Copy an object reference..?

In theory..I'd like to do the following..copy object a's properties over to object b, then be able to modify b's properties without affecting object a. I'm just using a Panel for the example, basically I'd like to do this with any class..

Code:

---

        Panel a = new Panel(x);
        a.Tag = 0;

        //Real code
        Panel a = a;

        //Theory code (wrong syntax but is there a way to do this?)
        Panel b = new b;

        b.Tag = 1;

        int ia = (int) a.Tag;
        int ib = (int) b.Tag;

        //real output ia = 0
        //real output ib = 0

        //theory output ia = 0
        //theory output ib = 1

---

Specifically I have a TabControl and I want to define a Tab Page and whats on it, but I'd like to be able to copy the tab page and create a new one so it has the same design/controls on it.

I'm sure I can't have the same exact control on the form at the same time so I could do Form.Controls.Remove for one then add the other? Or maybe I'm going the wrong way on this...


Thanks,
Mitchel

Try Clone.
Or is it called something else in C#? There is some function like that, it's called clone in Java, so I guess it would be Clone in C#.

Try Clone.
Or is it called something else in C#? There is some function like that, it's called clone in Java, so I guess it would be Clone in C#.

Try Clone.
Or is it called something else in C#? There is some function like that, it's called clone in Java, so I guess it would be Clone in C#.

I haven't checked, but I thought it was Copy() in .Net instead of clone....not sure though. Will check later.

I have used it and it is object.Clone().

i.e. then you would be creating a copy of the object rather than a reference to it.

Some special types i.e. SortedList may not have a .Clone method in which case you have to create your own by extending the class.

Hey thanks guys, the clone doesn't work though or at least it's not on the object i'm trying to clone, I can try to figure out how to clone it..but I'm no expert, maybe theres another way?

Thanks,
Mitchel

I implemented .Clone() using return this.MemberWiseClone(); however it doesn't work properly...

Perhaps I'm going about this the wrong way..

Basically I have a list of mail boxes and i want to double click one and open up a new tab page to administrate it.. and I want to be able to open as many mail boxes as I want at the same time and modify each.

Perhaps I should just keep it to one mail box at a time? I'd really rather not, I think this is a good flow for the application.

Thanks,
Mitchel

How about this: (this is kind of the way the windows form designer works)

Code:

---

public class myPanel : Panel
{
    public myPanel()
    {
        // set our default properties here.
        // if the constructor takes an argument,
        // you'll need to change this.
        Tag = "foo";
        Caption = "123";
    }
}

---

Code:

---

Panel a = (Panel)(new MyPanel());
Panel b = (Panel)(new MyPanel());

---

this is assuming you don't want to change the default properties at run time.

I like the idea, it might be a bit odd to use though. The panel..hmm if I did that It would be hard to edit the text boxes and fields on the panel, but I see where I can go with this.

I'll definately look into it. Thanks for the idea!

Mitchel