C# equivalent of Visual Basic Code with CType

Question

I know that I can explicitly convert types in C# with the notation: (Type)Object.
I am translating Visual Basic code to C#.

VB code:

TempTrans(j) = CType(FillTranslator.IndxLanguage.Item(j), Translator.IndxLangauges.IndxTranslation).Translations.Item(Row.Name.Trim) //This is the line I need help with!

Here is a struct (from the class Translator)

Structure IndxLangauges
     Public IndxLanguage As Collection
     Structure IndxTranslation
           Public Language As Integer
           Public Name As String
           Public Translations As Collection
     End Structure
End Structure

Also:

Private Shared FillTranslator As Translator.IndxLangauges

---

In C# I have:

public struct IndxLanguages
{
    public System.Collections.Generic.List<string> IndxLanguage;
    public struct IndxTranslation
    {
        public int Language;
        public string Name;
        public System.Collections.Generic.List<string> Translations;
    };
};

private static Translator.IndxLanguages FillTranslator;
TempTrans[j] = ((Translator.IndxLanguages.IndxTranslation)FillTranslator.IndxLanguage[j]).Translations[Row.TypeName.Trim];  //Error here

I get the error: Cannot convert type string to Translator.IndxLanguages.IndxTranslation

---

I don't understand what is going on in the code directly following the conversion (In VB): .Translations.Item(Row.Name.Trim).

Could someone help me to understand the CType code from VB, especially concerning the dot notation that follows?

Answer 1

You have translated this:

Public IndxLanguage As Collection

into

public System.Collections.Generic.List<string> IndxLanguage;

That's wrong, because IndxLanguage seems to hold elements of type IndxTranslation, rather than elements of type String.

You have two ways to fix that: Either translate the line literally using the exact same (legacy) type:

public Microsoft.VisualBasic.Collection IndxLanguage;

or (preferred) specify the correct item type:

public System.Collections.Generic.List<Translator.IndxLanguages.IndxTranslation> IndxLanguage;

That way, you won't even need the cast.

Note: A few usings would greatly increase the readability of your code. For example, the previous line could be reduced to:

public List<IndxTranslation> IndxLanguage;

Note 2: Row.TypeName.Trim is an invocation of String.Trim. In C#, method invocations require parenthesis, so it should read:

Row.TypeName.Trim()