incrementing control number value(via static property????)

Question

I am not a C# programmer but I have created an app and the final piece that I would like to have function is a static value that I can access and increment by 1 each time I issue a new control number to an output document. I was reading that static properties might be a good thing for this. I have the following code for the static property but not sure how to initialize it to say 000000001 and GET then SET value++ each time I use it. I also dont know if this is a better solution than say a file containing the control number and just reading then updating the file. what is the longevity of the value contained in the static property? so my questions are as follows: 1 how do I initialize this based on the code below 2 how do I increment this number  in the method or in the class calling the method? 3 is this a good idea or should I stick with a file or database to carry the control number using System; namespace GeneralApp{ static class InterchangeControlNumberCounter { public static int ControlNumber { get { return ControlNumber; } set { ControlNumber++; } } } } thank you

Mike Gold · Answer

No problem kieth. Sorry to hear the bad circumstances you had recently.

kieth biasillo · Answer

Mike I apologize for not getting back with you after all this time. Illness and death in the family prevented this. I only explain this because you are due that considering the indepth response I received which I have found extremely useful and was more than I ever expected. So with extreme gratitude I thank you for taking the time out of your day to be so helpful.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

The longevity of the value contained in the static property is the same as the program execution; when the program exits the data is gone unless it is save to disk somehow. You can save the value in the application's properties; properties are easy to use since they are designed for things such as this. You can put many things in the properties. So I think I would have a static member variable in the class that has the static method. I would load the value from the property setting then I would increment the member variable in the property. When the program finishes I would sve the value back to the property settings.

Mike Gold · Answer

And here is the persistent counter class if you want leading zeroes in the file class PersistentControlCounter { private readonly string _outputFilePath; public long Counter { get ; set ; } public PersistentControlCounter( string outputFilePath) { _outputFilePath = outputFilePath; Read(); } private void Read() { try { if ( File .Exists(_outputFilePath)) { var streamReader = new StreamReader (_outputFilePath); var val = streamReader.ReadLine().TrimStart( '0' ); streamReader.Close(); long counter; if ( long .TryParse(val out counter) == false ) { throw ( new Exception ( file does not contain a number )); } Counter = counter; } } catch ( Exception ex) { Console .WriteLine( Couldn't read counter --> {0}  ex.Message); } } public void Increment() { Counter++; Write(); } private void Write() { try { // read the existing value first var fileStream = new FileStream (_outputFilePath FileMode .Create FileAccess .Write); var streamWriter = new StreamWriter (fileStream); streamWriter.Write( String .Format( {0:000000000} Counter)); streamWriter.Close(); } catch ( Exception ex) { Console .WriteLine( Couldn't save counter --> {0}  ex.Message); } } } }

Mike Gold · Answer

I would recommend either doing this in a file or a database. I would use a database if you plan on incrementing it from different clients applications. I suspect you are using a single app so I'll show you how to do it with a file. using System; using System.IO; namespace ConsoleApplication1 { class PersistentControlCounter { private readonly string _outputFilePath; public long Counter { get ; set ; } public PersistentControlCounter( string outputFilePath) { _outputFilePath = outputFilePath; Read(); } private void Read() { try { if ( File .Exists(_outputFilePath)) { var streamReader = new StreamReader (_outputFilePath); var val = streamReader.ReadLine(); streamReader.Close(); long counter; if ( long .TryParse(val out counter) == false ) { throw ( new Exception ( file does not contain a number )); } Counter = counter; } } catch ( Exception ex) { Console .WriteLine( Couldn't read counter --> {0}  ex.Message); } } public void Increment() { Counter++; Write(); } private void Write() { try { // read the existing value first var fileStream = new FileStream (_outputFilePath FileMode .Create FileAccess .Write); var streamWriter = new StreamWriter (fileStream); streamWriter.Write(Counter); streamWriter.Close(); } catch ( Exception ex) { Console .WriteLine( Couldn't save counter --> {0}  ex.Message); } } } } to call it: using System; namespace ConsoleApplication1 { class Program { static void Main( string [] args) { var persistentControlCounter = new PersistentControlCounter ( @c:	mp	mp.txt ); persistentControlCounter.Increment(); Console .WriteLine( Hit Enter to continue ); Console .ReadLine(); } } } I've uploaded the code for you as well.