BUG: "Cannot refer to an instance member of a class" error message occurs when you have an assembly that uses an Enum and Class method of the same name (814602)

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (2003)

Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (2002)

SYMPTOMS

When you have an assembly that uses an Enum method and a Class method and both methods have the same name, you may receive the following error message:

Cannot refer to an instance member of a class from within a shared method or shared member initializer without an explicit instance of the class.

CAUSE

You receive this error message when you refer to Enum in shared methods of the Class. The compiler incorrectly binds to the instance method of the Class. The compiler is supposed to bind to the Enum.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, refer to Enum with a fully-qualified name, as in the following example:

Namespace.Enum.MemberName

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce the Problem

Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET or Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.
On the File menu, point to New and then click Project.
In the Project Types section, click Visual Basic Projects.

Note In Visual Studio 2005, click Visual Basic under Project Types.
In the Templates section, click Console Application, name the project TestBinding, and then click OK.

By default, Module1.vb is created.

Replace the existing code in Module1.vb with the following code:

Namespace TestBinding

   ' Declare an Enum.
   Enum color As Integer
      red = 200
   End Enum

   Class TestClass
      'Declare a method that has the same name 
      ' as that of enum.
      Public Function color() As color
         Return color.red + 50
      End Function

      ' Try to access the Enum from this shared method.
      Public Shared Sub MyTestMethod()
         'Refer to Enum. 
         Console.WriteLine(color.red)
      End Sub
   End Class

   Module Module1
      Sub main()
         ' Call the shared method.
         TestClass.MyTestMethod()
      End Sub
   End Module

End Namespace

On the Debug menu, click Start to run the project.

You receive the error message described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.
In the MyTestMethod code, replace
```
color.red
```
-with-
```
TestBinding.color.red
```
On the Debug menu, click Start to run the project again.

The problem is resolved.

REFERENCES

For more information about shared keywords in Visual Basic .NET, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

308371 How to create and use shared members by using Visual Basic .NET

Modification Type:

Minor

Last Reviewed:

10/3/2006

Keywords:

kbvs2005swept kbvs2005applies kbvs2002sp1sweep kberrmsg kbCompiler kbbug KB814602 kbAudDeveloper