cannot use variable declared class in the function inside the same class. why ?

Question

i have declared a variable in the class 'Main' with name 'context2'. But i cannot use the variable inside the function 'Main_Load'. what am i doing wrong ?

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Soapi;
using Soapi.Domain;

namespace SO_Console_Client
{
    public partial class Main : Form
    {
        const string apiKey = "*************";
        var context2 = new ApiContext(apiKey).Initialize(false);
        public Main(String GravatarURL, User user)
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            pictureBox1.Load(GravatarURL);  //Loads the Gravatar image from the url

            //set the reputation details
            lblRep.Text = String.Format("Reputation: {0}", user.Reputation);

            //Sets the badge details
            lblBadge.Text = String.Format("Badges: gold={0} silver={1} bronze={2}", user.BadgeCounts.Gold, user.BadgeCounts.Silver, user.BadgeCounts.Bronze);

            groupBox1.Text = user.DisplayName.ToString();
        }

        private void Main_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Soapi.Queries.QuestionsUnansweredQuery query = context2.Official.StackOverflow.Questions.Unanswered;
            foreach (Question q in query)
            {
                try
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(q.Title.ToString());
                    //Console.WriteLine(q.Body.ToString());
                }
                catch (System.NullReferenceException ex)
                {

                }

            }

        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Implicit typing doesn't work with fields; it only works with local variables.

I think this is what your real intention is:

ApiContext context2 = new ApiContext(apiKey);

public Main(String GravatarURL, User user)
{
   context2.Initialize(false);
   ...
}

In the highly unlikely case that ApiContext is some sort of fluent-interface for which ApiContext.Initialize(bool)returns a differentApiContextobject, this should be what you want:

ApiContext context2 = new ApiContext(apiKey).Initialize(false); 

although it would be much clearer if you did:

ApiContext context2;

public Main(String GravatarURL, User user)
{
   context2 = new ApiContext(apiKey).Initialize(false);
   ...
}

I really doubt that, though.

Answer 2

This can't compile. var-type variable declarations cannot be at the class level, only the method level.

Answer 3

There are technical issues with allowing var to be used with fields. This is why a concrete type must be specified. Here is an explanation of the issues from Eric Lippert:

Why no var on fields