The following example shows how to define abstract properties. An abstract property declaration does not provide an implementation of the property accessors -- it declares that the class supports properties, but leaves the accessor implementation to derived classes. The following example demonstrates how to implement the abstract properties inherited from a base class.
This sample consists of three files, each of which is compiled individually and its resulting assembly is referenced by the next compilation:
abstractshape.cs: the
Shapeclass that contains an abstractAreaproperty.shapes.cs: The subclasses of the
Shapeclass.shapetest.cs: A test program to display the areas of some
Shape-derived objects.
To compile the example, use the following command:
csc abstractshape.cs shapes.cs shapetest.cs
This will create the executable file shapetest.exe.
Example
This file declares the Shape class that contains the Area property of the type double.
// compile with: csc /target:library abstractshape.cs
public abstract class Shape
{
private string m_id;
public Shape(string s)
{
// calling the set accessor of the Id property.
Id = s;
}
public string Id
{
get
{
return m_id;
}
set
{
m_id = value;
}
}
// Area is a read-only property - only a get accessor is needed:
public abstract double Area
{
get;
}
public override string ToString()
{
return Id + " Area = " + string.Format("{0:F2}", Area);
}
}
Modifiers on the property are placed on the property declaration itself. For example:
public abstract double AreaWhen declaring an abstract property (such as
Areain this example), you simply indicate what property accessors are available, but do not implement them. In this example, only a get accessor is available, so the property is read-only.
The following code shows three subclasses of Shape and how they override the Area property to provide their own implementation.
// compile with: csc /target:library /reference:abstractshape.dll shapes.cs
public class Square : Shape
{
private int m_side;
public Square(int side, string id)
: base(id)
{
m_side = side;
}
public override double Area
{
get
{
// Given the side, return the area of a square:
return m_side * m_side;
}
}
}
public class Circle : Shape
{
private int m_radius;
public Circle(int radius, string id)
: base(id)
{
m_radius = radius;
}
public override double Area
{
get
{
// Given the radius, return the area of a circle:
return m_radius * m_radius * System.Math.PI;
}
}
}
public class Rectangle : Shape
{
private int m_width;
private int m_height;
public Rectangle(int width, int height, string id)
: base(id)
{
m_width = width;
m_height = height;
}
public override double Area
{
get
{
// Given the width and height, return the area of a rectangle:
return m_width * m_height;
}
}
}
The following code shows a test program that creates a number of Shape-derived objects and prints out their areas.
// compile with: csc /reference:abstractshape.dll;shapes.dll shapetest.cs
class TestClass
{
static void Main()
{
Shape[] shapes =
{
new Square(5, "Square #1"),
new Circle(3, "Circle #1"),
new Rectangle( 4, 5, "Rectangle #1")
};
System.Console.WriteLine("Shapes Collection");
foreach (Shape s in shapes)
{
System.Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
}
Output
Shapes Collection Square #1 Area = 25.00 Circle #1 Area = 28.27 Rectangle #1 Area = 20.00
See Also
Reference
Objects, Classes and Structs (C# Programming Guide)
Abstract and Sealed Classes and Class Members (C# Programming Guide)
Properties (C# Programming Guide)