Is it possible to trigger conditional compiler warnings similar to "Obsolete", but with different meanings?

Question

I have a function which should only be used by a developer in special circumstances.

Unfortunately setting public / private doesn't really help, as it needs to be visible for use in many cases.

I have documented the function with xmldocs to give the developer a warning, but is it possible to output a compiler warning? Perhaps using an attribute, similar to marking a function as obsolete?

Or perhaps if someone has any useful architectural advice on steering people away from dangerous methods (i'm guessing this will probably be separate namespaces, inheritance etc?)

ADDITIONAL DETAIL

Thanks for the answers guys, lots of 1+'s from me :-)

It's also helped me clarify my question:

[Obsolete("my message")] is better in some ways to #warning, as it will only display a warning if the method is actually being used. However as ChrisF points out, it isn't actually an Obsolete method, so isn't really accurate.

Is there a middle ground between the functionality of [Obsolete("my message")] but without the meaning?

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 31 '12 at 11:17

3

You can use #warning ...

More info at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/963th5x3(v=vs.100).aspx

edited Jul 31 '12 at 11:17

Adi Lester

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answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

Thomas

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Thanks @Thomas I've added some additional detail – Alex KeySmith Jul 31 '12 at 11:32

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

3

In Visual Studio you can throw errors and warnings like this.

#warning This line is a compiled warning

I am not sure if you can do it conditional, but this will throw a warning when compiling.

answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

Schalk

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Thanks @Schalk, I've added some additional detail. – Alex KeySmith Jul 31 '12 at 11:31

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 08 '18 at 17:08

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I think the best way to solve this is to write a small Roslyn Analyzer and ship that with your library. That way you can generate custom code inspections and that also allows the developer to suppress your warning with a proper Reason using the Suppress attribute.

Examples can be found here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/magazine/dn879356.aspx.

answered Mar 08 '18 at 17:08

jessehouwing

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Thanks, a nice new modern approach. – Alex KeySmith Mar 09 '18 at 14:28

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

0

Use the Obsolete attribute:

[Obsolete("Please don't use this")]
public void DodgyMethod()
{
}

Any code that attempts to call the method will cause the compiler to issue a warning.

While it's not technically an obsolete method, the effect is the same.

answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

ChrisF

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Thanks @ChrisF, I've added some additional detail. – Alex KeySmith Jul 31 '12 at 11:31
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@AlexKey - See also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/154109/custom-compiler-warnings – ChrisF Jul 31 '12 at 11:35
Thanks @ChrisF, I think obsolete is probably the best thing for the moment. I wonder if instead I need to come up with some sort of custom FxCop rule? Perhaps an experiment for another day :-) – Alex KeySmith Jul 31 '12 at 11:37

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

0

You should add [Obsolete("Don't use this outside of whatever")] to the method.

answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:16

SLaks

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Thanks @Slaks I've added some additional detail – Alex KeySmith Jul 31 '12 at 11:32

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 30 '22 at 16:47

0

Using Obsolete is indeed a good solution.

And you can still call this method yourself, by disabling the warning just for the call:

#pragma warning disable CS0618
DodgyMethod();
#pragma warning restore CS0618

answered Jun 30 '22 at 16:47

Alexis Pautrot

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Is it possible to trigger conditional compiler warnings similar to "Obsolete", but with different meanings?

6 Answers6