An attribute argument must be a constant expression, …- Create an attribute of type array

Question

Here is my custom attribute and a class I'm using it on:

[MethodAttribute(new []{new MethodAttributeMembers(), new MethodAttributeMembers()})]
public class JN_Country
{

}

public class MethodAttribute : Attribute
{
    public MethodAttributeMembers[] MethodAttributeMembers { get; set; }

    public MethodAttribute(MethodAttributeMembers[] methodAttributeMemberses)
    {
        MethodAttributeMembers = methodAttributeMemberses;
    }
}

public class MethodAttributeMembers
{
    public string MethodName { get; set; }
    public string Method { get; set; }
    public string MethodTitle { get; set; }
}

The syntax error, displayed on the first line above:

An attribute argument must be a constant expression, typeof expression or array creation expression of an attribute parameter type

Why does this error occur?

Answer 1

This supplements the information Simon already gave.

I found some documentation here: Attributes Tutorial. (It says Visual Studio .NET 2003 at the top, but it still applies.)

Attribute parameters are restricted to constant values of the following types:

• Simple types (bool, byte, char, short, int, long, float, and double)
• string
• System.Type
• enums
• object (The argument to an attribute parameter of type object must be a constant value of one of the above types.)
• One-dimensional arrays of any of the above types (emphasis added by me)

The last bullet point explains your syntax error. You've defined a one-dimensional array, but it should only be of primitive types, string, etc. as listed in the previous bullet points.

Answer 2

Attribute arguments must be compile-time constant. That means that the compiler must be able to "bake in" the values of the arguments when the assembly is compiled. new ReferenceType() is not constant - it must be evaluated at runtime to determine what it is.

Interestingly, this is a little bit flimsy in that there are some edge cases to that rule. Other than those though, you cannot do what you're trying to do.

Answer 3

Let me add that the compiler can return this error without any particular file or line of code, if your attribute has a constructor that has a parameter that isn't a simple type and you use the constructor (i.e. your non-simple parameter has a default value).

[MyAttribute(MySimpleParameter: "Foo")]
public class MyObject
{

}

public class MyAttribute : Attribute
{
    public string MySimpleProperty { get; set; }

    public MyPropertyClass MyComplexProperty { get; set; }

    public MethodAttribute(string MySimpleParameter, MyPropertyClass MyComplexParameter = null)
    {
        MySimpleProperty = MySimpleParameter;
        MyComplexProperty = MyComplexParameter;
    }
}

public class MyPropertyClass
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Method { get; set; }
}