Question

In the below code, I would like to use the code in static load method to refresh the object… but how would I reset the current object with new object ? Is copying field by field is the only way ?

class WIP
{
    //  <Snipped> Various other properties...
    public Boolean Refresh()
    {
        //  Need to change the current object with the updated object
        this = WIP.Load(this.ObjectID);  // Says this is readonly...
        return true;
    }

    public static WIP Load(long ObjectID)
    {
        //  This static method fetches the data from DB and returns the object.
    }
}

Edit : I just got this idea after posting the question… Are there any traps in this ?

class WIP
{
    //  <Snipped> Various other properties... 
    public Boolean Refresh()
    {
        //  This method fetches the data from DB and updates the object. 
    }

    public static WIP Load(long ObjectID)
    {
        WIP newObject = new WIP();
        newObject.ObjectID = ObjectID;
        newObject.Refresh();
        return newObject;
    }
} 

Answer 1

No, you can’t. The closest you can come is basically to copy every member – which isn’t going to work if some are read-only, of course.

Either you’re trying to make your object immutable – in which case it shouldn’t change under the feet of code which already has a reference to your object – or you’re not, in which case you just need to make it fully mutable (ideally in some atomic fashion if there are multiple threads involved).