Socket.Dispose() is an inaccessible member. However, we can bypass this by doing the following:
((IDisposible)Socket).Dispose()
Two questions:
- Why is this allowed?
- How does this work internally?
views:
295answers:
2
+5
A:
I believe this feature is "explicit interface implementation." Using this will only allow the implemented methods to be called if the object is explicitly cast to the interface.
Here's a tutorial on this:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa288461(VS.71).aspx
Andy White
2009-04-02 02:16:21
yea.... makes sense, what is the behind this for Socket, for example? thx
2009-04-02 02:18:29
Check out this post: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/280495/why-to-use-explicit-interface-implementation-to-invoke-a-protected-method
Andy White
2009-04-02 02:22:21
I'm not sure I understand. It means that Socket implements IDisposable, but for some reason the designers didn't want the "Dispose()" method on the "public API" of the class. In order to use Dispose, you must cast the Socket to IDisposable
Andy White
2009-04-02 02:26:22
@Sasha, Socket has a Close method which calls Dispose behind-the-scenes. The designers of the Socket class are basically saying "although this class implements IDisposable, we'd prefer that you call Close rather than Dispose".
LukeH
2009-04-02 12:14:44
+3
A:
Whenever a class implements a method such as Close() which accomplishes the same work as Dispose(), then it is recommended to explicitly implement the IDisposable interface, so that a developer will typically only see the Close() method, yet the Dispose method is still accessible through the IDisposable interface for use by the framework where a Dispose method is expected.
Sometimes it makes sense to essentially expose Dispose under a different name, such as Close, where it makes for more readable code. You see these throughout the .NET Framework with things that can be "Closed" such as file handles and connections.
Edit: See http://www.amazon.com/Framework-Design-Guidelines-Conventions-Development/dp/0321246756
AaronLS
2009-04-02 02:22:59
+1, But do you have a reference for this recommendation? Or an example of a newer class? System.IO.Stream has both Dispose and Close
Henk Holterman
2009-04-02 09:19:36
It is in the book called .NET Framework Design Guidelines, written by the same people who wrote the .NET Framework.
AaronLS
2009-04-02 17:43:59