Delete object via pointer

Question

I have a label array pointing to a label such as,

label_array[i] = a_label;

The array has global while label has function scope. Is it possible to delete label via array?

What do you mean by "delete" in this context. Remove from the form? (I assume by "label" you mean a visual label.) — Lasse V. Karlsen
– Lasse V. Karlsen, Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 20:42
Are you sure you tagged this right? C# and pointers are seldom mixed. — David Heffernan
– David Heffernan, Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 20:42
There's no need to "delete" like you do in C++. C# is an automatic-garbage-collection language. — Eric Lippert
– Eric Lippert, Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 21:13

GETah · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-13 21:18:10Z

1

Usually, you can dispose of your objects just by setting their references to null, the garbage collector will take care of disposing of those objects for you. However, not all objects can be disposed just by setting their reference to null. In fact, all objects that implement IDisposable should be disposed by calling their Dispose method as it the case for GDI objects which require an explicit call to Dispose to free up their resources (see this link for details)

This is being said, if a_label is a WinForms Label then you should do the following to dispose of it:

// REMOVE THE LABEL FROM THE PARENT CONTAINER FIRST 
// AND THEN DO THE FOLLOWING
label_array[i].Dispose();
label_array[i] = null;

EDIT Just to highlight what @Groo mentioned in the comment below, make sure you remove your Label from the parent container before disposing of it, thanks @Groo!

edited Mar 13, 2012 at 21:18

answered Mar 13, 2012 at 20:56

GETah

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2 Comments

vgru Over a year ago

I wouldn't recommend doing this before label is removed from its parent control's Controls collection.

Lasse V. Karlsen Over a year ago

Please don't say "dispose of" when releasing a reference, in .NET, disposing of an object and releasing references (eventually making it eligible for collection) is not the same at all.

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