Inserting 3 fields into dictionary and how to retrieve them - c#-4.0

Question

I am trying to insert three fields into dictionary, so converted two fields into object type and added to the dictionary
int empId;
String empName;
decimal salary;
public EmployeeClass(string empName,decimal salary)
{
this.empName = empName;
this.salary = salary;
}
//creating dictionary object
Dictionary<int, object> employeeDictionary = new Dictionary<int, object>();
EmployeeClass emp;
for(int i=0;i<5;i++)
{
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee " + (i+1) + " details ");
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee ID ");
empId = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee Name ");
empName = Console.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine("Enter Salary of the employee ");
salary= Convert.ToDecimal(Console.ReadLine());
//creating object for two fields
emp= new EmployeeClass(empName,salary);
//adding to dictionary one is field and other object
employeeDictionary.Add(empId, emp);
}
Now I am trying to retrieve the details from the dictionary:
var list = employeeDictionary.Keys.ToList();
list.Sort();
Console.WriteLine("The Employee details according to EmpID is ");
foreach(var temp in list)
{
Console.WriteLine(temp + " " + employeeDictionary[temp].empName + " " + employeeDictionary[temp].salary);
}
but I am getting this error:
Object does not contain definition for empName and no extension method empName accepting a first argument of type Object
How to retrieve the details from dictionary when an object type is given?

Answer 1

1. Private vs public fields
Your first problem is that your properties (empName and salary) are private fields of EmployeeClass:
public class EmployeeClass
{
int empId;
String empName;
decimal salary;
...
}
You don't use an explicit access modifier, so per default your fields are private. Change it to this:
public class EmployeeClass
{
public int empId {get; private set;}
public String empName {get; private set;}
public decimal salary {get; private set;}
...
}
2. Use the correct type
Why are you using a Dictionary<int,object> if you want to store instances of EmployeeClass? Simply use a
Dictionary<int,EmployeeClass> employeeDirectory
So the compiler will know that the "object" in the dictionary is a EmployeeClass and will know it's properties. If you use object, the compiler has no way to know that there are those properties.