Use derived class property in base class constructor - c#

In following code, I need Base class constructor to use Derived class property ServiceUrl. I cannot define ServiceUrl as static as it's value is computed based on Derived class constructor argument. I cannot pass ServiceUrl as constructor argument to Base class since the computation is not as trivial as illustrated and it may require access other fields in Base/Derived classes.
Any suggestions for the best way out? I have permissions to make any change to Base and Derived class structures to attain the purpose.
abstract class Base
{
public abstract string ServiceUrl { get; }
public Base()
{
Console.WriteLine(ServiceUrl);
}
}
class Derived : Base
{
public override string ServiceUrl { get; private set; }
public Derived(string rootUrl) : base()
{
ServiceUrl = rootUrl + "/service";
}
}

The base class constructor will always be called before the derived class constructor. Therefore, there are exactly two solutions:
Use a parameter in the constructor of your base class:
abstract class Base
{
public string ServiceUrl { get; }
public Base(string serviceUrl)
{
ServiceUrl = serviceUrl;
Console.WriteLine(ServiceUrl);
}
}
class Derived : Base
{
public Derived(string rootUrl) : base(rootUrl + "/service")
{
}
}
Don't use the variable in the constructor. Use it at a later point.

Related

Where Generic T is implementation of Abstract Class

Given the following classes and hierarchy:
public abstract class AbsractClass<T>
{
public T Id { get; private set; }
}
public class ImplementationA : AbsractClass<Guid> { }
public class ImplementationB : AbsractClass<int> { }
What constraint should I be using in where clause/constraint to specify that generic T must be implementation of AbsractClass. Which would mean that Entity would accept either ImplementationA or ImplementationB.
public abstract class Entity<T> // where : T ?
{
}
Is this something that is possible or should I be using interfaces instead?
You need to add two generic parameters to make it work:
public abstract class Entity<T, TKey> where T : AbstractClass<TKey>
{
}
Generic interfaces would behave the same way.

How to access derived class instance from base class method?

My base class has a method to serialize itself that I want derived classes to use.
public abstract class Base
{
public int Property1 { get; set; }
public virtual string Serialize()
{
...
return System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, jsonSerializerOptions);
}
}
The problem is that "this" in the base classes refers to the base class. When calling Serialize() from derived classes, only the properties of the base class are serialized. What can I use instead of "this" to pass to the Json serializer so that it will refer to the instance of the derived class.
Derived class may look like this:
public class Derived : Base
{
public int Property2 { get; set; }
}
I then call the Serialize() method like this:
Derived derived = new Derived();
string json = derived.Serialize();
Only Property1 is serialized.
The reason of it serialize Property1 only is you didn't override the virtual method in the derived class, So it works only for property1.
Sample:
public abstract class Base
{
public int Property1 { get; set; } = 20;
public virtual void Display()
{
MessageBox.Show(Property1.ToString());
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public int Property2 { get; set; } = 9;
public override void Display() //without this you can't achieve what you want
{
base.Display();
MessageBox.Show(Property2.ToString());
}
}
public class Test
{
public void ShowResult()
{
Derived derived = new Derived();
derived.Display();
}
}
Test test = new Test();
{
test.ShowResult();
}
OUTPUT
Two Messageboxes
First displays: 20
Second displays: 9
If I didn't override the virtual method in the derived class the OUTPUT would be:
One Messageboxe ONLY
Displays: 20
From Documentation
When a virtual method is invoked, the run-time type of the object is
checked for an overriding member. The overriding member in the most
derived class is called, which might be the original member, if no
derived class has overridden the member.
we can't change 'this' behavior, but you can try below solution, its work like what you need
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Derived d = new Derived();
Console.WriteLine(d.Serialize());
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
public abstract class Base
{
public int Property1 { get; set; }
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public int Property2 { get; set; }
}
public static class Extensions
{
public static string Serialize(this Base obj)
{
return System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize((object)obj);
}
}
The overload method you are using is Serialize< BaseClass >(this, options). This when called from the base class always pass the BaseType as T.
Fortunately, JsonSerializer provides another overload which you can use from baseclass and achieve the desired behavior without overriding in derived class. For this, You should be using Serialize(this,this.GetType(),options). this.GetType() wil always returns the instance type even when call is done from a base class.

Base() and This() in constructors. (Chained constructors)

I have a question regards chaining constructors I read some question on StackOverflow and some c# articles but I cannot understand the topic fully. So I have a BaseClass that is inherited by DerivedClass. In the DerivedClass, I have no argument constructor but it's calling the base constructor using: base() and it also passing a value. Is this the primary purpose of the base keyword used in the constructor to pass a value to the inherited class from the derived one or is something more out there. And also in the derived class, we have a second constructor that takes 1 parameter and its using: this(). I can't understand why when I remove: this() from this constructor "VS" tells me "There is no argument given that corresponds to the required formal parameter "i" of BaseClass.BaseClass(int) ? Why I can't just have one argument constructor in the DerivedClass without using this()?
public class BaseClass
{
protected int _Num;
public BaseClass(int i)
{
_Num = i;
}
public int Num { get => this._Num ; set => _Num = value; }
}
public class DerivedClassA : BaseClass
{
private string _Name;
private int _AnotherValue;
public string Name { get => this._Name ; set => this._Name = value; }
public int AnotherValue { get => this._AnotherValue; set => this._AnotherValue = value; }
public DerivedClassA() : base(123)
{
_Name = "testing";
}
public DerivedClassA(int param2) : this() <-- Why i can't compile the program without the this() keyword here ?
{
AnotherValue = param2;
}
}
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
DerivedClassA objA = new DerivedClassA(5);
}
}
I can't find a duplicate that exactly matches, so I'll provide an answer.
Imagine these classes:
public class Base
{
public Base()
{
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public Derived()
{
}
}
Try it online
When you initialize a derived class, you have to first initialize the base. In our example above, the Base class has a parameterless constructor, so the derived class can implicitly call it. If we add a base second constructor, this logic remains true, and the parameterless constructor will still be implicitly called:
public class Base
{
public Base()
{
}
public Base(int a)
{
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public Derived()
{
}
}
Try it online
But if we take away the parameterless constructor, Derived must now call the base constructor explicitly:
public class Base
{
public Base(int a)
{
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public Derived() : base(1)
{
}
}
Try it online
So what happens if we add an extra derived class constructor? Well, that also has to call the base class (either directly, or indirectly):
public class Base
{
public Base(int a)
{
// this method body is executed first
}
}
public class DerivedA : Base
{
public DerivedA(string name, int val) : base(val)
{
// this method body is executed second (last if you used this constructor, e.g. new DerivedA("hello", 1) )
}
public DerivedA() : this("test", 5) // this will call the constructor above, which will first call base. So the final chain is: base, constructor above, this constructor
{
// this method body is executed third (last if you used this constructor, e.g. new DerivedA() )
}
}
public class DerivedB : Base
{
public DerivedB(string name, int val) : base(val)
{
}
public DerivedB() : base(5) // this will call the base constructor, and then this constructor. The constructor above will not be used.
{
}
}
Try it online
Note that all classes have a parameterless constructor when no other constructor is defined, so the following two examples are equivalent:
public class BaseA
{
}
public class BaseB
{
public BaseB()
{
}
}
You'll note that SharpLab shows the compiler removed the empty constructor from BaseB() since it's superfluous.
Finally, a derived class without an explicitly defined constructor, will still call the base class constructor implicitly:
public class Base
{
public Base()
{
// this method body is executed first
Console.WriteLine("Base constructor");
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
}
Try it online
So to summarise: unless your base class has a parameterless constructor, your derived class constructors have to either call a base constructor directly, or indirectly through another derived class constructor. Obviously you only need to call a single base constructor method, as with any other class instantiation. You don't need matching derived methods for each base method, so long as you can construct the base with the values you do have.

Base class used as an abstract method's parameter?

I'm trying to setup some classes like:
public abstract class AnimalBase {
public string SpeciesName { get; private set; }
public AnimalBase(string speciesName) {
this.SpeciesName = speciesName;
}
public abstract void CopyFrom(AnimalDefaultClass defaultVals);
}
public class Mammal : AnimalBase {
public bool WalksUpright { get; private set; }
public Mammal(string speciesName) : base(speciesName) {
this.CopyFrom(new MammalDefaultClass(speciesName));
}
public override void CopyFrom(MammalDefaultClass defaultVals) {
this.WalksUpright = defaultVals.WalksUpright;
}
public void Cripple() {
this.WalksUpright = false;
}
}
public class MammalDefaultClass : AnimalDefaultClass {
public bool WalksUpright { get; private set; }
public MammalDefaultClass(string speciesName) {
using (var dataStore = theoreticalFactory.GetDataStore()) {
this.WalksUpright = dataStore[speciesName].WalksUpright;
}
}
}
Obviously that's not quite what I'm trying to accomplish, but the idea is:
Several classes (Mammal, Fish, Insect, etc) which inherit from an abstract base (Animal).
Each child class has a corresponding class it can use (in this case to populate mutable default values) as a parameter for a method which was defined as abstract in the base class.
Each of those corresponding classes (MammalDefaultClass, FishDefaultClass, InsectDefaultClass, etc) inherit from a common base class (AnimalDefaultClass).
Those AnimalDefaultClass derivatives exist because each class of Animal will have different properties, but by definition there will always be a class capable of getting those values for any Animal.
My problem is:
That overridden version of CopyFrom(MammalDefaultClass) isn't being recognized as a valid override of the abstract CopyFrom(AnimalDefaultClass), even though MammalDefaultClass inherits from AnimalDefaultClass
Is it possible to specify a base class as an abstract member's parameter? Is there a simple* workaround? Or is this whole thing just laid out wrong?
-edit: my resolution-
After playing around some with MWB and sza's suggestions, I ended up having each subclass implement the method using the base parameter and then cast the input as appropriate, something like:
public class Mammal : AnimalBase {
...
// implements the abstract method from the base class:
public override void CopyFrom(AnimalDefaultClass defaultVals) {
this.CopyFrom((MammalDefaultClass)defaultVals);
}
public void CopyFrom(MammalDefaultClass defaultVals) {
this.WalksUpright = defaultVals.WalksUpright;
}
}
This solution forces me to always implement a CopyFrom(AnimalDefaultClass) , which was the point of the putting the abstract method in the base class in the first place.
I think you can try Abstract Factory pattern. Basically you want to handle some construction logic during the creating the object, and for each different subtype of the Product, you can do differently.
public abstract class AnimalBase
{
public string SpeciesName { get; private set; }
protected AnimalBase(string speciesName)
{
this.SpeciesName = speciesName;
}
}
public class Mammal : AnimalBase
{
public bool WalksUpright { get; set; }
public Mammal(string speciesName) : base(speciesName)
{
}
public void Cripple()
{
this.WalksUpright = false;
}
}
public interface IAnimalFactory<T> where T : AnimalBase
{
T CreateAnAnimal(string speciesName);
}
public class MammalFactory: IAnimalFactory<Mammal>
{
public Mammal CreateAnAnimal(string speciesName)
{
var mammal = new Mammal(speciesName);
var mammalDefault = new MammalDefaultClass(speciesName);
mammal.WalksUpright = mammalDefault.WalksUpright;
return mammal;
}
}
And when you want to create a sub-typed object, you can do e.g.
var mammalFactory = new MammalFactory();
var bunny = mammalFactory.CreateAnAnimal("Bunny");
So it turns out that even though MammalDefaultClass is a subclass of AnimalDefaultClass, you cannot override a function that takes an AnimalDefaultClass with one that takes a MammalDefaultClass.
Consider this block of code:
public class Dinosaur : AnimalDefaultClass;
Dinosaur defaultDinosaur;
public void makeDinosaur(AnimalDefaultClass adc)
{
adc.CopyFrom(defaultDinosaur);
}
MammalDefaultClass m;
makeDinosaur(m);
In this case MammalDefaultClass is a subclass of AnimalDefaultClass, so m can be passed to makeDinosaur as adc. Furthermore the CopyFrom for an AnimalDefaultClass only needs another AnimalDefault class, so I can pass in a dinosaur. But that class is actually a Mammal, and so needs a MammalDefaultClass, which dinosaur is not.
The work around would be to take the original type signature and throw an error if the argument is the wrong type (similar to how arrays act in Java).

C#: What does 'owner' mean when used as argument of a class?

In the class below what does the "owner" argument do to both myClass and the base class?
public class Base
{
public myClass(owner) : base (owner) { }
}
If you have two classes, one is a base class the other a derived class, when you create constructor for the derived class, you can pass arguments to the base clas.
public class Base
{
private string Test = "";
public Base(string test)
{
Test = test;
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public Derived(string test) : base(test) // - This will call public Base(string test)
{
}
}
The following would compile and seem to fit your scenario minus the fact that you're not using the verbatim identifier #:
public class Base
{
public Base(myMethod owner)
{
}
}
public class #new : Base
{
public #new(myMethod owner) : base(owner)
{
}
}
The previous example demonstrates how to pass a constructor argument down to the base class' implementation.

Categories

Resources