Doesn't seem very useful.

Upvotes: 1

Guffa
Guffa

Reputation: 700800

The problem is that you have code in the class, that isn't within a method.

Move that line into the Main method:

using System; 


enum AccountState
{
  New,
  Active,
  UnderAudit,
  Frozen,
  Closed
};

struct Account
{
    public AccountState State;
    public string Name;
    public string Address;
    public int AccountNumber;
    public int Balance;
    public int Overdraft;
};

class Bankprogram
{

  public static void Main()
  {   
    Account RobsAccount;

    RobsAccount.State = AccountState.Active;

    RobsAccount.Name = "Rob Miles";

    RobsAccount.AccountNumber = 1234;

    RobsAccount.Address = "his home";

    RobsAccount.Balance = 0;

    RobsAccount.Overdraft = -1;

    Console.WriteLine("name is " + RobsAccount.Name);

    Console.WriteLine("balance is : " + RobsAccount.Balance );

    PrintAccount(RobsAccount);

  }

  public void PrintAccount(Account a)
  {
    Console.WriteLine ("Name" + a.Name);

    Console.WriteLine ("Address :" + a.Address);

    Console.WriteLine ("Balance:" + a.Balance);
  }

}

Side note: The code is using a struct for a data object, where a class would be appropriate.

Upvotes: 0

Sergey Vyacheslavovich Brunov
Sergey Vyacheslavovich Brunov

Reputation: 18126

First of all, you are trying to call PrintAccount() method outside any other method! It seems it is a typo.

Second, PrintAccount() method must be static (it belongs to the Bankprogram class) which is called from static Main() method.

class Bankprogram
{
    public static void Main()
    {   
        Account RobsAccount;

        RobsAccount.State = AccountState.Active;

        RobsAccount.Name = "Rob Miles";

        RobsAccount.AccountNumber = 1234;

        RobsAccount.Address = "his home";

        RobsAccount.Balance = 0;

        RobsAccount.Overdraft = -1;

        Console.WriteLine("name is " + RobsAccount.Name);

        Console.WriteLine("balance is : " + RobsAccount.Balance );

        PrintAccount(RobsAccount); // This line has been moved.
    }

    // This method has become STATIC!
    public static void PrintAccount(Account a)
    {
        Console.WriteLine ("Name" + a.Name);

        Console.WriteLine ("Address :" + a.Address);

        Console.WriteLine ("Balance:" + a.Balance);
    }
}

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions