CA1806: Do not ignore method results

Cause

There are several possible reasons for this warning:

• A new object is created but never used.

• A method that creates and returns a new string is called and the new string is never used.

• A COM or P/Invoke method that returns a HRESULT or error code that is never used. Rule Description

Unnecessary object creation and the associated garbage collection of the unused object degrade performance.

Strings are immutable and methods such as String.ToUpper returns a new instance of a string instead of modifying the instance of the string in the calling method.

Ignoring HRESULT or error code can lead to unexpected behavior in error conditions or to low-resource conditions.

How to Fix Violations

If method A creates a new instance of B object that is never used, pass the instance as an argument to another method or assign the instance to a variable. If the object creation is unnecessary, remove the it.-or-

If method A calls method B, but does not use the new string instance that the method B returns. Pass the instance as an argument to another method, assign the instance to a variable. Or remove the call if it is unnecessary.

-or-

If method A calls method B, but does not use the HRESULT or error code that the method returns. Use the result in a conditional statement, assign the result to a variable, or pass it as an argument to another method.

When to Suppress Warnings

Do not suppress a warning from this rule unless the act of creating the object serves some purpose.

Example

The following example shows a class that ignores the result of calling String.Trim.

The following example fixes the previous violation by assigning the result of String.Trim back to the variable it was called on.

The following example shows a method that does not use an object that it creates.

Imports System

Namespace Samples

    Public Class Book

        Private ReadOnly _Title As String 

        Public Sub New(ByVal title As String)

            If title IsNot Nothing Then 
                ' Violates this rule                
                title.Trim()
            End If

            _Title = title

        End Sub 

        Public ReadOnly Property Title() As String 
            Get 
                Return _Title
            End Get 
        End Property 

    End Class 

End Namespace

using System;

namespace Samples
{
    public class Book
    {
        private readonly string _Title;

        public Book(string title)
        {
            if (title != null)
            {
                // Violates this rule                
                title.Trim();
            }

            _Title = title;
        }

        public string Title
        {
            get { return _Title; }
        }
    }
}

using namespace System;

namespace Samples
{
    public ref class Book   
    { 
        private:        
            initonly String^ _Title;

        public:
        Book(String^ title)        
        {               
            if (title != nullptr)            
            {                  
                // Violates this rule                
                title->Trim();            
            }
                _Title = title;        
            }

        property String^ Title        
        {            
            String^ get() { return _Title; }        
        }    
    };
}

The following example fixes the previous violation by removing the unnecessary creation of an object.

Imports System

Namespace Samples

    Public Class Book

        Private ReadOnly _Title As String 

        Public Sub New(ByVal title As String)

            If title IsNot Nothing Then
                title = title.Trim()
            End If

            _Title = title

        End Sub 

        Public ReadOnly Property Title() As String 
            Get 
                Return _Title
            End Get 
        End Property 

    End Class 

End Namespace

using System;

namespace Samples
{
    public class Book
    {
        private readonly string _Title;

        public Book(string title)
        {
            if (title != null)
            {
                title = title.Trim();
            }

            _Title = title;
        }

        public string Title
        {
            get { return _Title; }
        }
    }
}

using namespace System;

namespace Samples
{    
    public ref class Book    
    {    
    private:        
        initonly String^ _Title;

    public:
        Book(String^ title)        
        {               
            if (title != nullptr)            
            {                        
                title = title->Trim();            
            }

            _Title = title;        
        }

        property String^ Title        
        {            
            String^ get() { return _Title; }        
        }    
    };
}

The following example shows a method that ignores the error code that the native method GetShortPathName returns.

using System;

namespace Samples
{
    public class Book
    {
        public Book()
        {
        }

        public static Book CreateBook()
        {
            // Violates this rule             
            new Book();
            return new Book();
        }
    }
}

using namespace System;

namespace Samples
{    
    public ref class Book    
    {
    public:
        Book()        
        {        
        }

        static Book^ CreateBook()        
        {
            // Violates this rule             
            gcnew Book();            
            return gcnew Book();        
        }    
    };
}

The following example fixes the previous violation by checking the error code and throwing an exception when the call fails.

using System;

namespace Samples
{
    public class Book
    {
        public Book()
        {
        }

        public static Book CreateBook()
        {
            return new Book();
        }
    }
}

using namespace System;

namespace Samples
{
    public ref class Book    
    {
    public:
        Book()        
        {           
        }
        static Book^ CreateBook()        
        {            
            return gcnew Book();        
        }            
    };
}