private variable is still accessible from another class in C#

Question

I have a .cs file which looks like the following

namespace TarkovMapper.ClassObjects
{
    class PointCloud_Object
    {
        public void AddPoint(PointEntry_Object point)
        {
            PointLayer pointLayer = LoadPointLayer(path);
            pointLayer.Points[point.Location_x,point.Location_y]++;
        }
        private PointLayer LoadPointLayer(string path)
        {
            if (!File.Exists(path)) return new PointLayer(this.Width, this.Height);
            Stream s = File.OpenRead(path);
            BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();
            PointLayer returnObject = (PointLayer) b.Deserialize(s);
            s.Close();
            return returnObject;
        }
    }
    [Serializable]
    class PointLayer
    {
        public PointLayer(int width, int height)
        {
            this.Points = new int[width, height];
        }
        public int[,] Points { get; private set; } // <- private set!!!
        public int Maximum { get; private set; }
    }
}

My Question is regarding the Variable "Points" in the class PointLayer. Eventhough I have the Modifier private set; the following line in PointCloudObject is no issue pointLayer.Points[point.Location_x,point.Location_y]++;.

why is that?

JSR · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-01 14:28:02Z

2

The modifier refers to the Points array, not the array's individual elements. The PointCloud_Object class cannot assign a new array to the PointLayer.Points variable, but it can manipulate the individual array elements.

answered Sep 1, 2020 at 14:28

JSR

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2 Comments

julian bechtold Over a year ago

Ahh thank you! Is there a way I can protect the elements inside the Array so they cant be modified from outside the Class?

JSR Over a year ago

I don't think you can protect the elements directly as long as the array is exposed. One option would be to make the array private and provide a method that returns the individual elements. Another option might be to use an alternate data structure instead of an array (maybe ReadOnlyCollection would meet your needs).

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