Setting property of a subtype class using reference abstract type-CodePudding

So I have abstract class

public abstract class Client
{
    public abstract void Send();
    public abstract void Get();
}

And now there are 2 classes that inherit from Client

public class ClientV2 : Client 
{
    public string Value1 {get;set;}

    //implement Send and Get method()
}

public class ClientV3 : Client 
{
    public string Value2 {get;set;}
    public string Value3 {get;set;}

    //implement Send and Get method()
}

For simplicity, Program class is general GUI class. Now when someone will click on checkbox a new object will be instantiated but also new controls will show, for example text box for Value 2. What I need to do is set a Value2 when someone will type something but since I am using abstract type I can't access that value, what do you think will be the best solution here?

public class Program
{
    private Client client; 
  
    public void Client2CheckboxChecked()
    {
        client = new Client2();
    }

    public void Client2CheckboxChecked()
    {
        client = new Client3();
    }

    public void Value2Changed(string newValue)
    {
        //Here I would need to set Value2 propertyu of a ClientV3 using client 
    }
  
    public void SendData()
    {
        client.Send();
    }
}

I can of course create a different type for client 2 and client 3 that is rather than

private Client client;

I would have

private ClientV3 clientV2; 
private ClientV3 clientV3;

But in a future there could also be a possibility for clientV4 and I want to minimize the amount of changes I would need to change in my Program class.

CodePudding user response：

you may create an abstract method SetValue that all the different clients must implement and where the actual logic is in. Then in your Program.Value2Changed just call that method:

public void Value2Changed(string newValue)
{
   client.SetValue(newValue); // may be ClientV2 or ClientV3 or whatever
}


class Client
{
    public abstract void SetValue(string newValue);
}
class ClientV2 : Client
{
    public override void SetValue(string newValue) => this.Value2 = newValue;
}
class ClientV3 : Client
{
    public override void SetValue(string newValue) => this.Value3 = newValue;
}

This delegates the task of setting the values from your Program to the Client.

CodePudding user response：

Since the parents cannot know what is in the inherited classes you can solve this problem with Downcasting

  public void Value2Changed(string newValue)
  {
      (ClientV3)client.Value2 = newValue;
  }