StackOverflowException when comparing dates

Question

I have an DateTime property field in a struct. I'm trying to validate the inputdate to make sure the value entered is not in the future.

i'm using the following code:

public struct Car
{
    public DateTime Year
    {
        get
        {
            return Year;
        }

        set
        {
            if (value > DateTime.Now)
                throw new InvalidOperationException("Date cannot be in the futrure");
            else
                Year = value;
        }
    }
}

When i now try to run this code i keep getting a StackOverflowException with the message "Cannot evaluate expression because the current thread is in a stack overflow state."

any ideas on why this is, or how to fix this?

-Thanks.

@ChaosPandion http://stackoverflow.com/questions/203695/structure-vs-class-in-c-sharp — Jeremy Thompson, Apr 22 '12 at 04:44
@Jeremy Thompson - I'm pretty sure I've read that question at some point. My intent is actually to understand why they chose to use it. — ChaosPandion, Apr 22 '12 at 04:46

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 22 '12 at 04:42

It's returning itself... try setting a variable.

public struct Car 
{ 
    private DateTime _year;
    public DateTime Year 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return _year; 
        } 

        set 
        { 
            if (value > DateTime.Now) 
                throw new InvalidOperationException("Date cannot be in the futrure"); 
            else 
                _year = value; 
        } 
    } 
}

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 22 '12 at 04:37

4

You're calling a property called Year, whose get accessor calls Year, whose get accessor calls Year... and so on, and so forth, until your stack overflows.

You should create a private field, private DateTime _year, to store the actual value.

answered Apr 22 '12 at 04:37

Avner Shahar-Kashtan

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StackOverflowException when comparing dates

2 Answers2