Cannot use local variable before it is declared

Question

I am trying to create a function but I'm getting an error message.

public int[] genericSearch(int searchWidth, int startingRadius, int width, int height, Bitmap bitmap) {     //Generic function for finding the best path from a certain range     if (startingRadius == -1)         startingRadius = bitmap.Height() / 2; 

Cannot use local variable 'startingRadius' before it is declared.

The same problem occurs for the bitmap variable as well. Normally in c++ this type of declaration would work; however, I am unsure why it is not working here.

Answer 1

In visual studio. Sometimes when you declare a variable again (a second time). It will give this error. For example, this will sometimes throw the exception you mentioned:

 1.  int startingRadius = 0;  2.  startingRadius = 5; <-- Exception thrown here.  3.    4.  int startingRadius = 0; 

Obviously this is incorrect anyway. So removing the second declaration (on line 4) will solve the problem.

Note: The exception you would ordinarily expect would be A local variable named 'startingRadius' is already defined in this scope. But for some reason, the exception you mentioned is shown sometimes.

Answer 2

You are missing a closing brace for your method but otherwise this code can compile on my machine... (changed Height to a property as well)

public int[] genericSearch(int searchWidth, int startingRadius, int width, int height,Bitmap bitmap)          {          //Generic function for finding the best path from a certain range              if (startingRadius == -1)                  startingRadius = bitmap.Height / 2;          }