I think you're mixing the interface with your internal data
representation. Let's assume for now that the fact that the strings are
fixed-length isn't very important to the user of the class (except when
you write it to file or something). You need some properties, like so:
class JonsClass
{
public string FirstName;
public string LastName;
public string MiddleName;
public string FullName
{
get { return FirstName + " " + MiddleName + " " +
LastName; }
}
public void Write(Stream strm)
{
// Write the data with the proper padding
}
}
If you really must have fixed-length space-padded strings inside your
objects, it's time to think of a FixedLengthString object that will hide
the implementation details from you, allowing your interface to look
like this
class JonsFixedClass
{
public FixedLengthString FirstName;
public FixedLengthString MiddleName;
public FixedLengthString LastName;
public FixedLengthString FullName
{
get { return FirstName + MiddleName + LastName; }
}
}
Your FixedLengthString class will need to be convenient, of course. I
would expect implicit castings from and to strings, a handy constructor
that sets the length and obviously the + operator.
Note that the above FixedLengthString example has a hidden bug waiting
to happen - there's no constraint on FirstName's length because it's a
public member. In your real class you'll need to fix that, obviously
(use a setter that checks the length of 'value', and makes sure the
length is the right one, for instance).
Itay.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Rothlander [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 5:22 AM
Subject: Data Structures in .Net?
I'm working on something that is common in other languages, but
something that .Net doesn't seem to support, at least it's not common
enough for me to search the Internet for it or find it in any books.
What I am trying to do is actually simple...
Let's say that you have the following data...
First Name (20)
Last Name (20)
Middle Name (20)
Area Code (3)
Delimiter2 (1)
Phone_Prefix (3)
Delimiter2 (1)
Phone_Suffix (4)
That data might look like...
Jon Rothlander Gregory 123-123-1234
What I want to do is to create the following variables....
Name_First
Name_Last
Name_Middle
Phone_AreaCode
Phone_Del1
Phone_Pre
Phone_Del2
Phone_Suf
But I also want to create the following variables as well...
Name_Full
Phone_Full
What I cannot figure out is how to do something like...
Name_Full = "Jon Rothlander Gregory "
Phone_Full = "123-123-1234"
Then have the values in the other varibles get filled without having to
code lots of Mid() string commands.
In other lanugauges like C, RPG, COBOL, and other, you can declare a
variable that points to a given set of memory. Then you can declare
other variables to point that that same memory. Then when you update
one variables, all the other variables that also point to that memory
are automatically update as well. That's what I'm trying to do.
If you could do this in .Net like you could in COBOL or RPG, you would
do something like...
Dim Name_Full as String Length(60) Start(1) End(60)
Dim Name_First as String Length(20) Start(1) End(20)
Dim Name_Last as String Length(20) Start(21) End(40)
Dim Name_Middle as String Length(20) Start(41) End(60)
What you are able to do here is to tell the compiler that Name_Full
starts at position 1 and goes to position 60. Name_First starts at 1
and goes to 20. When you move a value into Name_First, the memory is
updated and both Name_Full and Name_First are updated because they point
to the same memory location.
Is there something like this available in .Net? I have been told that
there is, but no one has been able to provide me a sample.
I know that I can go in and build a class to control this. I have done
that and it works. The problem is that it's way to much work. I want
to find something a little less complex. When I built a class to
support this, I was able to create the variables as properties over a
local property that stores the full set of data. Then each property
pulls out a given Mid(x,y) value based on the definition of the
variable. This does work, but it's a major pain. I have been told that
.Net does support some various ways to have multiple variables point at
the same memory location.
Any ideas how .Net supports that? I'm not sure where to start looking.
Best regards,
Jon
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