Question

I have a class that stores data in asp.net c# application that never changes. I really don’t want to put this data in the database – I would like it to stay in the application. Here is my way to store data in the application:

public class PostVoteTypeFunctions
{
    private List<PostVoteType> postVotes = new List<PostVoteType>();
    public PostVoteTypeFunctions()
    {
        PostVoteType upvote = new PostVoteType();
        upvote.ID = 0;
        upvote.Name = "UpVote";
        upvote.PointValue = PostVotePointValue.UpVote;
        postVotes.Add(upvote);

        PostVoteType downvote = new PostVoteType();
        downvote.ID = 1;
        downvote.Name = "DownVote";
        downvote.PointValue = PostVotePointValue.DownVote;
        postVotes.Add(downvote);

        PostVoteType selectanswer = new PostVoteType();
        selectanswer.ID = 2;
        selectanswer.Name = "SelectAnswer";
        selectanswer.PointValue = PostVotePointValue.SelectAnswer;
        postVotes.Add(selectanswer);

        PostVoteType favorite = new PostVoteType();
        favorite.ID = 3;
        favorite.Name = "Favorite";
        favorite.PointValue = PostVotePointValue.Favorite;
        postVotes.Add(favorite);

        PostVoteType offensive = new PostVoteType();
        offensive.ID = 4;
        offensive.Name = "Offensive";
        offensive.PointValue = PostVotePointValue.Offensive;
        postVotes.Add(offensive);

        PostVoteType spam = new PostVoteType();
        spam.ID = 0;
        spam.Name = "Spam";
        spam.PointValue = PostVotePointValue.Spam;
        postVotes.Add(spam);
    }
}

When the constructor is called the code above is ran. I have some functions that can query the data above too. But is this the best way to store information in asp.net? if not what would you recommend?

Answer 1

This is a candidate for an immutable struct that “looks like” an enumeration:
(Also, I noticed you used the same id value for two of them, so I fixed that…
You can use the following just as you would an enumeration…

PostVoteTypeFunctions myVar = PostVoteTypeFunctions.UpVote;

and real nice thing is that this approach requires no instance storage other than a 4-byte integer (which will be stored on stack, since it’s a struct). All hard-coded values are stored in the type itself… of which only one will exist per AppDomain…

public struct PostVoteTypeFunctions 
{ 
    private int id;
    private bool isDef;
    private PostVoteTypeFunctions ( )  { } // private to prevent direct instantiation
    private PostVoteTypeFunctions(int value) { id=value; isDef = true; }

    public bool HasValue { get { return isDef; } }
    public bool isNull{ get { return !isDef; } }
    public string Name 
    { 
       get 
       {  return 
             id==1? "UpVote":
             id==2? "DownVote":
             id==3? "SelectAnswer":
             id==4? "Favorite":
             id==5? "Offensive":
             id==6? "Spam": "UnSpecified";
       }
    }
    public int PointValue 
    { 
       get 
       {  return // Why not hard code these values here as well  ?
             id==1? PostVotePointValue.UpVote:
             id==2? PostVotePointValue.DownVote
             id==3? PostVotePointValue.SelectAnswer:
             id==4? PostVotePointValue.Favorite:
             id==5? PostVotePointValue.Offensive:
             id==6? PostVotePointValue.Spam: 
                    0;
       }
    }
    // Here Add additional property values as property getters 
    // with appropriate hardcoded return values using above pattern

    // following region is the static factories that create your instances,
    //  .. in a way such that using them appears like using an enumeration
    public static PostVoteTypeFunctions UpVote = new PostVoteTypeFunctions(1);
    public static PostVoteTypeFunctions DownVote= new PostVoteTypeFunctions(2);
    public static PostVoteTypeFunctions SelectAnswer= new PostVoteTypeFunctions(3);
    public static PostVoteTypeFunctions Favorite= new PostVoteTypeFunctions(4);
    public static PostVoteTypeFunctions Offensive= new PostVoteTypeFunctions(5);
    public static PostVoteTypeFunctions Spam= new PostVoteTypeFunctions(0);       
}