Something weird seems to have happened with C# classes

Question

I used to be able to do this:

public class Something
{
    public class SomethingElse
    {
        public static class ThisThing
        {
            public static string aoidj {get;set;}
        }
    }
}

But it no longer works.

My desired result (and what I've always been able to do) is:

Something.SomethingElse somethingElse = new Something.SomethingElse();
somethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj = "yay";

Console.WriteLine(somethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj);

But that no longer works. Instead of being able to access ThisThing from somethingElse, it's now appearing in SomethingElse.!

Has the C# language changed or something? The behaviour is definitely different and I don't know when it changed.

Answer 1

You need to do this:

Something.SomethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj = "yay";

Console.WriteLine(Something.SomethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj);

Or otherwise change your code to this:

public class Something
{
        public class SomethingElse
        {
            public Whatever ThisThing = new Whatever();

            public class Whatever 
            {
                public string aoidj {get;set;}
            }
        }
}

And then you could do this (your desired result):

Something.SomethingElse somethingElse = new Something.SomethingElse();
somethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj = "yay";

Console.WriteLine(somethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj);

Answer 2

It has to appear in the SomethingElse., otherwise, how can you acces it, it is a Nested Type!

C# has not changed in this way. Nested Types have always been accessible through their parent types.

See my answer here: Cannot access nested classes or members of base class.

Besides, there is no point in having static classes as a Nested Type, since static classes are more commonly used as managers or providers, so they are mainly used elsewhere in your system.

Aside, if you want to access your static class members, you have to type in its name and access it once and for all.

Something.SomethingElse.ThisThing.aoidj

But I can't do that. It would be bad. I need to do it from somethingElse. Not SomethingElse.

Than make it a property rather than a class.

public class Something {
    public class SomethingElse {
        public OrEventSomethingElse ThisThing { get; set; }
    }
}

public class OrEventSomethingElse {
    public string aoidj { get; set; }
}

This way, you shall not be able to access it through your Nested Type SomethingElse, but rather through only an instance.

Some resources to help you understand OOP.

• Object-Oriented Programming (C# and Visual Basic)
• C# Tutorial - An Object Oriented Approach to Programming
• Introduction to C# classes
• C#.Net Tutorial 17-1 - Classes and Object-Oriented Programming (Part 1)
• .NET Tutorial : Object Oriented Programming Using C# For Beginners - Part 1 - Introduction
• Beginning C# Object-Oriented Programming
• Object Oriented Programming using C# (DOWNLOAD FREE)

** I need it to be a class though, because there is more stuff to go inside of ThisThing**

Make it a class outside of SomethingElse so that you may access it as a simple instance member/property.

public class ThisThing {
    public string Stuff { get; set; }
    public int SomeMoreStuff { get; set; }
    public DateTime EvenMoreStuff { get; set; }
    // ...
    public string ThisClassIsGettingHuge { 
        get {
            return "Time to refactor because big classes tend to break SRP";
        }
    }
}


public class Something {
    public class SomethingElse {
        public ThisThing ThisThingAsAProperty { get; set; }
    }
} 

It is then, and only then that you shall only be able to access your instance.

var somethingElse = new Something.SomethingElse;
Console.WriteLine(somethingElse.ThisThingAsAProperty.ThisClassIsGettingHuge);

I have developed information and process for years, and I rarely use Nested Types. They generally cause more damage than they help.

Answer 3

Nothing is changed, but your code is wrong. And luckily I found answer too.

class Something
    {
        public class SomethingElse
        {
            public SomethingElse()
            {
            }
            public static class sm
            {
                public static void set()
                {
                }
            }
        }
    }

Use the class in this manner-

Something.SomethingElse.sm.set();