CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#
HCP
HCP

Reputation: 1042

in referencing enum type why do i need to add namespace and class in declaration of the enum?

namespace myobjects
{       
   class mylifeforms
   {     
       public enum Animal { dog, cat, mouse }       
   }    
}

if i want to use the the enum type in a class i need to declare the type like this:

myobjects.mylifeforms.Animal animal;

what should i do so i can declare it like: 

Animal animal;

Upvotes: 0

Views: 173

Answers (6)

bratao
bratao

Reputation: 2070

You can use:

#define myobjects.mylifeforms.Animal Animal

Upvotes: -2

thecoop
thecoop

Reputation: 46098

Within the mylifeforms class you can reference the Animal enum just by itself, but outside mylifeforms you need to use mylifeforms.Animal. It's specified in a roundabout way in sections 10.3.8.1 and 3.8 of the C# spec; the name resolution algorithm simply doesn't consider nested types when given a simple name.

You'll need to declare Animals in the namespace rather than the class to refer to it using it's simple name everywhere

Upvotes: 2

Adam Robinson
Adam Robinson

Reputation: 185643

You'll have to create a manual type alias in your using statements at the start of the file.

using Animal = MyObjects.MyLifeForms.Animal;

This is because you declared the enum within the class rather than at the namespace level. If you were to do this:

namespace MyObjects
{
    public class MyLifeForms
    {
        ...
    }

    public enum Animal
    {
        ...
    }
}

It would be accessible as Animal to any file that uses the MyObjects namespace.

Upvotes: 1

Mitchel Sellers
Mitchel Sellers

Reputation: 63126

The reason for this is that you have placed the enum inside of the class.

if you defined the enum inside the namespace alone, it would not be needed.

So it would look like this.

namespace myobjects
{       
   class mylifeforms
   {     

   }    

   public enum Animal { dog, cat, mouse }     
}

Then you could use myobjects.Animal to reference the enum. A simple using myobjects; would then allow you to do it as Animal.

Upvotes: 1

HCP
HCP

Reputation: 1042

Does it work if you declare the enum above the class , but within the namespace ?

Upvotes: 0

Tomas Jansson
Tomas Jansson

Reputation: 23462

Put the enum in the namspace instead of in the class. Than you can add the namepace with using to get what you want.

namespace myobjects
{       
   public enum Animal { dog, cat, mouse }       

   class mylifeforms
   {     

   }    
}

Now if you add

using myobjects;

in the file where you want to use your enum you will get what you want.

Upvotes: 2

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