MICROSOFT .NET INTEROPERABILITY
FOR BEGINNERSVjekoslav Babic
(Fortempo)
Vjekoslav Babićconsultant, trainer, blogger, author
Blog: vjeko.comE-mail: [email protected]
Author of many How Do I… videos for MSDN and PartnerSource for NAV 2013 and NAV 2013 R2
Co-author of “Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009” book
ABOUT ME
HOW USERS SEE PROGRAMMERS
HOW PROGRAMMERS SEE USERS
NAV PROGRAMMER PROGRAMMING IN C/AL
NAV PROGRAMMER PROGRAMMING IN .NET
A lot of the time?
WHAT DO PROGRAMMERS REALLY DO?
SO, WHAT DO PROGRAMMERS DO A LOT OF THE TIME?
UNFORTUNATELY – IT IS OFTEN A WRONG WHEEL
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TODAY…Managing strings and textManaging dates, times, and numbersAccessing operating system, file system, and the environmentManaging data, arrays, collections, and streams
C/AL.NET
THE DotNet DATA TYPEVariables of type DotNet give access to .NET Framework
Each DotNet variable specifies:• Assembly• Type
DotNet gives access to:• Methods• Properties• Constructors• Enumerations
System.StringA powerful class to handle text information.Maps fully and directly to Text data type in C/AL.
System.Text.StringBuilderA very powerful class to handle large text data efficiently.
CONSTRUCTORSCreate an instance of a class.
There is no equivalent in C/AL to constructors.CREATE function for instantiating automation objects is the closest
Typically used to:• Initialize the default state of an object• Execute default initialization logic• Limit instantiation
SYNTAX OF A CONSTRUCTORThe name of the constructor always matches the class name.
This probably looks confusing in C/AL:StringBuilder := StringBuilder.StringBuilder;
(why in the Earth do we need all those StringBuilders?)
Replace the StringBuilder variable name with s, and it’s more manageable:s := s.StringBuilder;
The syntax of the constructor in C/AL is the following:Variable := Variable.[Class Name]({argument1, …});
OVERLOADINGCapability that allows multiple members to use the same name as long as the signature remains different.
C/AL understands overloading of:• Methods• Constructors
System.Diagnostics.StopwatchA simple and useful class to handle time measurements.
NAMESPACEA higher-level scope used to organize code
Namespace has a many-to-many relationship to assemblies:• One assembly can contain multiple namespaces• The same namespace can span multiple assemblies
System.Text.RegularExpressionsA namespace containing classes for managing regular expressions.
In case you didn’t know:• Regular Expressions (RegEx) are a language used for searching
text data through pattern matching• Regular Expressions are SQL of textual data
System.DateTimeManages date and time information.Maps fully and directly to DateTime data type in C/AL.
Many useful properties and methods.
System.GlobalizationNamespace that defines a lot of useful type for managing date and time formats, regional settings, cultures, etc.
Useful classes:• Calendar• CultureInfo• DateTimeFormatInfo• NumberFormatInfo
System.Globalization.CultureInfoProvides access to culture information. Cultures are the heart of the .NET localization/globalization functionality.
System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfoProvides access to date and time formatting information.
System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfoProvides access to number formatting information.
System.MathProvides methods for trigonometric, logarithmic, and other common mathematical functions.
System.Numerics.BigIntegerRepresents an arbitrarily large integer value, without any theoretical upper or lower bounds.
System.ConvertConverts a base type to another base type.
System.IONamespace that provides many useful input and output classes.
System.IO.FileProvides static methods for the creation, copying, deletion, moving, and opening of files.
STATIC OBJECTS AND METHODSStatic classes cannot be instantiatedStatic methods can be called on classes
Static classes and members are shared for the whole application domain
Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server runs as a single application domain
System.IO.DirectoryExposes static methods for creating, moving, and enumerating through directories and subdirectories.
System.IO.PathPerforms operations on String instances that contain file or directory path information.
System.IO.FileSystemWatcherListens to the file system change notifications and raises events when a directory, or file in a directory, changes.
EVENTSEnable a class to notify other classes when something of interest
happens.
Equivalent to C/AL triggers.
Events are not automatically exposed.You must first set the WithEvents property.
Events can run be:• Server-Side: default behavior, if RunOnClient is No• Client-Side: if RunOnClient is Yes
ENUMERATIONSTypes that consist of set of named constants.
Similar, but not nearly equal to C/AL options.
C/AL .NET
Always of Integer type Of any integer numeric type, except char
Always 0-based 0-based by default, but can be any value
Each consecutive element is increased by 1
Every element can have an explicit numeric value, even negative
SUPPORT FOR ENUMERATIONS IN C/SIDE
NAV 2009 R2 NAV 2013
Does not recognize them Recognizes them
You must use integers You can use named values
You cannot use bitwise operators (AND, OR, NOT, XOR).You can use + in place of OR, but that’s about it.
System.Diagnostics.EventLogProvides interaction with Windows event logs.
MANAGING TYPE INFORMATION AT RUNTIMESystem.TypeGETDOTNETTYPECANLOADTYPE
ARRAYS AND COLLECTIONSArrays:• Contain a fixed number of values of the same data type• Roughly correspond to C/AL arrays (variables with Dimensions
property)
Collections:• Contain an arbitrary, flexible number of values of the same data
type• No equivalent in C/AL
Both arrays and collections are extensively used in .NET
System.ArrayProvides methods for creating, manipulating, searching, and sorting
arrays.
Serves as the base class for all arrays in the common language runtime.
ENUMERATORSEnable iterating through arrays and collections.C# uses the foreach keyword to manage the iteration.
Two interfaces are in charge of the enumerator-based iteration:• IEnumerable<T>• IEnumerator<T>
IEnumerable<T>• Exposes the enumerator
IEnumerator<T>• Allows iteration through enumerable object• Current• MoveNext
System.ObjectThe ultimate base class of all classes in the .NET Framework.The root of the type hierarchy.
System.Collections.HashTableRepresents a list of key/value pairs that are stored by using a hash
table.
System.Collections.Generic.List<T>Represents a strongly typed list of objects that can be accessed by
index.
Provides methods to search, sort, and manipulate lists.
GENERICSAllow a single design-time declaration that compiles to multiple run-time types.
List<T> can compile to List<int>, List<string>, or List<MyDesiredClass>
Supported on:• Classes and interfaces• Methods• Properties• Structures• Fields
In C/AL, all generics are of type System.Object
MAPPING .NET TYPES TO C/ALSome types map fully:• String• DateTime• InStream and OutStream
Many data types map uni-directionally:• Most simple data types (Boolean, Decimal, Integer, etc.)• Some complex data types (Duration)
You cannot use uni-directionally mapped .NET data types in C/AL directly.
System.IO.StreamA class that provides a generic view of a sequence of bytes.
Typical descendants:• System.IO.MemoryStream• System.IO.FileStream
Fully mutually interchangeable with both InStream and OutStream C/AL types.
Limitation:• CREATEOUTSTREAM and CREATEINSTREAM cannot be called on
System.IO.Stream