#1,138 – Type Parameters in Generic Methods Can Be Constrained

July 15, 2014 2 Comments

You can constrain the type parameters in a generic class in a number of different ways.  You can also constrain type parameters in generic methods, using the same types of constraints.

In the example below, we define a generic method Bury<T> in the Dog class.  We constrain the type parameter, indicating that it should implement the IBuryable interface.

    public class Dog
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }

        public Dog(string name)
        {
            Name = name;
        }

        // Generic method
        public void Bury<T>(T thing) where T: IBuryable
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} is burying: {1}", Name, thing);
        }
    }

We can pass the Bury method any object that implements IBuryable.

            Dog d = new Dog("Bowser");
            d.Bury(new Bone());

If we try passing an object that does not implement IBuryable, we’ll get a compile-time error, indicating that the compiler can’t convert to IBuryable.

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#1,037 – Specifying Type Parameter Constraints for More than One Type Parameter

February 20, 2014 2 Comments

If you define a generic type that includes more than one type parameter, you can specify type parameter constraints for each parameter independently.

In the example below, we define a generic class that accepts two type parameters.  We specify that the first type must be one that implements the IMoo interface and that the second type must implement IBark.

    public class MooBarkPile<T1,T2> where T1 : IMoo
                                   where T2 : IBark
    {
        private List<T1> mooPile = new List<T1>();
        private List<T2> barkPile = new List<T2>();

        public void AddMooThing(T1 thing)
        {
            mooPile.Add(thing);
            mooPile[mooPile.Count - 1].Moo();
        }

        public void AddBarkThing(T2 thing)
        {
            barkPile.Add(thing);
            barkPile[barkPile.Count - 1].Bark("Woof");
        }
    }

We can now use the type as follows:

            MooBarkPile<Cow,Dog> aPile = new MooBarkPile<Cow,Dog>();
            aPile.AddBarkThing(new Dog("Kirby", 10));
            aPile.AddMooThing(new Cow("Bessie"));

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#1,035 – Summary of Type Parameter Constraints

February 18, 2014 1 Comment

Here’s a quick summary of the different types of constraints that you can apply to type parameters:

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#1,034 – Making One Type Parameter Depend on Another

February 17, 2014 1 Comment

When specifying a constraint for a type parameter, used in either a class or a method, you can constrain the type parameter to depend on another type parameter.  That is–the second type parameter must be identical to, or derive from, the first.

Below, the type argument used when calling the Subset method (U) must be identical to or derive from the type parameter used for the class (T).  This allows us to do a cast operation.

    public class PileOf<T>
    {
        private List<T> thePile = new List<T>();

        public void Add(T thing)
        {
            thePile.Add(thing);
        }

        public List<U> Subset<U>() where U : T
        {
            List<U> subset = new List<U>();
            foreach (T next in thePile)
            {
                if (next is U)
                    subset.Add((U)next);
            }

            return subset;
        }
    }

We could use this class as follows:

            PileOf<Animal> animals = new PileOf<Animal>();
            animals.Add(new Dog("Bowser", "Woof"));
            animals.Add(new Cat("Fluffy"));
            animals.Add(new Dog("Kirby", "Growf"));

            List<Dog> theDogs = animals.Subset<Dog>();

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#547 – Things That Can Serve as Type Parameter Constraints

March 26, 2012 1 Comment

A constraint on a type parameter is often a base class or interface, but can actually take on a number of different forms.

A constraint can be a class type:

    // Type parameter can be some subclass of DogToy,
    // e.g. SqueakyToy, RopeToy
    public class Dog
        where TFavThing: DogToy

Or an interface type:

    public class Dog
        where TFavThing: IBuryable

Or another type parameter:

    // TFavThing must implement IBuryable
    // TOtherThing must be castable to TFavThing's type
    public class Dog<TFavThing,TOtherThing>
        where TFavThing: IBuryable
        where TOtherThing: TFavThing

class indicates that the type must be a reference type.

    public class Dog<TFavThing>
        where TFavThing: class

struct indicates that the type must be a non-nullable value type.

    public class Dog<TFavThing>
        where TFavThing: struct

new() indicates that the type must have a public parameterless constructor defined.

public class Dog<TFavThing>
    where TFavThing: new()

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#545 – Specifying Constraints for More than One Type Parameter

March 22, 2012 Leave a comment

When specifying constraints for type parameters in a generic class, you can specify constraints for more than one parameter.

To specify more than one constraint, just place each constraint on a separate line, with its own where clause.

    // TFavThing type parameter must be a type that implements IBuryable
    // TFavFood type parameter must be a type that implements IEdible
    public class Dog<TFavThing,TFavFood>
        where TFavThing: IBuryable
        where TFavFood: IEdible
    {
        public void BuryThing(TFavThing thing)
        {
            thing.Bury();
        }

        public void Eat(TFavFood eatThis)
        {
            eatThis.Eat();
        }
    }

When constructing this type, we just need to use types that implement the specified interfaces.

            // Bone implements IBuryable
            // RawFood implements IEdible
            Dog<Bone,RawFood> d = new Dog<Bone,RawFood>("Buster", 5);

            d.BuryThing(new Bone("Rawhide"));
            d.Eat(new RawFood(16));  // 16 oz chunk

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#544 – Specifying a Constraint for a Type Parameter

March 21, 2012 3 Comments

When you provide a type parameter to a generic class, you can only invoke methods in System.Object for objects of that type.

    public class Dog<TFavThing>
    {
        public void BuryThing(TFavThing thing)
        {
            // Err: TFavThing does not contain a definition for Bury
            thing.Bury();
        }

You can allow calling methods in a specific type by adding a constraint to the type parameter, indicating what type the parameter must conform to.  Adding a constraint lets you do two things:

  • Ensure that a type parameter belongs to a specific type
  • Allow you to call methods in a specific type, for objects whose type matches the type parameter

A constraint consists of a type parameter name following by an indication of the type that it must be.  (Generally a base class or an interface).

    // TFavThing type parameter must be a type that implements IBuryable
    public class Dog<TFavThing> where TFavThing: IBuryable

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