In VB.NET it is actually possible to return an Anonymous type from a function and use it somewhere else. In VB.NET you need to use late binding so you can’t change the “Option strict” compiler option to true as I have always done in the past. This option, that defaults to “Off”, is the main reason that C# developers scoff at VB, but this feature is now available, controversially in C#.
In this example I created an anonymous type that has three properties.
1 Public Function GetTwiterCredentials() As Object 2 If Not My.Settings.TwitterEmail.Length > 3 Then 3 GetSettings() 4 End If 5 If Not My.Settings.TwitterPassword.Length > 3 Then 6 GetSettings() 7 End If 8 If Not My.Settings.TwitterUsername.Length > 3 Then 9 GetSettings() 10 End If 11 Return New With { _ 12 .Email = My.Settings.TwitterEmail, _ 13 .Password = My.Settings.TwitterPassword, _ 14 .Username = My.Settings.TwitterUsername _ 15 } 16 End Function
The use of this is very simple, although I would like an option other than to return “Object” so Visual Studio knows that it is an anonymous type.
1 Dim TwiterCredentials = View.GetTwiterCredentials 2 Dim result As String = "" 3 result = Twitter.TwitterAPI.UpdateStatus( _ 4 status, _ 5 TwiterCredentials.Email, _ 6 TwiterCredentials.Password _ 7 )
There is no intellisense with this, so you have to know what the options are. Hopefully in future versions this will be rectified.
Technorati Tags: .NET
No related videos found.
If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.
We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.
Milliman
Qualco
Emerson Process Management
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)
Kongsberg Maritime
Slaughter and May
NIT A/S
Brandes Investment Partners L.P.
Freadom
Schlumberger
YearUp.org
Jack Links
Graham & Brown
Deliotte
Boxit Document Solutions
Epic Games
Healthgrades
Ericson
Washington Department of Transport
Royal Air Force
Nottingham County Council
Ghana Police Service
New Hampshire Supreme Court
Washington Department of Enterprise Services
Milliman
Trayport
MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.
New Signature
Lean SA
Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG)