Expose Class Methods and Properties without instantiating 1

Neld · Dec 2, 2012

Hi,

I am new to C# and trying to do some testing.

I created a Class Library and compiled it to a DLL. The DLL replaces unwanted characters from a Telephone number. e.g. When a user enters a telephone number (+1(123)-456-7890) in a textbox and on event onTextBox_TextChange() the telephone number gets cleaned to 11234567890.

The code below is from the Class Library:

Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows.Forms;


namespace Common.DLL
{
    public class Telephone

    {

        public string FormattedAsIs { get; set; }

        private string m_Telephone = string.Empty;

        public string Formatted

        {
            get { return m_Telephone; }

            set

            {

                m_Telephone = CleanTelephone(value);

            }
        }

        public string CleanTelephone(string StrValue)

        {

            string pattern = @"[^\d]";
            string replacement = string.Empty;
            Regex rgx = new Regex(pattern);

            StrValue = rgx.Replace(StrValue, replacement);

            return StrValue;
        }
    }
}

The Code that will use the DLL:

Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Common.DLL;

namespace Practice
{
    static class Program

    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {

            //The telephone functionalities...

            //When instantiating the Telephone Object the Properties and Methods are exposed.
            //*******************************************************************************

            Telephone T = new Telephone();

            T.FormattedAsIs = "12345";

            T.Formatted = "a9b8c7654#3@2!1";

            MessageBox.Show (T.FormattedAsIs + ' ' + '*' + ' ' + T.Formatted);


            //When accessing the Telephone Object the Properties and Methods are not exposed except equals and referenceequals.
            //*****************************************************************************************************************

            Telephone.



            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Form1());

            
        }
   }
}

The question i'd like to ask is when I instantiate the Telephone object, all the properties and methods are exposed and I can use them.

But when I try accessing the "Telephone." object directly, it only shows 2 methods (Equals and ReferenceEquals). I'd like to expose all the methofs and properties without instantiating the Telephone objects. Can this be done? How?

Please help.

Thanks

Neld

litton1 · Dec 3, 2012

By using Class. (Telephone.) you are only looking at static methods and you have none?

Age is a consequence of experience

MarkXaml · Dec 3, 2012

That is correct... you need static methods in order to access them without an instance object.

Code:

public class Telephone
    {
        public static string CleanTelephone(string StrValue)
        {
            string pattern = @"[^\d]";
            string replacement = string.Empty;
            Regex rgx = new Regex(pattern);

            StrValue = rgx.Replace(StrValue, replacement);

            return StrValue;
        }
    }

I think it can then be used the way you're looking for.

Code:

            string formattedPhone = Telephone.CleanTelephone("a9b8c7654#3@2!1");

            Console.WriteLine(formattedPhone);
            Console.ReadLine();

However, just for something to think about (since you've claimed that you're new at C# and learning is always a good thing)...

If you're just looking to strip non-numeric characters from a string - it doesn't have anything specifically to do with a phone number. What if you extended the string class to give you a numeric only representation? Then used the Telephone class to give you both a formatted (for display) and a numeric only (for database) representation of the phone number?

String class extension:

Code:

    public static class StringExtensions
    {
        public static string ToNumericOnly(this string str)
        {
            string pattern = @"[^\d]";
            string replacement = string.Empty;
            Regex rgx = new Regex(pattern);

            return rgx.Replace(str, replacement);
        }
    }

You can now use it with any string by adding .ToNumericOnly() to the string (see example below)

Now modify the Telephone class to use the extension.

Code:

    public class Telephone
    {
        public Telephone() { }

        public Telephone(string phoneNumber)
        {
            this.PhoneNumber = phoneNumber;
        }

        public string PhoneNumber { get; set; }

        public string NumericOnlyPhoneNumber
        {
            get
            {
                return this.PhoneNumber.ToNumericOnly();
            }
        }

        public string FormattedPhoneNumber
        {
            get
            {
                string result = this.NumericOnlyPhoneNumber;

                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(result))
                {
                    long filteredNumber = System.Convert.ToInt64(result);

                    switch (result.Length)
                    {
                        case 11:
                            result = string.Format("{0:+# (###) ###-####}", filteredNumber);
                            break;
                        case 10:
                            result = string.Format("{0:(###) ###-####}", filteredNumber);
                            break;
                        case 7:
                            result = string.Format("{0:###-####}", filteredNumber);
                            break;
                    }
                }
                

                return result;
            }
        }
    }

You can now use the Telephone class (as an instance class) to handle your phone number needs.

Code:

            Telephone phone = new Telephone();
            phone.PhoneNumber = "11a9b8c7654#3@2!1";

            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("stripped number: {0}", phone.NumericOnlyPhoneNumber));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("formatted number: {0}", phone.FormattedPhoneNumber));

            //this is more likely the input you're expecting from your form
            Telephone altPhone = new Telephone("+1(123)-456-7890");

            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("stripped number: {0}", altPhone.NumericOnlyPhoneNumber));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("formatted number: {0}", altPhone.FormattedPhoneNumber));

            Console.ReadLine();

Sorry if I got a bit wordy. This isn't necessarily the "best" solution... just some concepts to think about and look up. Good luck on your journey in C#!

-Mark

whosrdaddy · Dec 3, 2012

Nice answer!

/Daddy

-----------------------------------------------------
Helping people is my job...

Neld · Dec 3, 2012

Thank you very much guys. Mark thank you for the very detailed response and I now have a more better understanding of what I am trying to accomplish. cheers...

whosrdaddy · Dec 4, 2012

@Neld: you thank Mark by giving his post a start

/Daddy

-----------------------------------------------------
Helping people is my job...

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Expose Class Methods and Properties without instantiating 1

Neld

Programmer

litton1

Technical User

MarkXaml

Programmer

whosrdaddy

Vendor

Neld

Programmer

whosrdaddy

Vendor

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