Member Visibility

The internal (accessible from within the same assembly) and external (accessible from outside the assembly) for a member of a public class can differ.

Remarks

You can specify the accessibility of a type member using pairs of access specifiers selected from public, protected, and private.

The following table summarizes the effect of the various access specifiers

public

private

protected

internal

public protected
-or-
protected public

private protected
-or-
protected private

Example

The following sample shows a public type with members declared with the different accessibilities, and accesses those members from inside the assembly.

// type_member_visibility.cpp
// compile with: /clr
using namespace System;
// public type, visible inside and outside the assembly
public ref class Public_Class {
public:
   void Public_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Public_Function");}

private:
   void Private_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Private_Function");}

protected:
   void Protected_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Protected_Function");}

internal:
   void Internal_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Internal_Function");}

protected public:
   void Protected_Public_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Protected_Public_Function");}

public protected:
   void Public_Protected_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Public_Protected_Function");}

private protected:
   void Private_Protected_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Private_Protected_Function");}

protected private:
   void Protected_Private_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Protected_Private_Function");}
};

// a derived type, will call protected functions
ref struct MyClass : public Public_Class {
   void Test() {
      Console::WriteLine("=======================");
      Console::WriteLine("in function of derived class");
      Protected_Function();
      Protected_Private_Function();
      Private_Protected_Function();
      Console::WriteLine("exiting function of derived class");
      Console::WriteLine("=======================");
   }
};

int main() {
   Public_Class ^ a = gcnew Public_Class;
   MyClass ^ b = gcnew MyClass;
   a->Public_Function();
   a->Protected_Public_Function();
   a->Public_Protected_Function();

   // accessible inside but not outside the assembly
   a->Internal_Function();

   // call protected functions
   b->Test();

   // not accessible inside or outside the assembly
   // a->Private_Function();
}

in Public_Function
in Protected_Public_Function
in Public_Protected_Function
in Internal_Function
=======================
in function of derived class
in Protected_Function
in Protected_Private_Function
in Private_Protected_Function
exiting function of derived class
=======================

Now let's build the previous sample as a DLL.

// type_member_visibility_2.cpp
// compile with: /clr /LD
using namespace System;
// public type, visible inside and outside the assembly
public ref class Public_Class {
public:
   void Public_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Public_Function");}

private:
   void Private_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Private_Function");}

protected:
   void Protected_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Protected_Function");}

internal:
   void Internal_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Internal_Function");}

protected public:
   void Protected_Public_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Protected_Public_Function");}

public protected:
   void Public_Protected_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Public_Protected_Function");}

private protected:
   void Private_Protected_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Private_Protected_Function");}

protected private:
   void Protected_Private_Function(){System::Console::WriteLine("in Protected_Private_Function");}
};

// a derived type, will call protected functions
ref struct MyClass : public Public_Class {
   void Test() {
      Console::WriteLine("=======================");
      Console::WriteLine("in function of derived class");
      Protected_Function();
      Protected_Private_Function();
      Private_Protected_Function();
      Console::WriteLine("exiting function of derived class");
      Console::WriteLine("=======================");
   }
};

The following sample consumes the component created in the previous sample, showing how to access the members from outside the assembly.

// type_member_visibility_3.cpp
// compile with: /clr
#using "type_member_visibility_2.dll"
using namespace System;
// a derived type, will call protected functions
ref struct MyClass : public Public_Class {
   void Test() {
      Console::WriteLine("=======================");
      Console::WriteLine("in function of derived class");
      Protected_Function();
      Protected_Public_Function();
      Public_Protected_Function();
      Console::WriteLine("exiting function of derived class");
      Console::WriteLine("=======================");
   }
};

int main() {
   Public_Class ^ a = gcnew Public_Class;
   MyClass ^ b = gcnew MyClass;
   a->Public_Function();

   // call protected functions
   b->Test();

   // can't be called outside the assembly
   // a->Private_Function();
   // a->Internal_Function();   
   // a->Protected_Private_Function();
   // a->Private_Protected_Function();
}

in Public_Function
=======================
in function of derived class
in Protected_Function
in Protected_Public_Function
in Public_Protected_Function
exiting function of derived class
=======================

See Also

Concepts

Type and Member Visibility