Returning multiple values from a function in an parcial class in VB - asp.net

Question

Hi Please can someone show me how to return multiple values from a function? I have my function in a seperate file within App_Code and here it is:
Public Function GetQuoteStatus(ByVal QuoteID As String) As String
Dim quoteStatus As String
Dim con As New SqlConnection
Dim cmd As New SqlCommand
Try
con.ConnectionString = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("quotingSystemConnectionString")
con.Open()
cmd.Connection = con
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT Status FROM Quote WHERE QuoteID =" & QuoteID & ";"
Dim lrd As SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader()
While lrd.Read()
quoteStatus = lrd("Status")
End While
Catch ex As Exception
Finally
con.Close()
End Try
Return quoteStatus
End Function
To get the returned quoteStatus from within another vb file in my site I would normally use:
Dim statusHelper As New quoteStatusHelper()
Dim quoteStatus As String = statusHelper.GetQuoteStatus("QuoteID")
However this is all good and well for one returned value but what If I wanted to return multiple values... How do I access them?
Many thanks!

Answer 1

You could use
Public Function GetQuoteStatus(ByVal QuoteID As String) As String()
This let you return a string array, so there is no limit to data you can have.
The cons is you have to parse the array.
You could even use
Public Function GetQuoteStatus(ByVal QuoteID As String,
Byref Second As String) As String
This let you return a string as result and set the value of another var (Second); you can use more than one Byref variables to return multiple values...
The cons is that you have to statically declare your function and modifiy all previous calls. In this case the use of refactoring is reccomended!
EDITED:
You could even return a class for example.
Declare a class that fits your needs (with all the fields, getters, setters and constructors) and inside your function you could create an instance of that class, fill every field and return this class.
Easy to implement, easy to use.
EDITED AGAIN:
Public Class MyClass
Public Property Val1 As String
Public Property Val2 As String
Public Property Val3 As String
Public Sub New(ByVal newVal1 As String, ByVal newVal2 As String, ByVal newVal3 As String)
Val1 = newVal1
Val2 = newVal2
Val3 = newVal3
End Sub
End Class
Public Function GetInfo() As MyClass
Dim mc As New MyClass("test1", "test2", "test3")
Return mc
End Function

Answer 2

You may return multiple values using ByRef and arrays (see #Marco post). You may also return/pass an object for your purpose.
For instance,
Public Class Info
Public Property No As Integer
Public Property Name As String
End Class
....
Public Function GetInfo() As Info
Dim inf As New Info
inf.No = 10
inf.Name = "A"
Return inf
End Function
....

Answer 3

I believe that the "correct/best" way to deal with a single function that needs to return a couple of discrete (typically primitive) types is a Tuple(Of T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, TRest).
Something like this
Public Function MyExampleMethod() As Tuple(Of String, Integer, Guid)
Return New Tuple(Of String, Integer, Guid)("Value1", 2, Guid.NewGuid)
End Function