I have asked a question which has been received relatively well and the comments section was full of useful tips. When it came to solving my problem however it turned out that I had read the stack trace based on an assumption that the b__8 meant line number (I have researched the stack trace before asking and this is what I found) The crash was actually to do with a different anonymous delegate which had an obvious solution.

Now I am confused as to what to do with my question, ultimately I found the solution by using Ildasm and finding out exactly what b__8 was referring to. So I don't want to just delete the question because using Ildasm to find the solution is a useful tip. But I also don't want to answer the question myself with that because the problem that I thought I had is incorrect.

Should I just leave the question as it is and if someone wants, they can read the comments with a hope that it sparks an idea? Or should I give an answer summarising the comments so that it is easier for someone to find help.

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    Most important here is not to assume that anyone will ever be able to read the comments. Comments can vanish at any time. – Lightness Races in Orbit Jul 6 '15 at 22:31
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    b__8 looks like a "WTF"-smiley :) – Reeno Jul 7 '15 at 9:39
  • Relevant answer to related meta issue that semi-answers this question: meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/277655/… – Gimby Jul 7 '15 at 10:38
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    @Reeno that is definitely an appropriate smiley for the question lol. – Keithin8a Jul 7 '15 at 13:02
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    @Gimby That is a really good way to look at it. I have always had an internal debate with myself whether or not to post a comment or an answer but that post puts it into an interesting perspective. – Keithin8a Jul 7 '15 at 13:03


I like this option. Your answer should probably include your misconception of what the error meant, the actual meaning of the error, and any resolution of the error. Based on the voting for the question, I think your self-answer will be valuable. Regardless, if your answer is thorough (as suggested above), then it has a welcome home on Stack Overflow.

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    More importantly, it looks like OP wasn't the only one who thought b__8 was a line number. A self-answer would also help to clear that up. – CubeJockey Jul 6 '15 at 14:40
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    @Trobbins yep I agree. The voting seems to back that up too. – ryanyuyu Jul 6 '15 at 14:42
  • @Trobbins Yeah, I think the problem is that sometimes you can make assumptions based on coincidences which it was just unfortunate that a lot of this was just a coincidence. I have Answered my question now hopefully someone will find my experience useful. This would probably make quite a good blog post for my blog which I keep starting and stopping... – Keithin8a Jul 6 '15 at 14:49

I'd certainly add the answer. It's much easier to find that way.

If the answer you give is strictly using what other users have commented, I'd suggest you to mark it as a Community Wiki, and add a blockquote with a link to each helpful comment. For example, as you can see here.

Otherwise, I'd also answer and blockquote and link, but I just wouldn't mark as Community Wiki, since I actually had something essential to add.

In any case, you could also ask the users that have helped you in comments to write an answer, so you can give them the credit, if you feel it'd be better.

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I had a similar problem some time ago and just did what you already told:

Give an own answer, including some hints I picked up from comments and as a result everybody with a similar problem (which really came from wrong interpreting a value) can be solved by everyone:

writeShort in little Endian: hex shows big, but opening only works in le

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Answer your own question but do not mark it as the best answer, because you think that this might be a potential solution, but it is not the most appropriate one.

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