Not all code paths return a value - where?

Question

I have the following C# code. For reasons I won\'t go into, this is the required way of localising.

My problem is, I cannot for the life of me figure out what path is no

Answer 1

Maybe you could refactor it so that at the bottom of your code you have a SINGLE return statement. And all your decision-making code simply 'sets' the return value.

Then in your switch(Name) block SET the value of what you want to return - then break out of the switch (rather than having a whole bunch of returns). IMO, this would make the code neater. Also, I think it'd make it easier to maintain.

ie.

switch(Name)
        {
            case "AppName":         retString = ResMain.GetString("$this.Text");
            case "MinimizeToTray":  retString = "Closing the program minimizes it to the tray. To fully quit the program, right-click the icon in your tray and choose Exit.";
            case "ReallyExit1":     retString = "Do you really want to exit?";
            case "ReallyExit2":     retString = "Torrents will not be checked and downloaded until you launch the program again!";
            default:                retString = "String not found!";
        }

...

return retString;

Answer 2

What is the purpose of the if-block? As far a I can see, if code below the switch is executed, StringNotFound will always be true so the if-block is not necessary, but it may very well confuse the code analysis.

Answer 3

To prevent mistakes or puzzles like this, you better not do both of this (below) , as there is no single logical flow anymore when you:

• Maintain a retVal variable, together with
• Multiple uses of the return statement.

Choose one solution:

• only return a retVal variable, or
• return a default at the bottom of the function.

Answer 4

At the very end of your method, if StringNotFound is false:

if(StringNotFound)
{
   [...]
}

// missing return statement here

Answer 5

If StringNotFound is false, you don't return anything.

Answer 6

if(StringNotFound)

If this is false there is no else statment to catch it.

use

if(StringNotFound)
{
//your code
}
Else
{
return "String not found!";
}