global variables?

[Daniel Bass]

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's everything
in classes... there are times when globals are good, like having constants
in a program which apply to several layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.

[Daniel Bass]

how ridiculous...

they purposefully instantiate a language so that anything global is
restricted. So if you want something like a global enumeration, that's a
constant through out the application, you have to "work around" their
restriction using statics/singletons or whatever else you can, to achieve
the result they're saying you're not supposed to have.

who makes up this crap?

"Rob Tillie" <Ro********@stu dent.tul.edu> wrote in message
news:Oe******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP09.phx.gbl...

Global variables aren't OO and thus not allowed.
You should declare your constants in a class where it belongs.
You can declare a field static, then it is accessable without instantiating the class:

public static readonly string APP_DIR = "Myconstant ";

Greetz,
-- Rob.

Daniel Bass wrote:

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's
everything in classes... there are times when globals are good, like
having constants in a program which apply to several
layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.

[Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]]

Hello Daniel,

Speaking of globally accessible constants, a common practice is to group
them into sealed classes having private constructors:

public sealed class FieldLimit
{
private FieldLimit()
{
}

public const int FirstName = 90;
public const int Email = 64;
}

Hope this is not terrible and it, in my opinion, makes your code look more
readable.

--
Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]
X-Unity Unit Testing and Integration Environment
http://x-unity.miik.com.ua
Deliver reliable .NET software

"Daniel Bass" <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:uP******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's everything in classes... there are times when globals are good, like having constants
in a program which apply to several layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.

[Daniel Bass]

But then you can't do something like...

enum eLOGGING_LEVEL
{
LOG_BASIC = 0,
LOG_NORMAL = LOG_BASIC + 1,
LOG_EXHAUSTIVE = LOG_NORMAL + 1,
} eLOGGING_LEVEL;

class CLog
{
int m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = LOG_BASIC;

CLog()
{
// contruction code here
}

CLog( int nLoggingLevel )
{
m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = nLoggingLevel;
}

// rest of the class where some method may use m_DefaultLoggin gLevel

}
Now some other class which contains a CLog object wants to do this...

void CreateNewLog()
{
CLog myLog(LOG_NORMA L);
}
The problem being if you have to wrap up all yours apps constants into a
class, you can't use them when initialising variables in those classes.

At least in VB you have an option to put it in a Module... C++ just lets you
do whatever, and perhaps is a bit loose, but people should be taught the
proper way of doing things, rather than stopping everyone from doing
something they think is bad style.

"Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]" <x-****@no-spam-please.hotpop.c om> wrote
in message news:O7******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

Hello Daniel,

Speaking of globally accessible constants, a common practice is to group
them into sealed classes having private constructors:

public sealed class FieldLimit
{
private FieldLimit()
{
}

public const int FirstName = 90;
public const int Email = 64;
}

Hope this is not terrible and it, in my opinion, makes your code look more
readable.

--
Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]
X-Unity Unit Testing and Integration Environment
http://x-unity.miik.com.ua
Deliver reliable .NET software

"Daniel Bass" <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:uP******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's

everything

in classes... there are times when globals are good, like having constants in a program which apply to several layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

Daniel,

What do you mean by a global enumeration? An enumeration is a type just
like anything else and does not have to be defined in a class (because it IS
a class), and you can then use it anywhere the assembly exporting it is
referenced. That sounds pretty global to me.

Also, as for your constants, you just make them static on a class, and
then you can access those constants anywhere that the class is accessible.

--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- ni************* *@exisconsultin g.com

"Daniel Bass" <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:Oe******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP09.phx.gbl...

how ridiculous...

they purposefully instantiate a language so that anything global is
restricted. So if you want something like a global enumeration, that's a
constant through out the application, you have to "work around" their
restriction using statics/singletons or whatever else you can, to achieve
the result they're saying you're not supposed to have.

who makes up this crap?

"Rob Tillie" <Ro********@stu dent.tul.edu> wrote in message
news:Oe******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP09.phx.gbl...

Global variables aren't OO and thus not allowed.
You should declare your constants in a class where it belongs.
You can declare a field static, then it is accessable without

instantiating

the class:

public static readonly string APP_DIR = "Myconstant ";

Greetz,
-- Rob.

Daniel Bass wrote:

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's
everything in classes... there are times when globals are good, like
having constants in a program which apply to several
layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.

[Rob Tillie]

It's just the same as in every OO language.
Java has the same thing.
In C++, you could do everything, because you didn't have to program the OO
way.

Greetz,
-- Rob.

Daniel Bass wrote:

But then you can't do something like...

enum eLOGGING_LEVEL
{
LOG_BASIC = 0,
LOG_NORMAL = LOG_BASIC + 1,
LOG_EXHAUSTIVE = LOG_NORMAL + 1,
} eLOGGING_LEVEL;

class CLog
{
int m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = LOG_BASIC;

CLog()
{
// contruction code here
}

CLog( int nLoggingLevel )
{
m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = nLoggingLevel;
}

// rest of the class where some method may use
m_DefaultLoggin gLevel

}
Now some other class which contains a CLog object wants to do this...

void CreateNewLog()
{
CLog myLog(LOG_NORMA L);
}
The problem being if you have to wrap up all yours apps constants
into a class, you can't use them when initialising variables in those
classes.

At least in VB you have an option to put it in a Module... C++ just
lets you do whatever, and perhaps is a bit loose, but people should
be taught the proper way of doing things, rather than stopping
everyone from doing something they think is bad style.

"Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]" <x-****@no-spam-please.hotpop.c om>
wrote in message news:O7******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

Hello Daniel,

Speaking of globally accessible constants, a common practice is to
group them into sealed classes having private constructors:

public sealed class FieldLimit
{
private FieldLimit()
{
}

public const int FirstName = 90;
public const int Email = 64;
}

Hope this is not terrible and it, in my opinion, makes your code
look more readable.

--
Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]
X-Unity Unit Testing and Integration Environment
http://x-unity.miik.com.ua
Deliver reliable .NET software

"Daniel Bass" <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:uP******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's
everything in classes... there are times when globals are good,
like having constants in a program which apply to several
layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.

[Daniel Bass]

Oh well, the battle goes on, let's all follow java cus sun must be right...

pure OO? like saying there's a perfect way of building applications. sounds
great, but just isn't practical, and can make everything look more bent out
of shape.

thanks for your comments! appreciated. =o)

[Jon Skeet]

Daniel Bass <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote:

<snip>

The problem being if you have to wrap up all yours apps constants into a
class, you can't use them when initialising variables in those classes.

Why not?

For the record, the clean C# way of doing what you were talking about
was:

public enum LogLevel
{
// No need to prepend LOG_ to each name, as the name is already
// qualified by LogLevel - see why it's nice not to have globals?
Basic,
Normal,
Exhaustive
}

public class Logger
{
// Note using the enum type instead of just "int"
LogLevel level;

public Logger()
{
level = LogLevel.Normal ;
}

public Logger (LogLevel level)
{
this.level = level;
}
}

In the other class:

void CreateNewLog()
{
Logger myLog = new Logger(LogLevel .Normal);
}

So here, we have more type safety (using LogLevel instead of int), we
have qualification of names (LogLevel.Norma l rather than a global name
of LOG_NORMAL) and we have more readable names.

What exactly was the problem again?

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[Daniel Pratt]

Hi Daniel,

Your code, translated to C# (I'll resist the temptation to ".NET" your
naming conventions):

enum eLOGGING_LEVEL
{
BASIC = 0,
NORMAL = BASIC + 1,
EXHAUSTIVE = NORMAL + 1,
}

class CLog
{
eLOGGING_LEVEL m_DefaultLoggin gLevel =
eLOGGING_LEVEL. BASIC;

CLog()
{
// contruction code here
}

CLog(eLOGGING_L EVEL nLoggingLevel )
{
m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = nLoggingLevel;
}

// rest of the class where some method may use
m_DefaultLoggin gLevel
}

Now some other class which contains a CLog object wants to do this...

void CreateNewLog()
{
CLog myLog(eLOGGING_ LEVEL.NORMAL);
}

To me, this does not seem so *horrible*.

Now, the other thing you should know is that a VB.NET module is
implemented as a sealed class where all the members are "static". The only
other difference is that VB promotes the module members into the global
address space, so you are not required to prefix the members with the class
name, as you would in C#.

Regards,
Dan

"Daniel Bass" <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:eR******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...

But then you can't do something like...

enum eLOGGING_LEVEL
{
LOG_BASIC = 0,
LOG_NORMAL = LOG_BASIC + 1,
LOG_EXHAUSTIVE = LOG_NORMAL + 1,
} eLOGGING_LEVEL;

class CLog
{
int m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = LOG_BASIC;

CLog()
{
// contruction code here
}

CLog( int nLoggingLevel )
{
m_DefaultLoggin gLevel = nLoggingLevel;
}

// rest of the class where some method may use m_DefaultLoggin gLevel

}
Now some other class which contains a CLog object wants to do this...

void CreateNewLog()
{
CLog myLog(LOG_NORMA L);
}
The problem being if you have to wrap up all yours apps constants into a
class, you can't use them when initialising variables in those classes.

At least in VB you have an option to put it in a Module... C++ just lets you do whatever, and perhaps is a bit loose, but people should be taught the
proper way of doing things, rather than stopping everyone from doing
something they think is bad style.

[Syanide]

LOL.. Looks like we have a VB programmer here... If you need globals m8..
you also need a proper programming course as well.. There is no need for
globals in any app you right...
if you want a class to be used that contains constant values create a class
with static methods...
And get your static values from that...
"Daniel Bass" <da********@NOS PAMpostmaster.c o.uk> wrote in message
news:Oe******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP09.phx.gbl...

how ridiculous...

they purposefully instantiate a language so that anything global is
restricted. So if you want something like a global enumeration, that's a
constant through out the application, you have to "work around" their
restriction using statics/singletons or whatever else you can, to achieve
the result they're saying you're not supposed to have.

who makes up this crap?

"Rob Tillie" <Ro********@stu dent.tul.edu> wrote in message
news:Oe******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP09.phx.gbl...

Global variables aren't OO and thus not allowed.
You should declare your constants in a class where it belongs.
You can declare a field static, then it is accessable without

instantiating

the class:

public static readonly string APP_DIR = "Myconstant ";

Greetz,
-- Rob.

Daniel Bass wrote:

how do i declare a global variable in c#.net? it's like it want's
everything in classes... there are times when globals are good, like
having constants in a program which apply to several
layers/objects/etc...

or does it expect me to create a singleton global class structure?

surely it's not that terrible.