CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netparameters
dexter
dexter

Reputation: 7203

Why a property can not be passed as out parameter?

For example:

    int? qID= null;

    answer.QuestionID = int.TryParse(lblID.Text, out qID.Value) ? qID : null; //Error: Property or Indexer may not be passed as an out ot ref parameter.

From microsoft documentation it says that:

"A variable passed as an out argument need not be initialized. However, the out parameter must be assigned a value before the method returns."

and then:

"A property is not a variable and cannot be passed as an out parameter.

So what was the reasoning in the underlying .net platform design to prohibit from setting a property of an object via the out? The value of out does not have to be a reference object either - totally legit to use a value type. So why not?

Upvotes: 11

Views: 9594

Answers (5)

Kris Ivanov
Kris Ivanov

Reputation: 10598

int qID;

if (int.TryParse(lblID.Text, out qID))
{
  answer.QuestionID =  qID;
}
else
{
  answer.QuestionID = null;
}

here is the actual implementation:

[System.Security.SecuritySafeCritical]  // auto-generated
    internal unsafe static Boolean TryParseInt32(String s, NumberStyles style, NumberFormatInfo info, out Int32 result) {

        Byte * numberBufferBytes = stackalloc Byte[NumberBuffer.NumberBufferBytes]; 
        NumberBuffer number = new NumberBuffer(numberBufferBytes);
        result = 0; 

        if (!TryStringToNumber(s, style, ref number, info, false)) {
            return false; 
        }

        if ((style & NumberStyles.AllowHexSpecifier) != 0) {
            if (!HexNumberToInt32(ref number, ref result)) { 
                return false;
            } 
        } 
        else {
            if (!NumberToInt32(ref number, ref result)) { 
                return false;
            }
        }
        return true; 
    }

Upvotes: 2

SLaks
SLaks

Reputation: 887365

A property is just a pair of functions named get_Something and set_Something.
An out parameter takes a reference to a field or a variable; it wouldn't make any sense to pass a pair of functions.

VB.Net can pass properties as ByRef parameters; the compiler generates a temporary variable and re-assigns the proeprty to the variable after calling the method.

However, even VB.Net cannot handle your case, because the Nullable<T>.Value property is read-only.

Upvotes: 11

Jon Skeet
Jon Skeet

Reputation: 1500185

This is valid in VB, but not in C#... VB effectively creates a temporary local variable for you, calls the method passing in the local variable as the argument, and then sets the property with the value of the local variable. C# doesn't usually hide that sort of thing for you.

The method itself needs a variable as the out parameter. It's got to have a storage location it can just write values to. Not a property, not anything it needs to invoke: just a storage location. A property doesn't satisfy that requirement. So there's nothing that can be done by the compiler in the method to allow this.

So either the compiler has to fake it with a temporary variable, as per VB, or disallow it, as per C#. Personally I prefer the C# approach - otherwise it looks as if each time the method assigned a value to the out parameter, the property would be set - which certainly isn't the case.

Upvotes: 16

Will Vousden
Will Vousden

Reputation: 33358

Properties are just syntactic sugar for a pair of accessor methods, and so what you're actually doing here is calling a method and passing the resulting value as a reference. Clearly this value isn't a variable and so it can't be bound to.

Consider a type Foo with a property Bar; using that property as an out parameter is essentially analogous to this:

Foo foo = new Foo();
SomeFunction(out foo.get_Bar());

Obviously, a value can't be assigned to foo.get_Bar()!

Upvotes: 2

Klaus Byskov Pedersen
Klaus Byskov Pedersen

Reputation: 120927

Because a property is syntactic sugar for a get and a set method that are generated by the compiler.

Upvotes: 2

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