Namespaces organize the objects defined in an assembly. Assemblies can contain multiple namespaces, which can in turn contain other namespaces. Namespaces prevent ambiguity and simplify references when using large groups of objects such as class libraries.

The general namespace for ComponentOne Windows products is C1.Win. The namespace for the C1ReportDesigner component is C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner. The following code fragment shows how to declare a C1ReportDesigner component using the fully qualified name for this class:

•      Visual Basic

Dim c1rpt As C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner.C1ReportDesigner

•      C#

C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner.C1ReportDesigner c1rpt;

Namespaces address a problem sometimes known as namespace pollution, in which the developer of a class library is hampered by the use of similar names in another library. These conflicts with existing components are sometimes called name collisions.

For example, if you create a new class named ClipboardHandler, you can use it inside your project without qualification. However, the C1ReportDesigner assembly also implements a class called ClipboardHandler. So, if you want to use the C1ReportDesigner class in the same project, you must use a fully qualified reference to make the reference unique. If the reference is not unique, Visual Studio .NET produces an error stating that the name is ambiguous. The following code snippet demonstrates how to declare these objects:

•      Visual Basic

' Define a new ClipboardHandler object (custom ClipboardHandler class)

Dim MyClipboard as ClipboardHandler

' Define a new C1ReportDesigner.ClipboardHandler object

Dim ReportDesignerClip as _

       C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner.ClipboardHandler

•      C#

// Define a new ClipboardHandler object (custom ClipboardHandler class)

MyClipboard ClipboardHandler;

// Define a new C1ReportDesigner.ClipboardHandler object

ReportDesignerClip C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner.ClipboardHandler;

Fully qualified names are object references that are prefixed with the name of the namespace where the object is defined. You can use objects defined in other projects if you create a reference to the class (by choosing Add Reference from the Project menu) and then use the fully qualified name for the object in your code.

Fully qualified names prevent naming conflicts because the compiler can always determine which object is being used. However, the names themselves can get long and cumbersome. To get around this, you can use the Imports statement (using in C#) to define an alias – an abbreviated name you can use in place of a fully qualified name. For example, the following code snippet creates aliases for two fully qualified names, and uses these aliases to define two objects:

•      Visual Basic

Imports C1ClipboardHandler = C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner.ClipboardHandler

Imports MyClipboard = MyProject.ClipboardHandler

Dim c1 As C1ClipboardHandler

Dim c2 As MyClipboard

•      C#

using C1ClipboardHandler = C1.Win.C1ReportDesigner.ClipboardHandler;

using MyClipboard = MyProject.ClipboardHandler;

C1ClipboardHandler c1;

MyClipboard c2;

If you use the Imports statement without an alias, you can use all the names in that namespace without qualification provided they are unique to the project.

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