Question

In the following code Visual Studio puts an error message on the word else. The specific error reads “Unexpected ‘else'”. What have I done wrong?

            decimal AmountToAccrue;
            string BillingDescription;


            if (PromoPeriodEnd >= day)

                AmountToAccrue = 0;
                BillingDescription = "Subscription 30-day Promotional Period";

            else

                AmountToAccrue = subscription.Amount * ProratedPercentDue;
                BillingDescription = "Subscription Fee";

Answer 1

You must use curly braces when you have multi-line if‘s and else‘s:

if (PromoPeriodEnd >= day)
{
    AmountToAccrue = 0;
    BillingDescription = "Subscription 30-day Promotional Period";
}
else
{
    AmountToAccrue = subscription.Amount * ProratedPercentDue;
    BillingDescription = "Subscription Fee";
}

Additional Information:

Without curly braces only the next statement, not line, is considered within the scope.

OK:

if (PromoPeriodEnd >= day)
    AmountToAccrue = 0;
else
    AmountToAccrue = subscription.Amount * ProratedPercentDue;

Not OK:

if (PromoPeriodEnd >= day)
    AmountToAccrue = 0;
    BillingDescription = "Subscription 30-day Promotional Period";
else
    AmountToAccrue = subscription.Amount * ProratedPercentDue;
    BillingDescription = "Subscription Fee";

The “Not OK” example would be viewed by the compiler like this:

//Begin if statement
if (PromoPeriodEnd >= day)
    AmountToAccrue = 0;
//End if statement   

//Set BillingDescription  (outside of the else scope)
BillingDescription = "Subscription 30-day Promotional Period";

//Begin else statement - ERROR! Where is the matching if?
else
    AmountToAccrue = subscription.Amount * ProratedPercentDue;

//Set BillingDescription(outside of the else scope) - error above - never reached
BillingDescription = "Subscription Fee";