C#idiomatic C#
ca1063fundamentals/code-analysis/quality-rules

Code analysis

CA1063: Implement IDisposable correctly

Learn about code analysis rule CA1063: Implement IDisposable correctly

CA1063 Design enabled by default in .NET 10: No
Fix is breaking or non-breaking Non-breakingApplicable languages C# and Visual Basic

Cause

The System.IDisposable interface is not implemented correctly. Possible reasons for this include:

  • System.IDisposable is reimplemented in the class.
  • Finalize is overridden again.
  • Dispose() is overridden.
  • The Dispose() method is not public, sealed, or named Dispose.
  • Dispose(bool) is not protected, virtual, or unsealed.
  • In unsealed types, Dispose() must call Dispose(true).
  • For unsealed types, the Finalize implementation does not call either or both Dispose(bool) or the base class finalizer.

Violation of any one of these patterns triggers warning CA1063.

Every unsealed type that declares and implements the System.IDisposable interface must provide its own protected virtual void Dispose(bool) method. Dispose() should call Dispose(true), and the finalizer should call Dispose(false). If you create an unsealed type that declares and implements the System.IDisposable interface, you must define Dispose(bool) and call it. For more information, see Clean up unmanaged resources (.NET guide) and Implement a Dispose method.

By default, this rule only looks at externally visible types, but this is configurable.

Rule description

All System.IDisposable types should implement the Dispose pattern correctly.

How to fix violations

Examine your code and determine which of the following resolutions will fix this violation:

  • Remove System.IDisposable from the list of interfaces that are implemented by your type, and override the base class Dispose implementation instead.

  • Remove the finalizer from your type, override Dispose(bool disposing), and put the finalization logic in the code path where 'disposing' is false.

  • Override Dispose(bool disposing), and put the dispose logic in the code path where 'disposing' is true.

  • Make sure that Dispose() is declared as public and sealed.

  • Rename your dispose method to Dispose and make sure that it's declared as public and sealed.

  • Make sure that Dispose(bool) is declared as protected, virtual, and unsealed.

  • Modify Dispose() so that it calls Dispose(true), then calls System.GC.SuppressFinalize on the current object instance (this, or Me in Visual Basic), and then returns.

  • Modify your finalizer so that it calls Dispose(false) and then returns.

  • If you create an unsealed type that declares and implements the System.IDisposable interface, make sure that the implementation of System.IDisposable follows the pattern that is described earlier in this section.

When to suppress warnings

Do not suppress a warning from this rule.

Configure code to analyze

Use the following option to configure which parts of your codebase to run this rule on.

You can configure this option for just this rule, for all rules it applies to, or for all rules in this category (Design) that it applies to. For more information, see Code quality rule configuration options.

Include specific API surfaces

You can configure which parts of your codebase to run this rule on, based on their accessibility, by setting the api_surface option. For example, to specify that the rule should run only against the non-public API surface, add the following key-value pair to an .editorconfig file in your project:

ini
dotnet_code_quality.CAXXXX.api_surface = private, internal

Pseudo-code example

The following pseudo-code provides a general example of how Dispose(bool) should be implemented in a class that uses managed and native resources.

csharp
public class Resource : IDisposable
{
    private bool isDisposed;
    private IntPtr nativeResource = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(100);
    private AnotherResource managedResource = new AnotherResource();

    // Dispose() calls Dispose(true)
    public void Dispose()
    {
        Dispose(true);
        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
    }

    // The bulk of the clean-up code is implemented in Dispose(bool)
    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        if (isDisposed) return;

        if (disposing)
        {
            // free managed resources
            managedResource.Dispose();
        }

        // free native resources if there are any.
        if (nativeResource != IntPtr.Zero)
        {
            Marshal.FreeHGlobal(nativeResource);
            nativeResource = IntPtr.Zero;
        }

        isDisposed = true;
    }

    // NOTE: Leave out the finalizer altogether if this class doesn't
    // own unmanaged resources, but leave the other methods
    // exactly as they are.
    ~Resource()
    {
        // Finalizer calls Dispose(false)
        Dispose(false);
    }
}

See also