inheritance - Overriding constants in derived classes in C#

Question

In C# can a constant be overridden in a derived class? I have a group of classes that are all the same bar some constant values, so I'd like to create a base class that defines all the methods and then just set the relevant constants in the derived classes. Is this possible?

I'd rather not just pass in these values to each object's constructor as I would like the added type-safety of multiple classes (since it never makes sense for two objects with different constants to interact).

Answer 1

It's not a constant if you want to override it ;). Try a virtual read-only property (or protected setter).

Read-only property:

public class MyClass {
    public virtual string MyConst { get { return "SOMETHING"; } }
}
...
public class MyDerived : MyClass {
    public override string MyConst { get { return "SOMETHINGELSE"; } }
}

Protected setter:

public class MyClass {
    public string MyConst { get; protected set; }

    public MyClass() {
        MyConst = "SOMETHING";
    }
}

public class MyDerived : MyClass {
    public MyDerived() {
        MyConst = "SOMETHING ELSE";
    }
}