using 'this' in a constructor

Question

I have a class that I want to construct, by deserializing it from a network stream.

public Anfrage(byte[] dis)
    {
        XmlSerializer deser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Anfrage));
        Stream str = new MemoryStream();
        str.Write(dis, 0, dis.Length);
        this = (Anfrage)deser.Deserialize(str);
    }

The intention is that I just want to pass the byte[] and have a proper object, rather than using a method in another class.
Now, I know that I obviously cannot do this =. I've read this question and currently am reading the article mentioned in it, but I am not sure wether I'm understanding it correctly.

Is my intention clear enough?

Is there a way to do what I want to get done here?

Thank you all.

You can assign to this in constructors for value types. It may not have the effect you expect, though. — Frédéric Hamidi
– Frédéric Hamidi, Commented Jan 10, 2014 at 13:16

CodeCaster · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-10 13:16:26Z

12

You cannot overwrite an object within the class itself by assigning to this.

You can for example create a method that returns a new instance:

public static Anfrage Create(byte[] dis)
{
    XmlSerializer deser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Anfrage));
    Stream str = new MemoryStream();
    str.Write(dis, 0, dis.Length);
    return (Anfrage)deser.Deserialize(str);
}

Then you can instantiate one like this:

var anfrage = Anfrage.Create(bytes);

answered Jan 10, 2014 at 13:16

CodeCaster

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2 Comments

Mark Over a year ago

So there is no way to create a constructor like Anfrage whatev = new Anfrage(byteArrayFromSerialization)?

CodeCaster Over a year ago

Yeah you can, but then you'll have to do something like temp = Deserialize() and then copy all values from temp into this. You don't want that.

Eddynand Fuchs · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-10 13:22:44Z

3

Usually with this problem is dealt with a static non-constructor function returning the Object.

public static Anfrage Create(byte[] dis)
{
    XmlSerializer deser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Anfrage));
    Stream str = new MemoryStream();
    str.Write(dis, 0, dis.Length);
    return (Anfrage)deser.Deserialize(str);
}

if you want to have a new object and edit it, make the constructor private instead of public and acces it with you static construction function

answered Jan 10, 2014 at 13:22

Eddynand Fuchs

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2 Comments

CodeCaster Over a year ago

Are you serious, or just a slow typer? ;-)

Eddynand Fuchs Over a year ago

sorry, i clicked on Anwer and wrote the code... I always see, that my answer already is written by another guy, just after submitting it :(

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