C# multiple properties of same type vs single property array

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A real newbie question and I'm not even sure if I'm using the correct terminology.
I'm wanting to build a Class which has 7 color properties plus a whole bunch of other properties (not colors). The color properties are all related to the same thing in the class and are basically a level indicator from 1 to 7 (Think of a water level meter/gauge).
Should I create the class and name/create each color property individually by name e.g. Level1Color, Level2Color...Level7Color
OR
Should I create a property array of 7 colors e.g. LevelColors[] ? How do I limit it to 7 colors?
I think the code might look something like this:

C#

Public Class MyObject1
{
    Level1Color {get; set};
    Level2Color {get; set};
//etc
}

Public Class MyObject2
{
    LevelColor[] {get; set}:
}

What I have tried:

I haven't tried anything yet as I am uncertain of which is the best practice, single properties or an array.

Posted 2-Nov-19 0:34am

wkiess01

Updated 2-Nov-19 0:47am

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OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-02T00:47:00

If they are literally just "levels", then individual properties don;g make a lot of sense - the names aren't particularly useful, and having them as an array makes some code rather simpler: you can loop through them easily for example when saving to non-volatile storage.

I'd go with the array (but do note that your code won't compile: C# is case sensitive, so "Public" and "Class" are not the same as public and class; the colon at the end of the array based version is wrong; the whole property declaration is wrong for both types).

C#

public class MyClass
    {
    public const int MaxColors = 7;
    public Color[] ColorLevels { get; set; } = new Color[MaxColors];
    }

Quote:
Thanks, OriginalGriff. That did the trick for a known number of colors. What if I want to make it a variable number of colors, only known at the time the object is instatiated. How do I use a property to pass in the and read the number of items in the array?

That's easy: instead of allocating the array when you declare the property, you allocate it as part of your class constructor:

C#

public class MyClass
    {
    public Color[] ColorLevels { get; private set; }
    public MyClass(int maxColours)
        {
        ColorLevels = new Color[maxColours];
        }
    }

Your code can check how many levels are allowed by querying the ColourLevels.Length property.