Static implicit operator

Question

I recently found this code:

 public static implicit operator XElement(XmlBase xmlBase)
 {
     return xmlBase.Xml;
 }

What does static implicit operator mean?

Answer 1

This is a conversion operator. It means that you can write this code:

XmlBase myBase = new XmlBase();
XElement myElement = myBase;

And the compiler won't complain! At runtime, the conversion operator will be executed - passing myBase in as the argument, and returning a valid XElement as the result.

It's a way for you as a developer to tell the compiler:

"even though these look like two totally unrelated types, there is actually a way to convert from one to the other; just let me handle the logic for how to do it."

Answer 2

Such an implicit operator means you can convert XmlBase to XElement implicitly.

XmlBase xmlBase = WhatEverGetTheXmlBase();
XElement xelement = xmlBase;   
//no explicit convert here like: XElement xelement = (XElement)xmlBase;

Answer 3

It's an implicit conversion operator (as opposed to an Explicit operator, which requires the (type) conversion syntax)

Answer 4

Another interesting usage is (which Unity did to check if an object (and therefore an instance of MonoBehavior) is null):

public static implicit operator bool (CustomClass c)
{
    if (c == null) return false;
    else return true;
}

That way you can do something like this:

void Method ()
{
    CustomClass c1 = null;
    CustomClass c2 = new CustomClass ();

    bool b1 = c1; // is false
    bool b2 = c2; // is true

    if (!c1 && c2)
    {
        // Do stuff
    }
}

Obviously the most notorious use might be using it to convert one of your classes to another of your classes. But using them with basic types is worth a consideration as well... and I see it mentioned quite rarely.