Referencing the ContentManager in a static class? (C#, XNA)

Question

I have created a static class which needs to be able to change the sprite used in an object. However, in non-static classes, I was able to refer to the ContentManager in the object as this.Content , but in a static class, it says "this" cannot be used.

Im a bit lost as to how to reference the content manager in this object from the static class. I tried using the object instead of this ( enemies[i]. ), but this didnt work. I also tried using just ContentManager. , but it tells me that doesnt exist as well.

I still dont fully understand the ContentManager and why it needs to be in each object, but I've had a hard time finding really detailed information about what it is and what it does (most tutorials seem to gloss over it, just saying that its necessary)

Heres a snippet of the code I have so far. Its simplified a bit (a lot more goes on), but only the this.Content part is giving me trouble:

public static void fight(List<enemy> enemies)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < enemies.Count; i++)
            {
                if (enemies[i].hp <= 0)
                                {
                                    enemies[i].LoadContent(this.Content, "spr_enemy_dead");
                                }

This is the method that contains the content manager inside the enemy object:

public void LoadContent(ContentManager theContentManager, string AssetName)
    {
        spr_enemy = theContentManager.Load<Texture2D>(AssetName);
    }

There is probably a better way to do this, but I havent found anything in my searching.

Answer 1

If the ContentManager is static, probably declared like this:

class YourObject
{
    static public ContentManager Content;

You are already within a static function of this object, so you can simply access it like this:

enemies[i].LoadContent(Content, ...

or:

enemies[i].LoadContent(YourObject.Content, ...

If your Content object is not declared statically, you can't access it within a static call unless you have a reference on YourObject...