Getter without body, Setter with

Question

I have a property which is currently automatic.

public string MyProperty { get; set; } 

However, I now need it to perform some action every time it changes, so I want to add logic to the setter. So I want to do something like:

public string MyProperty {     get;     set { PerformSomeAction(); } } 

However, this doesn't build... MyProperty.get' must declare a body because it is not marked abstract, extern, or partial

I can't just have the getter return MyProperty as it will cause an infinite loop.

Is there a way of doing this, or do I have to declare a private variable to refer to? I'd rather not as MyProperty is used through out the code both in this class and outside it

Answer 1

You need to use a property with backing field:

private string mMyProperty; public string MyProperty {     get { return mMyProperty; }     set     {         mMyProperty = value;         PerformSomeAction();     } } 

Answer 2

You can´t implement one without the other, as when using the one it refers to a (hidden) backing-field which is auto-generated in the case of an autogenerated property. However when you implement one you have to set this backing-field in both ways.

The auto-way is just a shortcut for this:

private string _property; public string MyProperty {     get { return _property; }     set { _property = value; } } 

So if you´d omit the hidden field in one of the methods (this is what getters and setters are actually) how should this method know how to store/get the value?