C# Simplified, part 4: Structures, Inheritance and Interfaces - Properties
(Page 2 of 7 )
Properties are new to C#. They provide added functionality to the .NET Framework itself. If you had worked with Visual Basic 6.0, you might have used methods like getXXX() and setXXX() extensively for creating user defined properties while working with ActiveX.
A simple C# property consists of a field declaration and accessor methods like get and set. The statements inside the get block are used to retrieve the field's value, and those inside the set block are used to modify the field's value. C# uses a special keyword named value to modify data.
In listing 4.2, a field named MyValue is declared. It also declares a property named PropValue and assigns the field variable appropriately by using the get and set blocks. Inside the Main() method, an instance of the class is created and the property is accessed and printed.
Listing 4.2 using System;
class PropertiesDemo
{
// Field "MyValue" declared
public string MyValue;
// Property declared
public string PropValue
{
get
{
return MyValue;
}
set
{
MyValue = value;
}
}
public static void Main()
{
// Instance of the class created
PropertiesDemo pd = new PropertiesDemo();
// Property accessed
pd.PropValue = "101";
string p = pd.PropValue;
Console.WriteLine("The Value is {0}",p);
}
}
In the above code, the PropValue property is considered to be a read and write property because both getter and setter blocks are defined. If you want to create a read only property you should omit the set block; to create a write only property, you should omit the get block.
Next: Inheritance >>
More C# Articles
More By Anand Narayanaswamy
