good stuff
// ok to alias a List Type
using AliasStringList = System.Collections.Generic.List<string>;
// and ok to alias a List of Lists like this
using AliasListOfStringList1 = System.Collections.Generic.List<System.Collections.Generic.List<string>>;
bad stuff
// However **error** to alias another alias
using AliasListOfStringList2 = System.Collections.Generic.List<AliasStringList>;
Produces the compile error
The type or namespace name
'AliasStringList' could not be found
(are you missing a using directive or
an assembly reference?)
Note: this is the using directive not the using statement.
You just can't use an alias declared in a using inside another using. For a set of usings like you have, you can assume that sibling using declarations don't exist.
From MSDN
The order in which using-alias-directives are written has no significance, and resolution of the namespace-or-type-name referenced by a using-alias-directive is not affected by the using-alias-directive itself or by other using-directives in the immediately containing compilation unit or namespace body. In other words, the namespace-or-type-name of a using-alias-directive is resolved as if the immediately containing compilation unit or namespace body had no using-directives
It provides simplified example of your exact problem, this is expected behavior:
namespace N1.N2 {}
namespace N3
{
using R1 = N1; // OK
using R2 = N1.N2; // OK
using R3 = R1.N2; // Error, R1 unknown
}
The documentation says:
The right side of a using alias
directive must always be a
fully-qualified type regardless of the
using directives that come before it.
So basically alias directives ignore other using directives.
Although this question doesn't ask for a solution to eliminate the compile error while This duplicate question is asking about, I will list what I have found so far.
Solution0: independent namespace (Nick's answer)
Solution1: nested namespace (inspired by Nick's answer)
using StringList = System.Collections.Generic.List<string>;
namespace Inner {
using ListOfStringList = System.Collections.Generic.List<StringList>;
...
}
Solution2: inheritance (Paul's answer)
using StringList = System.Collections.Generic.List<string>;
public class ListOfStringList : System.Collections.Generic.List<StringList> {}
...
But there will be some problems with Solution2 that you may have to wrap all constructors of the System.Collections.Generic.List<StringList>
.