Question

I have little experience with Visual Basic.

I would like to add some methods to the System.Console class for a simple console application I am making. I am aware of the way to add extension methods to class. I’ve tried this code, but it gives the error: Reference to a non-shared member requires an object reference.

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Module Module1

    <Extension()>
    Public Sub WriteStuff(ByRef Console As System.Console, ByVal Output As String)

        Console.Write(Output & "?")

    End Sub

    Sub Main()

        Console.WriteStuff("Hello")
        Console.ReadKey()

    End Sub

End Module

Answer 1

Extension methods are instance methods; they cannot be applied statically. System.Console is a class, not an object, and methods like ReadKey() are static. Static extension methods are not allowed.

Look at your signature:

Public Sub WriteStuff(ByRef Console As System.Console, ...

It makes no sense to take a class identifier by reference, right (or at all for that matter)?