Unknown CS1003 Error

Question

I can't compile my project for code-first migrations in entity framework past a certain point. I am reading in values from xml to populate a table. I have the following code:

        //EnrolmentProgramStartDate

        var programQuery = from r in context.EnrolmentPrograms
                           select r;

        var programList = programQuery.ToList<Entities.MetaData.Enrolment.EnrolmentProgram>();

        resourceName = "LearnLogicElicos_WebApi.SeedData.MetaData.Enrolment.enrolment_program_start_date.xml";
        stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName);
        xml = XDocument.Load(stream);
        List<Entities.MetaData.Enrolment.EnrolmentProgramStartDate> enrolmentStartdates = new List<Entities.MetaData.Enrolment.EnrolmentProgramStartDate>();

        foreach (var e in xml.Root.Elements("StartDate"))
        {
            DateTime.TryParse((string)e.Element("Start"), out var startDate);

            enrolmentStartdates.Add(new Entities.MetaData.Enrolment.EnrolmentProgramStartDate()
            {
                PrgmCode = (string)e.Element("ProgramCode"),
                StartDate = startDate
            });
        }

        var programStartdateWithFk = (from t1 in enrolmentStartdates
                                      join t2 in programList
                                      on t1.PrgmCode equals t2.PrgmCode
                                      select new Entities.MetaData.Enrolment.EnrolmentProgramStartDate
                                      {
                                          PrgmCode = t1.PrgmCode,
                                          StartDate = t1.StartDate,
                                          EnrolmentProgramFk = t2.PrgmPk
                                      });

        context.EnrolmentProgramStartDates.AddRange(programStartdateWithFk);

        context.SaveChanges();

I am getting the following error in the output window: Configuration.cs(179,71,179,80): error CS1003: Syntax error, ',' expected but I am not receiving any errors in the error list and I cannot for the life of me see a missing ,.

The xml is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Starts>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC25</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,2</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC15</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,3,19</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC10</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,4,30</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC5W</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,6,4</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC5R</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,6,4</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC5S</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,6,4</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>DEC5L</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,6,4</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>GE</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,2</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>GE</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,8</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>GE</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,15</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>GE</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,22</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>GE</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,29</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>GE</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,2,5</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>ITP</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,2</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>ITP</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,8</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>ITP</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,15</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>ITP</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,22</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>ITP</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,1,29</Start>
  </StartDate>
  <StartDate>
    <ProgramCode>ITP</ProgramCode>
    <Start>2018,2,5</Start>
  </StartDate>
</Starts>

Could someone please tell me either: a) where the missing comma is, or b) what the real issue leading me to get this error is.

Thanks.

Answer 1

The error is on this line:

DateTime.TryParse((string)e.Element("Start"), out var startDate);

And you get it because of the var keyword. You must remove it. It's not clear why you have it there, but if you are trying to declare the variable, then do it on a previous line:

DateTime startDate;
DateTime.TryParse((string)e.Element("Start"), out startDate);

Having said that, if you wait a while, C# version 7 will actually support this (though it's unclear if you can use var instead of an explicit type just yet). Take a look here for the proposed features: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2016/08/24/whats-new-in-csharp-7-0/