Classes and arrays how to initialize? - vb.net

Question

I’m working on some partial classes but I can’t figure out how to do it.
This is my classes:
Partial Public Class Form
Private InfoField() As Info
Private FormgroupField() As FormGroup
Private tittle As String
Public Property Info() As Info()
Get
Return Me. InfoField
End Get
Set
Me. InfoField = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property FormGroup() As FormGroup()
Get
Return Me.GromGroupField
End Get
Set
Me.FormGroupField = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property tittle() As String
Get
Return Me.tittleField
End Get
Set
Me.tittleField = value
End Set
End Property
End class
Partial Public Class Info
Private ChangeFormField() As ChangeForm
Private formYearField() As FormYea
Private idField As String
Public Property ChangeForm() As ChangeForm()
Get
Return Me.changeFormField
End Get
Set
Me.changeFormField = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property FormYear() As FormYear()
Get
Return Me.formYearField
End Get
Set
Me.formYearField = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property id() As String
Get
Return Me.idField
End Get
Set
Me.idField = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
Partial Public Class ChangeForm
Private idField As String
Private valueField As String
<properties goes here>
End Class
Partial Public Class FormYear
Private idField As String
Private valueField As String
<properties goes here>
End Class
And for the class FormGroup the organization is the same.
I want to build partial classes to extend these classes, so when I use all this classes in another project I only have to deal with (see) the topmost class (Form) and not the other classes (like Info and FormGroup. This is what I like to do:
Partial Public Class Form
Public Sub Init()
Me.Info = New Info
Me.FormGroup = New FormGroup
Me.Info.Init()
Me.FormGroup.Init()
End Sub
End Class
Partial Public Class Info
Public Sub Init()
Me.FormYear = New FormYear
Me.ChangeForm = New ChangeForm
Me.changeForm.Init()
End Sub
But I can’t write
Me.Info = New Info
Me.FormGroup = New FormGroup
because it is arrays with classes. How can I do it in my Form and Info class?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You must first create an array, then loop over the array and assign each element. Also, unless you have a good, strong reason, do this in the constructor rather than a separate init method.
Public Class Form
Public Sub New()
'In VB, you give the max index, not the length.
'I prefer listing this as (whatever I want for length) - 1
Me.Info = New Info(size - 1) {}
For i = 0 to size - 1
Me.Info(i) = New Info()
Next
'similarly for other fields
End Sub
End Class
Alternatively, if you find yourself with a lot of array fields, and they all have default constructors, you could create a FixedCollection class that would encapsulate the repetitive initialization code.
Public Class FixedCollection(Of T As New)
Inherits Collection(Of T)
Public Sub New(ByVal size As Integer)
MyBase.New(New T(size - 1) {})
For i = 0 to size - 1
Me.Items(i) = New T()
Next
End Sub
'alternate constructors if you need additional initialization
'beyond construction of each element
Public Sub New(ByVal size As Integer, ByVal creator As Func(Of T))
MyBase.New(New T(size - 1) {})
If creator Is Nothing Then Throw New ArgumentNullException("creator")
For i = 0 to size - 1
Me.Items(i) = creator()
Next
End Sub
'this overload allows you to include the index in the collection
'if it would matter to creation
Public Sub New(ByVal size As Integer, ByVal creator As Func(Of Integer, T))
MyBase.New(New T(size - 1) {})
If creator Is Nothing Then Throw New ArgumentNullException("creator")
For i = 0 to size - 1
Me.Items(i) = creator(i)
Next
End Sub
'other collection overrides as needed here
End Class
EDIT: Added constructor overloads for when an element constructor is not enough.
If you only use the constructors with a creator parameter, you could remove the New constraint on T.
Use the overloads as follows:
Public Class Form
Private InfoField As New FixedCollection(Of Info)(10,
Function()
Dim ret As New Info()
ret.Init()
End Function)
End Class
Based on your comments, it seems like the Init methods are an unfortunate necessity. If possible, I would recommend that you find a way to get the generated constructor changed to call this method (defined in the generated code using partial methods) for you rather than forcing you to call it yourself.

Answer 2

You can initialize an Array of a Class like this:
Public FieldTypes As FieldTypeInfo() =
{
New FieldTypeInfo("Byte", 1),
New FieldTypeInfo("Int16", 2),
New FieldTypeInfo("Int32", 3),
New FieldTypeInfo("Integer", 3),
New FieldTypeInfo("Int64", 4),
New FieldTypeInfo("UInt16", 5),
New FieldTypeInfo("UInt32", 6),
New FieldTypeInfo("UInteger", 6),
New FieldTypeInfo("UInt64", 7)
}