C# ToString inheritance

c++polymorphism

I have a problem (it's my fault, I just can't spot what I'm doing wrong) where "ToString" isn't calling the correct method…

public class ClassA
{
   public override ToString()
   {
      return "Hello, I'm class A.";
   }
}

public class ClassB : ClassA
{
   public override ToString()
   {
       return "Hello, I'm class B.";
   }
}

ClassB myClassB = new ClassB();
List<ClassA> myClassAList = new List<ClassA>();

myClassAList.Add((ClassA) myClassB);
ClassA tempClassA = myClassAList[0];
Console.WriteLine(tempClassA.ToString());

I'm getting the "ToString" from "ClassB" and not "ClassA" what am I doing wrong?

Best Solution

You are overriding ToString in ClassB instead of hiding it from the original which will cause the overridden method to take precedence. What you could do is..

public class ClassA
{
    public override string ToString()
    {
        return "Hello, I'm class A.";
    }
}

public class ClassB : ClassA
{
    public new string ToString()
    {
        return "Hello, I'm class B.";
    }
}

...

List<ClassA> theList = new List<ClassA>
{
    (ClassA)new ClassB(),
    (ClassA)new ClassB()
};

ClassA a = theList[0];
Console.WriteLine(a.ToString());

// OR... 

Console.WriteLine(new ClassA().ToString());  // I'm Class A
Console.WriteLine(new ClassB().ToString());  // I'm Class B
Console.WriteLine(((ClassA)new ClassB()).ToString()); // I'm Class A