Solidity Compiler - Error: Identifier already declared

Question

Full source code of the file 'Test.sol' :

pragma solidity ^0.4.23;


contract Mortal{

    address owner;

    string ownerInfo = "Contract Owner name XYZ";

    constructor () public {
        owner = msg.sender;
    }

    function kill () public {
        if (msg.sender == owner) {
            selfdestruct(owner);
        }
    }

    function ownerInfo() public view returns (string) {
        return ownerInfo;
    }

}


contract Test is Mortal {

    string message = "Hello World!";

    constructor () public {
    }

    function getMessage() public view returns (string){
        return message;
    }
}

Compiler Error:

myMac:solidity admin$ solc Test.sol
Test.sol:21:2: Error: Identifier already declared.
    function ownerInfo() public view returns (string) {
 ^ (Relevant source part starts here and spans across multiple lines).
Test.sol:9:2: The previous declaration is here:
    string ownerInfo = "Contract Owner name XYZ";
    ^------------------------------------------^

I don't see any duplicate declaration of ownerInfo. Any idea, why am I getting this error?

Answer 1

@Hari GTT Psicolabis' answer is right, but that means that you have to specify the ownerInfo field as public to get the benefit of a public getter.

string public ownerInfo = "Contract Owner name XYZ";

the alternative, is to change the name of your function.

Answer 2

This is because the method and the property have the same name. Since solidity automatically creates a public getter function for every public variable in the contract, you don't need function ownerInfo() public view returns (string)