Automated refactoring of old-style getset method pairs to true C# properties for entire solution - Stack Overflow

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I have a legacy application with lots of cases where classes use an old-style (Java-like) property pattern with getXXX() and setXXX() method pairs and a backing private variable, for example:

class Example
{
    private int x;
    
    public int getX()
    {
        return x;
    }
    
    public void setX(int x)
    {
        this.x = x;
    }
}

Some classes and properties have been amended with a C# property wrapping the get/set methods pair as below:

public int X
{
    get { return getX(); }
    set { setX(value); }
}

Most to all of the code however, uses the get/set pairs.

I am looking for options how to refactor the code involving 100+ classes and 500+ properties so it uses standard C# properties instead and auto-properties where possible. For example, the result would be the following for the class above:

class Example
{
    public int X { get; set; }
}

and obviously any code accessing the class's get/set methods would now be using the property instead.

While Visual Studio has a Quick Actions and Refactorings > Convert between auto property and full property option, I have not seen a way how to get it applied across the entire project/solution and also how to make it remove the property implementation that wraps the get/set methods.

Any help what tools could do this would be greatly appreciated.

I have a legacy application with lots of cases where classes use an old-style (Java-like) property pattern with getXXX() and setXXX() method pairs and a backing private variable, for example:

class Example
{
    private int x;
    
    public int getX()
    {
        return x;
    }
    
    public void setX(int x)
    {
        this.x = x;
    }
}

Some classes and properties have been amended with a C# property wrapping the get/set methods pair as below:

public int X
{
    get { return getX(); }
    set { setX(value); }
}

Most to all of the code however, uses the get/set pairs.

I am looking for options how to refactor the code involving 100+ classes and 500+ properties so it uses standard C# properties instead and auto-properties where possible. For example, the result would be the following for the class above:

class Example
{
    public int X { get; set; }
}

and obviously any code accessing the class's get/set methods would now be using the property instead.

While Visual Studio has a Quick Actions and Refactorings > Convert between auto property and full property option, I have not seen a way how to get it applied across the entire project/solution and also how to make it remove the property implementation that wraps the get/set methods.

Any help what tools could do this would be greatly appreciated.

• c#
• automated-refactoring

Share Improve this question Follow asked yesterday user1211286user1211286 74755 silver badges1919 bronze badges 11

• 1 I don't know if it would be safe to do that automated for a whole code base. That seems a little risky to me. What I'd do is to go class-by-class and have some AI tool rewrite the code and unwrap the fallout, then manually review before commiting. One Property at a time. Refactor, Check tests, refactor those if neccessary, test. Rinse. Repeat. – Fildor Commented yesterday
• 4 This isn't old style, it's just bad coding by people that didn't know C# and were probably trying to migrate code from C++ or Java. .NET never used methods like this and even VB 6 had proper properties. Resharper has a Convert Method to Property refactoring. Many refactorings can be applied to the entire file or project, but I'm not sure about this. Converting the wrapped properties is another matter though – Panagiotis Kanavos Commented yesterday
• 2 For the custom refactoring, or in case Resharper doesn't do what you want, you can create a Roslyn analyzer and code fix that checks for the existence of such methods and fields and replaces them with the new code. Visual Studio's refactorings are built using Roslyn. The compiler itself provides the types, members, signatures, calls etc to analyzers during compilation and allows them to display warnings or messages. – Panagiotis Kanavos Commented yesterday
• 3 100 classes and 500 properties are not that much. If you spend one minute per property you should be done in about a day or two. It would be monotonous work for sure, but you would probably need to spend more time writing something to do it automatically. – JonasH Commented yesterday
• 2 Creating a Roslyn analyzer to generate warnings for all those cases is more fun though, even if it takes more than 2 days. In all seriousness though, one should know how many the actual issues are, both before starting and during refactoring. 100, 500 or just 50? One could use a regular expression, but Roslyn provides more specific information for free. The wrapped getters is a trickier issue too, as refactoring get { return getX(); } would generate a duplicate X. Ironically, it's easier to detect with a regex – Panagiotis Kanavos Commented 23 hours ago

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1 Answer 1

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Visual Studio has such a refactoring (only for single get- set-pairs so, not for the whole solution):

It also adapts the call sites:

After having done this, you can convert these properties to auto properties in your whole project:

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