The file access modifier is only valid on top-level types

[BillWagner]

Type of issue

Typo

Description

In a couple sentences, the description of the file access modifier could be used on "members", either nested types or member fields, properties, or methods. Neither is allowed. The file access modifier is allowed only on top-level (non-nested) type declarations.

Page URL

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/classes-and-structs/access-modifiers

Content source URL

https://github.com/dotnet/docs/blob/main/docs/csharp/programming-guide/classes-and-structs/access-modifiers.md

Document Version Independent Id

76a389f6-b568-3568-6483-6df440f96f0c

Article author

@BillWagner

Metadata

• ID: 8121f526-cfe4-091d-d031-2cdc274cd8ee
• Service: dotnet-csharp
• Sub-service: fundamentals

[bigboybamo]

Hi @BillWagner I'd like to pick this up but i'm not sure i fully understand the context of what needs to be done.

[BillWagner]

Hi @bigboybamo

The distinction we're missing is that the file access modifier is not allowed on any nested types:

// This is legal:
file class C
{
    // ...
}

public class C2
{
    // This is not allowed. C3 is not a top level type.
    file class C3
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Let me know if you need more details.
I've assigned this issue to you.

[bigboybamo]

Hi @BillWagner I've checked again.
I didn't see any section where the file example is defined in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/classes-and-structs/access-modifiers which is why I said I wasn't sure earlier

[BillWagner]

Hi @bigboybamo

file access isn't super common, so I only added it to the language reference here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/keywords/file

[bigboybamo]

Hi @BillWagner I opened a PR #41399. I didn't add the example code because it would cause a build warning. Unless there's some other way to illustrate that?