Array property doesn't take literals

bgrommes

Defined a property that's an Array(Of Integer) with the default value [44,13,10] and get the error, "Property default values must be literals, enum members, or named constants. Use the constructor to initialize this property".

Is not [44,13,10] a literal?

Also, to remove this I put the cursor in the Default: textbox, hit Ctrl+A then Ctrl+X (Windows) to cut for pasting into the constructor and it wouldn't remove the text from the textbox or put it on the clipboard. I had to manually backspace the default away and re-type the value in the constructor assignment.

Garry

You’re right. [44, 13, 10] is an array literal. The compiler was incorrectly rejecting array literals when they were used as property defaults. This has now been fixed for the next release: https://feedback.objo.dev/bug/874

Both array declaration styles are supported:

Class Defaults
  Property Values As Array(Of Integer) = [44, 13, 10]
  Property Names() As String = ["alpha", "beta"]
End Class

Empty and nested array literals also work:

Property Items As Array(Of Integer) = []
Property Grid As Array(Of Array(Of Integer)) = [[1, 2], [3, 4]]

Array defaults may contain literal values, Nothing, enum members (including dot shorthand), named Colour constants, and other permitted compile-time constants. Runtime expressions such as [1 + 2] must still be assigned in the constructor.

Garry

I can't reproduce the Ctrl-A / Ctrl-X bug on my Windows test machine here. Can you reliably reproduce that?

bgrommes

Garry I can't reproduce it this morning. At the time it was happening it was as if something like a keyup/down event was fighting it, as there was a slight response to each keystroke like it was being eaten. Pretty sure I couldn't even edit it except to go to the end and backspace it away.

I was on my desktop using a proper keyboard, too, so it's unlikely I was accidentally pressing on the laptop's built-in trackpad, etc.

I'll keep an eye on similar situations going forward and let you know if I see it again or have any additional steps to reproduce.