[c#] Inconsistent Accessibility: Parameter type is less accessible than method

I'm trying to pass an object (a reference to the currently logged on user, basically) between two forms. At the moment, I have something along these lines in the login form:

private ACTInterface oActInterface;

public void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        oActInterface = new ACTInterface(@"\\actserver\Database\Premier.pad",this.textUser.Text,this.textPass.Text);

        if (oActInterface.checkLoggedIn())
        {
            //user has authed against ACT, so we can carry on
            clients oClientForm = new clients(oActInterface);
            this.Hide();
            oClientForm.Show();
        }
        else...

on the next form (clients), I have:

public partial class clients : Form
{
    private ACTInterface oActInt {get; set;}

    public clients(ACTInterface _oActInt)

...which results in me getting:

Error   1   Inconsistent accessibility: 
parameter type 'support.ACTInterface' is less accessible than method    
'support.clients.clients(support.ACTInterface)'  
c:\work\net\backup\support\support\clients.cs   20  16  support

I don't really understand what the problem is - both fields are private, and accessed by the relevant public method from the form. Googling doesn't really help, as it just points towards one element being public and the other private, which isn't the case here.

Anybody help?

If sounds like the type ACTInterface is not public, but is using the default accessibility of either internal (if it is top-level) or private (if it is nested in another type).

Giving the type the public modifier would fix it.

Another approach is to make both the type and the method internal, if that is your intent.

The issue is not the accessibility of the field (oActInterface), but rather of the type ACTInterface itself.

When I received this error, I had a "helper" class that I did not declare as public that caused this issue inside of the class that used the "helper" class. Making the "helper" class public solved this error, as in:

public ServiceClass { public ServiceClass(HelperClass _helper) { } }

public class HelperClass {} // Note the public HelperClass that solved my issue.

This may help someone else who encounters this.

The problem doesn't seem to be with the variable but rather with the declaration of ACTInterface. Is ACTInterface declared as internal by any chance?

parameter type 'support.ACTInterface' is less accessible than method    
'support.clients.clients(support.ACTInterface)' 

The error says 'support.ACTInterface' is less accessible because you have made the interface as private, at least make it internal or make it public.

Make the class public.

class NewClass
{

}

is the same as:

internal class NewClass
{

}

so the class has to be public

Try making your constructor private like this:

private Foo newClass = new Foo();

If this error occurs when you want to use a classvariable in a new form, you should put the class definition in the

Formname.Designer.cs

instead of the Formname.cs file.

You can get Parameter (class that have less accessibility) as object then convert it to your class by as keyword.

What is the accessibility of the type support.ACTInterface. The error suggests it is not public.

You cannot expose a public method signature where some of the parameter types of the signature are not public. It wouldn't be possible to call the method from outside since the caller couldn't construct the parameters required.

If you make support.ACTInterface public that will remove this error. Alternatively reduce the accessibility of the form method if possible.

After updating my entity framework model, I found this error infecting several files in my solution. I simply right clicked on my .edmx file and my TT file and click "Run Custom Tool" and that had me right again after a restart of Visual Studio 2012.