Passing Data

[Jack]

Hi,

I have a hashtable that I need to pass around to different Business Objects.
My question is it better to pass it and make a locale hashtable variable and
set it equal to the passed hashtable or should I pass it and not worry about
it?

Thanks

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

Jack,

It doesn't really matter which you do. The reason is that if you set
the variable equal to the hashtable, then it is a reference to the instance.
If the instance is passed to other objects, then changes that they make will
be reflected in the hashtable that your business object is holding a
reference to.

You might want to consider cloning the hashtable for passing around.
Also, you might want to consider a data table as well (although you don't
have to), it's just that there is a little more type safety involved
(columns are of a certain type).

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"Jack" <[e-mail]> wrote in message
news:OY**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hi,

I have a hashtable that I need to pass around to different Business Objects. My question is it better to pass it and make a locale hashtable variable and set it equal to the passed hashtable or should I pass it and not worry about it?

Thanks

[Jack]

Thanks for the post. Since the changes each BO will make on the hashtable
needs to be reflected I will continue to pass it by ref. The reason why I
am using a hashtable instead of a datatable because I do not know the
structure of data and just add data to it at runtime. I rather use a
datatable however it seems to me that it is harder (at runtime) to add
columns and data.

Thanks

"Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]" <mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com> wrote in
message news:u1**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Jack,

It doesn't really matter which you do. The reason is that if you set
the variable equal to the hashtable, then it is a reference to the instance. If the instance is passed to other objects, then changes that they make will be reflected in the hashtable that your business object is holding a
reference to.

You might want to consider cloning the hashtable for passing around.
Also, you might want to consider a data table as well (although you don't
have to), it's just that there is a little more type safety involved
(columns are of a certain type).

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"Jack" <[e-mail]> wrote in message
news:OY**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hi,

I have a hashtable that I need to pass around to different Business

Objects.

My question is it better to pass it and make a locale hashtable variable

and

set it equal to the passed hashtable or should I pass it and not worry

about

it?

Thanks

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

Jack <[e-mail]> wrote:

Thanks for the post. Since the changes each BO will make on the hashtable
needs to be reflected I will continue to pass it by ref.

No, you don't *need* pass it by ref, because a reference is the value
which is being passed anyway.

See http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/parameters.html for a fuller
explanation.

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

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

Jack,

Because a Hashtable is a reference type, you are always passing the
reference around. When you pass it to a method, the reference is passed,
and that reference is passed by reference, or by value.

Creating the structure of a datatable is easy. You just have to add
DataColumn instances to the Columns on DataTable class (it might be a little
more complex, but that is the thrust of it).
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"Jack" <[e-mail]> wrote in message
news:OV**************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

Thanks for the post. Since the changes each BO will make on the hashtable
needs to be reflected I will continue to pass it by ref. The reason why I
am using a hashtable instead of a datatable because I do not know the
structure of data and just add data to it at runtime. I rather use a
datatable however it seems to me that it is harder (at runtime) to add
columns and data.

Thanks

"Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]" <mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com> wrote in message news:u1**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Jack,

It doesn't really matter which you do. The reason is that if you set the variable equal to the hashtable, then it is a reference to the

instance.

If the instance is passed to other objects, then changes that they make

will

be reflected in the hashtable that your business object is holding a
reference to.

You might want to consider cloning the hashtable for passing around.
Also, you might want to consider a data table as well (although you don't have to), it's just that there is a little more type safety involved
(columns are of a certain type).

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"Jack" <[e-mail]> wrote in message
news:OY**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hi,

I have a hashtable that I need to pass around to different Business

Objects.

My question is it better to pass it and make a locale hashtable

variable and

set it equal to the passed hashtable or should I pass it and not worry

about

it?

Thanks