Clear controls does not dispose them – what is the risk?

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There are multiple threads(a, b, c etc.) about the fact that Clear() ing items in the .NET component containers does not Dispose them(by calling Dispose(true).

Most frequently, IMHO, the Clear-ed components are not used anymore in the application, so it needs explicitly be Disposed after Clearing them from the parent containers.

Maybe is a good idea that collection’s Clear method had a bool parameter dispose that when in true also disposes the collection elements before its removing from the list?

Asking for modifications like this is pointless, the Windows Forms team has been disbanded quite a while ago. It is in maintenance mode, only security issues and OS incompatibilities are considered.

It is otherwise simple enough to create your own method to do this:

  public static class ExtensionMethods {
    public static void Clear(this Control.ControlCollection controls, bool dispose) {
      for (int ix = controls.Count - 1; ix >= 0; --ix) {
        if (dispose) controls[ix].Dispose();
        else controls.RemoveAt(ix);
      }
    }
  }

Now you can write:

  panel1.Controls.Clear(true);

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