Question

I’m writing a TemplateEngine that will allow me to use my own markup in text based files. I’m wanting to add controls as plugins as the application matures. Currently i’ve got a structure like the following:

interface IControl
    string Id
    object Value

class Label : IControl
    string Id
    string Value

class Repeater : IControl
    string Id
    List<IControl> Value

Now you’ll see the strange part right away in the Repeater class with the Value property. I was hoping that having the Value type as object in the interface would allow me the flexibility to expand the controls as i go along. The compiler doesn’t like this and for good reason i guess.

Bottom line: I’m trying to get all control classes to implement the same interface but have different types for the Value property.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to accomplish this?

Note: Please don’t go into suggesting things like use Spark View Engine for templating. There is a reason i’m creating extra work for myself.

Answer 1

Normally the Repeater would implement something different, like an IItemsControl for example.

EDIT 1

(removed for brevity)

EDIT 2

Ah okay, you can always use explicit interface implementation of course:

interface IControl
{
    string Id { get; set; }
    object Value { get; set; }
}

class Label : IControl
{
    public string Id { get; set; }
    public string Value { get; set; }

    object IControl.Value
    {
        get { return this.Value; }
        set { this.Value = (string)value; }
    }
}

class Repeater : IControl
{
    public string Id { get; set; }
    public IList<IControl> Value { get; set; }

    object IControl.Value
    {
        get { return this.Value; }
        set { this.Value = (IList<IControl>)value; }
    }
}