What's the C# equivalent to the With statement in VB?

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Equivalence of “With…End With” in c#?

There was one feature of VB that I really like...the With statement. Does C# have any equivalent to it? I know you can use using to not have to type a namespace, but it is limited to just that. In VB you could do this:

With Stuff.Elements.Foo
    .Name = "Bob Dylan"
    .Age = 68
    .Location = "On Tour"
    .IsCool = True
End With

The same code in C# would be:

Stuff.Elements.Foo.Name = "Bob Dylan";
Stuff.Elements.Foo.Age = 68;
Stuff.Elements.Foo.Location = "On Tour";
Stuff.Elements.Foo.IsCool = true;

dupe http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1063429/equivalence-of-with-end-with-in-c — Jimmy, Jul 24 '09 at 01:13

Robert Harvey · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-06T22:18:57.053

51

Not really, you have to assign a variable. So

    var bar = Stuff.Elements.Foo;
    bar.Name = "Bob Dylan";
    bar.Age = 68;
    bar.Location = "On Tour";
    bar.IsCool = True;

Or in C# 3.0 and above:

    var bar = new FooType
    {
        Name = "Bob Dylan",
        Age = 68,
        Location = "On Tour",
        IsCool = True
    };

    Stuff.Elements.Foo = bar;

edited Nov 06 '21 at 22:18

answered Jul 24 '09 at 01:09

Robert Harvey

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12

You are treating 'Stuff.Elements.Foo' as a type. Is that how it is being used in the VB code, or is it actually a reference to a nested variable? The technique is perfectly valid but I think your code isn't quite right. – quark Jul 24 '09 at 01:21
4

I wrote a [blog](http://blog.baltrinic.com/software-development/dotnet/c-equivalent-for-visual-basic-with-statement) some time back on how to simulate a with statement in c# using extension methods and lambda expressions. – Kenneth Baltrinic Jul 24 '11 at 21:41
1

@Kenneth: That's pretty clever, although it could be argued that `Object.Child.Grandchild.GreatGrandchild.Property1 = 1;` violates the Law of Demeter. – Robert Harvey Jul 24 '11 at 21:48
2

@Robert, _maybe_ but that's a topic for another thread. – Kenneth Baltrinic Jul 24 '11 at 22:05
The seconds part of this answer is invalid, `Stuff.Elements.Foo` is a variable. If it's a type - then you're missing `new` – Alex from Jitbit Nov 06 '21 at 20:36
"Not really". Actually not at all. That is different and only works in initialisers. The VB version was more commonly used with objects already instantiated. – John Stock Aug 24 '22 at 12:28

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 24 '09 at 01:14

9

Aside from object initializers (usable only in constructor calls), the best you can get is:

var it = Stuff.Elements.Foo;
it.Name = "Bob Dylan";
it.Age = 68;
...

answered Jul 24 '09 at 01:14

Pavel Minaev

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score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 24 '09 at 01:12

6

The closest thing in C# 3.0, is that you can use a constructor to initialize properties:

Stuff.Elements.Foo foo = new Stuff.Elements.Foo() {Name = "Bob Dylan", Age = 68, Location = "On Tour", IsCool = true}

answered Jul 24 '09 at 01:12

foson

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You are treating 'Stuff.Elements.Foo' as a type. Is that how it is being used in the VB code, or is it actually a reference to a nested variable? The technique is perfectly valid but I think your code isn't quite right. (I've copied quark's comment here as it applies to this answer too) – MarkJ Jul 24 '09 at 08:24

What's the C# equivalent to the With statement in VB?

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