How do I use a variable declared in a method, outside that method?

Question

I am using VS 2008 (C#)... I have created a function in a GlobalClass to use it globally.. This is for opening a dialog box. When I call this function in my method it works but

Answer 1

When you declare a variable inside a method, then the variable is scoped to that method.

if you want to be able to use that variable outside that method as well, you'll have two options:

Return the variable:

    public static string OFDMethod()
    {
       using( var ofd = new OpenFileDialog() )
       {   
           ofd.Filter = "Image files|*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.png;*.gif";
           if( ofd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK )
           {
               return ofd.Filename;
           }
           else
           {
                return string.Empty;
           }
       }
    }

or make an out parameter for that variable (which I'd certainly not prefer in this case)

    public static void OFDMethod(out string selectedFilename)
    {
       using( var ofd = new OpenFileDialog() )
       {   
           ofd.Filter = "Image files|*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.png;*.gif";
           if( ofd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK )
           {
               selectedFilename = ofd.Filename;
           }
           else
           {
                selectedFilename = string.Empty;
           }
       }
    }