这是不可能的。你可以说

Client.WorkPhone = GetString(inputString, Client.WorkPhone);

其中WorkPhone是一个可写的字符串属性和GetString的定义被更改为

private string GetString(string input, string current) { 
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(input)) {
        return input;
    }
    return current;
}

这将具有与您所尝试的相同的语义。

这是不可能的，因为属性实际上是一对伪装的方法。每个属性都提供了可通过类字段语法访问的getter和setter。当您尝试调用GetString时，您传递的是一个值而不是一个变量。您传入的值是从getter get_WorkPhone返回的。

Another trick not yet mentioned is to have the class which implements a property (e.g. Foo of type Bar) also define a delegate delegate void ActByRef<T1,T2>(ref T1 p1, ref T2 p2); and implement a method ActOnFoo<TX1>(ref Bar it, ActByRef<Bar,TX1> proc, ref TX1 extraParam1) (and possibly versions for two and three "extra parameters" as well) which will pass its internal representation of Foo to the supplied procedure as a ref parameter. This has a couple of big advantages over other methods of working with the property:

The property is updated "in place"; if the property is of a type that's compatible with `Interlocked` methods, or if it is a struct with exposed fields of such types, the `Interlocked` methods may be used to perform atomic updates to the property. If the property is an exposed-field structure, the fields of the structure may be modified without having to make any redundant copies of it. If the `ActByRef` method passes one or more `ref` parameters through from its caller to the supplied delegate, it may be possible to use a singleton or static delegate, thus avoiding the need to create closures or delegates at run-time. The property knows when it is being "worked with". While it is always necessary to use caution executing external code while holding a lock, if one can trust callers not to do too do anything in their callback that might require another lock, it may be practical to have the method guard the property access with a lock, such that updates which aren't compatible with `CompareExchange` could still be performed quasi-atomically.

过去的事情被引用是一个极好的模式;可惜它没有被更多地使用。

如果你想同时获取和设置属性，你可以在c# 7中使用这个:

GetString(
    inputString,
    (() => client.WorkPhone, x => client.WorkPhone = x))

void GetString(string inValue, (Func<string> get, Action<string> set) outValue)
{
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(outValue.get()))
    {
        outValue.set(inValue);
    }
}

属性不能通过引用传递。这里有一些方法可以绕过这个限制。

1. 返回值

string GetString(string input, string output)
{
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
    {
        return input;
    }
    return output;
}

void Main()
{
    var person = new Person();
    person.Name = GetString("test", person.Name);
    Debug.Assert(person.Name == "test");
}

2. 委托

void GetString(string input, Action<string> setOutput)
{
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
    {
        setOutput(input);
    }
}

void Main()
{
    var person = new Person();
    GetString("test", value => person.Name = value);
    Debug.Assert(person.Name == "test");
}

3.LINQ表达式

void GetString<T>(string input, T target, Expression<Func<T, string>> outExpr)
{
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
    {
        var expr = (MemberExpression) outExpr.Body;
        var prop = (PropertyInfo) expr.Member;
        prop.SetValue(target, input, null);
    }
}

void Main()
{
    var person = new Person();
    GetString("test", person, x => x.Name);
    Debug.Assert(person.Name == "test");
}

4. 反射

void GetString(string input, object target, string propertyName)
{
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
    {
        var prop = target.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName);
        prop.SetValue(target, input);
    }
}

void Main()
{
    var person = new Person();
    GetString("test", person, nameof(Person.Name));
    Debug.Assert(person.Name == "test");
}

属性不能通过引用传递?然后将其设置为字段，并使用该属性公开引用它:

public class MyClass
{
    public class MyStuff
    {
        string foo { get; set; }
    }

    private ObservableCollection<MyStuff> _collection;

    public ObservableCollection<MyStuff> Items { get { return _collection; } }

    public MyClass()
    {
        _collection = new ObservableCollection<MyStuff>();
        this.LoadMyCollectionByRef<MyStuff>(ref _collection);
    }

    public void LoadMyCollectionByRef<T>(ref ObservableCollection<T> objects_collection)
    {
        // Load refered collection
    }
}

如果函数在您的代码中，并且您可以修改它，那么接受的答案是好的。但有时你必须使用某个外部库中的对象和函数，你不能改变属性和函数定义。然后你可以使用一个临时变量。

var phone = Client.WorkPhone;
GetString(input, ref phone);
Client.WorkPhone = phone;