How does the “Using” statement translate from C# t

Question

For example:

BitmapImage bitmap = new BitmapImage();

byte[] buffer = GetHugeByteArray(); // from some external source
using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(buffer, false))
{
    bitmap.BeginInit();
    bitmap.CacheOption = BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad;
    bitmap.StreamSource = stream;
    bitmap.EndInit();
    bitmap.Freeze();
}

Can you tell me any more about using?

Edit:

As was discussed in the comments of JaredPar's post, this question is more concerned with an implementation of Using in VS2003. It was pointed out that Using was not introduced until .NET 2.0 (VS2005). JaredPar posted an equivalent workaround.

Answer 1

Its important to point out that using is actually compiled into various lines of code, similar to lock, etc.

From the C# language specification.... A using statement of the form

using (ResourceType resource = expression) statement

corresponds to one of two possible expansions. When ResourceType is a value type, the expansion is

{
    ResourceType resource = expression;
    try {
        statement;
    }
    finally {
        ((IDisposable)resource).Dispose();
    }
}

Otherwise, when ResourceType is a reference type, the expansion is

{
    ResourceType resource = expression;
    try {
        statement;
    }
    finally {
        if (resource != null) ((IDisposable)resource).Dispose();
    }
}

(end language specification snippet)

Basically, at compile time its converted into that code. There is no method called using, etc. I tried to find similar stuff in the vb.net language specification but I couldn't find anything, presumably it does the exact same thing.

Answer 2

That would be something like this:

Dim bitmap As New BitmapImage()
Dim buffer As Byte() = GetHugeByteArray()
Using stream As New MemoryStream(buffer, False)
    bitmap.BeginInit()
    bitmap.CacheOption = BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad
    bitmap.StreamSource = stream
    bitmap.EndInit()
    bitmap.Freeze()
End Using

Answer 3

Seems like using(C#) and Using (VB) have an extremely important difference. And at least for me now, it can defeat the purpose of Using.

Imports System.IO
Class Program

    Private Shared sw As StreamWriter

    Private Shared Sub DoSmth()
        sw.WriteLine("foo")
    End Sub

    Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
        Using sw = New StreamWriter("C:\Temp\data.txt")
            DoSmth()
        End Using
    End Sub
End Class

You'll get NullReferenceException as in VB Using redefines the member class variable while in C# it doesn't!

Of course, maybe I missing something..

Answer 4

Using has virtually the same syntax in VB as C#, assuming you're using .NET 2.0 or later (which implies the VB.NET v8 compiler or later). Basically, just remove the braces and add a "End Using"

Dim bitmap as New BitmapImage()
Dim buffer As Byte() = GetHugeByteArrayFromExternalSource()
Using stream As New MemoryStream(buffer, false)
    bitmap.BeginInit()
    bitmap.CacheOption = BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad
    bitmap.StreamSource = stream
    bitmap.EndInit()
    bitmap.Freeze()
End Using

You can get the full documentation here

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/htd05whh(VS.80).aspx

EDIT

If you're using VS2003 or earlier you'll need the below code. The using statement was not introduced until VS 2005, .NET 2.0 (reference). Thanks Chris!. The following is equivalent to the using statement.

Dim bitmap as New BitmapImage()
Dim buffer As Byte() = GetHugeByteArrayFromExternalSource()
Dim stream As New MemoryStream(buffer, false)
Try
    bitmap.BeginInit()
    bitmap.CacheOption = BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad
    bitmap.StreamSource = stream
    bitmap.EndInit()
    bitmap.Freeze()
Finally
    DirectCast(stream, IDisposable).Dispose()
End Try

Answer 5

The key point is that the class being "used" must implement the IDisposable interface.