Compiler Error CS0315

The type 'valueType' cannot be used as type parameter 'T' in the generic type or method 'TypeorMethod<T>'. There is no boxing conversion from 'valueType' to 'referenceType'.

This error occurs when you constrain a generic type to a particular class, and try to construct an instance of that class by using a value type that cannot be implicitly boxed to it.

To correct this error

• One solution is to redefine the struct as a class.

Example

The following example generates CS0315:

// cs0315.cs
public class ClassConstraint { }
public struct ViolateClassConstraint { }

public class Gen<T> where T : ClassConstraint
{       
}
public class Test
{
    public static int Main()
    {
        Gen<ViolateClassConstraint> g = new Gen<ViolateClassConstraint>(); //CS0315
        return 1;
    }
}

See Also

Reference

Constraints on Type Parameters (C# Programming Guide)

Boxing and Unboxing (C# Programming Guide)