C# – Specify assembly for namespace

.net-assemblycnamespaceswpfxaml

Is there anyway to specify the assembly along with the namespace in C#?

For instance, if you reference both PresentationFramework.Aero and PresentationFramework.Luna in a project you might notice that both of them share the same controls in the same namespace but with different implementation.

Take ButtonChrome for example. It exists in both assemblies under the namespace Microsoft.Windows.Themes.

In XAML you include the assembly along with the namespace so here it's no problem

xmlns:aeroTheme="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Themes;assembly=PresentationFramework.Aero"
xmlns:lunaTheme="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Themes;assembly=PresentationFramework.Luna"

<aeroTheme:ButtonChrome ../>
<lunaTheme:ButtonChrome ../>

But in C# code behind I can't find anyway to create an instance of ButtonChrome in PresentationFramework.Aero.

The following code gives me error CS0433 when compiling

using Microsoft.Windows.Themes;
// ...
ButtonChrome buttonChrome = new ButtonChrome();

error CS0433: The type 'Microsoft.Windows.Themes.ButtonChrome' exists in both
'c:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework.NETFramework\v4.0\Profile\Client\PresentationFramework.Aero.dll'
and
'c:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework.NETFramework\v4.0\Profile\Client\PresentationFramework.Luna.dll'

Which is very understandable, the compiler has no way of knowing which ButtonChrome to choose because I haven't told it. Can I do that somehow?

Best Answer

You need to specify an alias for the assembly reference and then import via the alias:

extern alias thealias;

See the properties window for the references.

Suppose you alias the aero assembly as "aero" and the luna assembly as "luna". You could then work with both types within the same file as follows:

extern alias aero;
extern alias luna;

using lunatheme=luna::Microsoft.Windows.Themes;
using aerotheme=aero::Microsoft.Windows.Themes;

...

var lunaButtonChrome = new lunatheme.ButtonChrome();
var aeroButtonChrome = new aerotheme.ButtonChrome();

See extern alias for more info.

Related Solutions

C# – Should ‘using’ directives be inside or outside the namespace

There is actually a (subtle) difference between the two. Imagine you have the following code in File1.cs:

// File1.cs
using System;
namespace Outer.Inner
{
    class Foo
    {
        static void Bar()
        {
            double d = Math.PI;
        }
    }
}

Now imagine that someone adds another file (File2.cs) to the project that looks like this:

// File2.cs
namespace Outer
{
    class Math
    {
    }
}

The compiler searches Outer before looking at those using directives outside the namespace, so it finds Outer.Math instead of System.Math. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), Outer.Math has no PI member, so File1 is now broken.

This changes if you put the using inside your namespace declaration, as follows:

// File1b.cs
namespace Outer.Inner
{
    using System;
    class Foo
    {
        static void Bar()
        {
            double d = Math.PI;
        }
    }
}

Now the compiler searches System before searching Outer, finds System.Math, and all is well.

Some would argue that Math might be a bad name for a user-defined class, since there's already one in System; the point here is just that there is a difference, and it affects the maintainability of your code.

It's also interesting to note what happens if Foo is in namespace Outer, rather than Outer.Inner. In that case, adding Outer.Math in File2 breaks File1 regardless of where the using goes. This implies that the compiler searches the innermost enclosing namespace before it looks at any using directive.

C# – What are the correct version numbers for C#

C# language version history:

These are the versions of C# known about at the time of this writing:

C# 1.0 released with .NET 1.0 and VS2002 (January 2002)
C# 1.2 (bizarrely enough); released with .NET 1.1 and VS2003 (April 2003). First version to call Dispose on IEnumerators which implemented IDisposable. A few other small features.
C# 2.0 released with .NET 2.0 and VS2005 (November 2005). Major new features: generics, anonymous methods, nullable types, and iterator blocks
C# 3.0 released with .NET 3.5 and VS2008 (November 2007). Major new features: lambda expressions, extension methods, expression trees, anonymous types, implicit typing (var), and query expressions
C# 4.0 released with .NET 4 and VS2010 (April 2010). Major new features: late binding (dynamic), delegate and interface generic variance, more COM support, named arguments, tuple data type and optional parameters
C# 5.0 released with .NET 4.5 and VS2012 (August 2012). Major features: async programming, and caller info attributes. Breaking change: loop variable closure.
C# 6.0 released with .NET 4.6 and VS2015 (July 2015). Implemented by Roslyn. Features: initializers for automatically implemented properties, using directives to import static members, exception filters, element initializers, await in catch and finally, extension Add methods in collection initializers.
C# 7.0 released with .NET 4.7 and VS2017 (March 2017). Major new features: tuples, ref locals and ref return, pattern matching (including pattern-based switch statements), inline out parameter declarations, local functions, binary literals, digit separators, and arbitrary async returns.
C# 7.1 released with VS2017 v15.3 (August 2017). New features: async main, tuple member name inference, default expression, and pattern matching with generics.
C# 7.2 released with VS2017 v15.5 (November 2017). New features: private protected access modifier, Span<T>, aka interior pointer, aka stackonly struct, and everything else.
C# 7.3 released with VS2017 v15.7 (May 2018). New features: enum, delegate and unmanaged generic type constraints. ref reassignment. Unsafe improvements: stackalloc initialization, unpinned indexed fixed buffers, custom fixed statements. Improved overloading resolution. Expression variables in initializers and queries. == and != defined for tuples. Auto-properties' backing fields can now be targeted by attributes.
C# 8.0 released with .NET Core 3.0 and VS2019 v16.3 (September 2019). Major new features: nullable reference-types, asynchronous streams, indices and ranges, readonly members, using declarations, default interface methods, static local functions, and enhancement of interpolated verbatim strings.
C# 9.0 released with .NET 5.0 and VS2019 v16.8 (November 2020). Major new features: init-only properties, records, with-expressions, data classes, positional records, top-level programs, improved pattern matching (simple type patterns, relational patterns, logical patterns), improved target typing (target-type new expressions, target typed ?? and ?), and covariant returns. Minor features: relax ordering of ref and partial modifiers, parameter null checking, lambda discard parameters, native ints, attributes on local functions, function pointers, static lambdas, extension GetEnumerator, module initializers, and extending partial.

In response to the OP's question:

What are the correct version numbers for C#? What came out when? Why can't I find any answers about C# 3.5?

There is no such thing as C# 3.5 - the cause of confusion here is that the C# 3.0 is present in .NET 3.5. The language and framework are versioned independently, however - as is the CLR, which is at version 2.0 for .NET 2.0 through 3.5, .NET 4 introducing CLR 4.0, service packs notwithstanding. The CLR in .NET 4.5 has various improvements, but the versioning is unclear: in some places it may be referred to as CLR 4.5 (this MSDN page used to refer to it that way, for example), but the Environment.Version property still reports 4.0.xxx.

As of May 3, 2017, the C# Language Team created a history of C# versions and features on their GitHub repository: Features Added in C# Language Versions. There is also a page that tracks upcoming and recently implemented language features.