CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#winformsnaming-conventions
user2032433
user2032433

Reputation:

How should I prefix my variables with the same name?

I'm creating a Windows Forms based application in C#. My form's constructor takes parameter string title, and it then saves that value to string this.Title attribute, and finally I create a windows label Label this.Title.

The problem is obvious: My Label and string have the same name, and I'm curious about naming conventions in C#. What should I do?

Here's the full code:

// BNForm.cs
public partial class BNForm : Form
{
    public string Title;

    public BNForm(string title)
    {
        this.Title = title;
        InitControls();
    }
}

// BNForm.Designer.cs
partial class BNForm
{
    private Label Title;

    private InitControls()
    {
        this.Title = new Label();
        this.Title.Text = this.Title; // Trying to access the string here
        this.Title.AutoSize = true;
        this.Title.Location = new Point(15, 15);
        this.Controls.Add(this.Title); // Trying to access the Label here
    }
}

I first called my label variable label_Title, but later I have to add a new variable: Button[] Buttons which should then be called buttonArray_Buttons, which sounds stupid to me.

What should I name my variables? Is there even a rule for this kind of naming?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1913

Answers (4)

user2032433
user2032433

Reputation:

Well now that I know much more of C# (and "Antonijn" mentioned it already in the comments) I am aware that private member variables should begin with small letter and public properties start with a capital letter.

This in mind, my public string Title; stays as it is, but the label turns into private Label title; which lets me separate these two from each other. Thanks everyone for the answers, even when none of them helped me with this exact problem (good suggestions, I just don't like lblTitle etc.), they gave me much more knowledge of C#.

Upvotes: 0

Dragan Radivojevic
Dragan Radivojevic

Reputation: 2002

Here are several dos and donts in variable naming as well as other prefix guidelines for different controls.

DOs

  • Do name all identifiers with meaningful names describing their function.
  • Do prefix member fields with “m_” but nothing else (f prefix, suffixes, etc.)
  • Do name all identifiers with English names.
  • Do use Pascal casing for namespace, type, enum, method names.
  • Do use camel casing for parameters, fields and local variables.
  • Do prefix all interfaces with I. Do suffix all exception classes with Exception.
  • Do suffix all attribute classes with Attribute. Do suffix all event handlers with EventHandler.
  • Do use upper casing for constants.

DON'Ts

  • Do not use Hungarian notation.
  • Do not use upper casing for any identifiers longer than two characters (except constants as stated above).
  • Do not distinguish between identifiers just by their case.
  • Do not use abbreviations or contractions.
  • Do not use acronyms that are not generally accepted in the industry.
  • Do not use upper casing for acronyms that are longer than two characters.
  • Do not use identifier names that duplicate keywords or commonly used .NET namespaces.
  • Do not prefix enum, class, struct or delegate names.
  • Do not suffix enum types with Enum.

Variable naming suggestions. Just prefix all variables depending on the object type:

  • Button - btn
  • CheckBox - chk
  • ComboBox - cmb
  • DataColumn - dcol
  • DataGrid - dgrid
  • DataGridDateTimePickerColumn - dgdtpc
  • DataGridTableStyle - dgts
  • DataGridTextBoxColumn - dgtbc
  • Dialog - dlg
  • GroupBox - gbx
  • ImageList - iml
  • Label - lbl
  • ListBox - lbx
  • ListView - lv
  • Mainmenu - mm
  • MenuItem - mi
  • MDI-Frame - frm
  • MDI-Sheet - sht
  • NumericUpDown - nud
  • Panel - pnl
  • PictureBox - pbx
  • RadioButton - rbt
  • SDI-Form - form
  • StatusBar - stb
  • TabControl - tabs
  • TabPage - tab
  • TextBox - txt
  • ToolBar - tbr
  • ToolBarButton - tbb
  • Timer - tmr
  • UserControl - usr
  • WindowsPrincipal - wpl
  • GridEX - gex
  • TreeView - tv
  • UICommand - cmd
  • EditBox - edt
  • DataView - viw
  • DataTable - tbl
  • DataSet - ds

Hope this helps.

Upvotes: 0

spender
spender

Reputation: 120400

Don't use prefixes because they're considered bad practice. Just use common sense. How about calling your label field titleLabel instead? "Does what it says on the tin"... i.e. it's unambiguous.

Upvotes: 3

Tony Hopkinson
Tony Hopkinson

Reputation: 20320

Well first I'd stay well clear of variable names that only differ by case, generally that's a huge comprehensibility issue. I tend to prefix my arguments in a method with arg, some people don't like that though.

LblTitle or some equivalent hungarian notation is a fairly standard approach. I try to avoid that though. What if you want to diplay the title in say a textbox for instance, rename everything or enable confusion mode.

In this case I'd rename the Title Property to DisplayTitle or the the label to TitleDisplay.

The other option is to create a struct or class to hold the title Property then you can do

[this.]Title.Text = [this.]Setup.Title;

Whatever you do pick one standard and stick to it, is about the only rule.

Upvotes: 1

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