ReSharper 2016.1 Help

Using Auto-Properties

Auto-implemented properties (also known auto-properties) allow declaring type properties that do not have additional logic in a simpler way. By default, ReSharper encourages using of auto-properties when possible, but this behavior is configurable.

By default, ReSharper highlights most of the properties that could be converted to auto-properties and suggests the corresponding quick-fix or fix in scope:

Use auto-property quick-fix

If you prefer not to use auto-properties, you can change the severity level of the code inspection that detects it (Convert property to auto-property) toDo not show. In this case, properties with backing fields are not highlighted and quick-fixes are not suggested, but you can still apply the conversion with the context action or with the corresponding refactoring:

To auto-property context action

The reverse functionality of converting existing auto-properties to properties with backing field is also available with the corresponding context action. You can also generate default bodies for property accessors using the To compound property context action:

To property with backing field context action

Another option to convert properties to auto-properties in a bulk mode is code cleanup. You can either run code cleanup with the default profile Default: Full Cleanup or run the cleanup with a custom profile solely targeted at your specific task as described below.

Code cleanup also provides the Make auto-property get-only, if possible task, which helps you remove the redundant set accessor from properties that are initialized from the constructor and have no write usages. Note that this task only works for C# 6.0 ( By default, ReSharper automatically detects C# version based on the associated compiler However, you can specify the target C# version explicitly by selecting the project in the Solution Explorer and using the C# Language Level property in the Visual Studio's Properties window (choose View | Properties Window in the menu). ).

To convert properties to auto-properties with code cleanup

  1. Open the Code Cleanup options: ReSharper | Options | Code Editing | Code Cleanup.
  2. Create a new profile as described in the Configuring Code Cleanup section. In the Selected profile settings section for the new profile tick the Use auto-property, if possible check box.
  3. Click Save to apply the modifications and let ReSharper choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer using the Save To drop-down list. For more information, see Managing and Sharing ReSharper Settings.
  4. Select the scope where you want to use auto-properties:
    • Set the caret anywhere in the file to use auto-properties to the file.
    • Select one or more items in the Solution Explorer to use auto-properties in the files under these nodes and their child items.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • Press Ctrl+Alt+F or choose ReSharper | Edit | Cleanup Code in the main menu .
    • Right-click anywhere in the text editor or right-click the selection and choose Cleanup Code in the context menu.
  6. In the Code Cleanup dialog box that opens, select the newly created profile in the Available Profiles area.
  7. Click Run. ReSharper will use auto-properties in the selected scope.

If you want to convert properties to auto-properties without opening the Code Cleanup dialog box, you can bind the created profile to the silent cleanup and run it simply by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F. You can also create a custom cleanup profile that would combine converting to auto-properties with other code style tasks.

This feature is supported in the following languages/technologies:

C# VB.NET C++ HTML ASPX Razor JavaScript TypeScript CSS XML XAML RESX Build Scripts Protobuf JSON
feature_available

See Also

Last modified: 19 August 2016