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Iterate through Generic Typed List in c#

I am trying to iterate through the generic type object list, i am able to get the properties of the object however unable to get the values from properties of each instance of the object. Here's how my code looks like: I want create a function that will convert any list passed to it and convert it into DataTable.
--DataObject
public class StudentDo
{
public int Id {get;set}
public string Name {get;set}
}
--Generic Data Access Object
public DataTable ConvertListToDataTable(List<T> list, string tableName = "")
{
var type = typeof(T);
var properties = type.GetProperties().ToList();
DataTable dt = new DataTable(tableName);
properties.ForEach(x =>
{
dt.Columns.Add(x.Name);
});
// i don't know how shall i pull data from each instance of List<T>.
return dt;
}

Iterate over the list and insert against each column using reflection -
public static DataTable ConvertListToDataTable<T>(List<T> list, string tableName = "")
{
var type = typeof(T);
var properties = type.GetProperties().ToList();
DataTable dt = new DataTable(tableName);
properties.ForEach(x =>
{
dt.Columns.Add(x.Name);
});
foreach (var item in list)
{
var dataRow = dt.NewRow();
properties.ForEach(x =>
{
dataRow[x.Name] = x.GetValue(item, null);
});
dt.Rows.Add(dataRow);
}
return dt;
}

This is what I use:
public DataTable ToDataTable<T>(IList<T> data)
{
PropertyDescriptorCollection properties =
TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(T));
DataTable table = new DataTable();
foreach (PropertyDescriptor prop in properties)
table.Columns.Add(prop.Name, Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(prop.PropertyType) ?? prop.PropertyType);
foreach (T item in data)
{
DataRow row = table.NewRow();
foreach (PropertyDescriptor prop in properties)
row[prop.Name] = prop.GetValue(item) ?? DBNull.Value;
table.Rows.Add(row);
}
return table;
}

Using GetField<T> to set values in an object from a DataRow

I'm trying to write a generic method to return values from columns in a DataRow.
protected static T GetField<T>(DataRow row, string name, T defaultValue)
{
if (row == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("row");
}
T result = defaultValue;
if (row.Table.Columns.Contains(name) && !row.IsNull(name))
{
result = row.Field<T>(name);
}
return result;
}
When trying to assign values to specific tests I get 'Specified cast is not valid.' exception.
var rule = new MyObj
{
AString = GetField(row, "AnswerId", "test"),
AnInt = GetField(row, "Decline", 0),
ADecimal = GetField(row, "LoadFactor", 1M),
};
I'm trying to avoid writing an overload for each type.
Can this be done?

You can use these extension Methods to convert whole DataTable to List, instead of writing method for DataRow:
public static class DataTableExtensions
{
public static List<T> ToList<T>(this DataTable table) where T : new()
{
List<PropertyInfo> properties = typeof(T).GetProperties().ToList();
List<T> result = new List<T>();
foreach (var row in table.Rows)
{
var item = CreateItemFromRow<T>((DataRow)row, properties);
result.Add(item);
}
return result;
}
private static T CreateItemFromRow<T>(DataRow row, List<PropertyInfo> properties) where T : new()
{
T item = new T();
foreach (var property in properties)
{
if (row.Table.Columns.Contains(property.Name))
{
if (row[property.Name] != DBNull.Value)
property.SetValue(item, row[property.Name], null);
}
}
return item;
}
}
and use it like this:
List<SomeType> list = SomeDataTable.ToList<SomeType>();
But you have to make sure that name of columns that are selected in query should match the class properties and datatypes should also match.

How to Convert DataRow to an Object

I created a DataRow on my project:
DataRow datarow;
I want to convert this DataRow to any Type of Object.
How could I do it?

This is a pretty cool way I use it.
public static T ToObject<T>(this DataRow dataRow)
where T : new()
{
T item = new T();
foreach (DataColumn column in dataRow.Table.Columns)
{
PropertyInfo property = GetProperty(typeof(T), column.ColumnName);
if (property != null && dataRow[column] != DBNull.Value && dataRow[column].ToString() != "NULL")
{
property.SetValue(item, ChangeType(dataRow[column], property.PropertyType), null);
}
}
return item;
}
private static PropertyInfo GetProperty(Type type, string attributeName)
{
PropertyInfo property = type.GetProperty(attributeName);
if (property != null)
{
return property;
}
return type.GetProperties()
.Where(p => p.IsDefined(typeof(DisplayAttribute), false) && p.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DisplayAttribute), false).Cast<DisplayAttribute>().Single().Name == attributeName)
.FirstOrDefault();
}
public static object ChangeType(object value, Type type)
{
if (type.IsGenericType && type.GetGenericTypeDefinition().Equals(typeof(Nullable<>)))
{
if (value == null)
{
return null;
}
return Convert.ChangeType(value, Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(type));
}
return Convert.ChangeType(value, type);
}

I Have found one solution for my application.
// function that creates an object from the given data row
public static T CreateItemFromRow<T>(DataRow row) where T : new()
{
// create a new object
T item = new T();
// set the item
SetItemFromRow(item, row);
// return
return item;
}
public static void SetItemFromRow<T>(T item, DataRow row) where T : new()
{
// go through each column
foreach (DataColumn c in row.Table.Columns)
{
// find the property for the column
PropertyInfo p = item.GetType().GetProperty(c.ColumnName);
// if exists, set the value
if (p != null && row[c] != DBNull.Value)
{
p.SetValue(item, row[c], null);
}
}
}
This will map your DataRow to ViewModel, Like below.
Your_ViewModel model = CreateItemFromRow<Your_ViewModel>(row);

class Person{
public string FirstName{get;set;}
public string LastName{get;set;}
}
Person person = new Person();
person.FirstName = dataRow["FirstName"] ;
person.LastName = dataRow["LastName"] ;
or
Person person = new Person();
person.FirstName = dataRow.Field<string>("FirstName");
person.LastName = dataRow.Field<string>("LastName");

Similar to some of the previous approaches, I created this extension method for DataRow which takes an argument object to be populated. Main difference is that in addition to populating object's Properties, it also populates Fields of given object. This should also work for simpler structures (Though I only tested on objects).
public static T ToObject<T>( this DataRow dataRow )
where T : new() {
T item = new T();
foreach( DataColumn column in dataRow.Table.Columns ) {
if( dataRow[column] != DBNull.Value ) {
PropertyInfo prop = item.GetType().GetProperty( column.ColumnName );
if( prop != null ) {
object result = Convert.ChangeType( dataRow[column], prop.PropertyType );
prop.SetValue( item, result, null );
continue;
}
else {
FieldInfo fld = item.GetType().GetField( column.ColumnName );
if( fld != null ) {
object result = Convert.ChangeType( dataRow[column], fld.FieldType );
fld.SetValue( item, result );
}
}
}
}
return item;
}
You can put this code in your current class or in a global static class.
It needs following namespaces...
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Reflection;
Usage is as simple as...
MyClassName obj = dataRow.ToObject<MyClassName>()

Here is an extension method that would allow you to convert a DataRow to a given object.
public static class DataRowExtensions
{
public static T Cast<T>(this DataRow dataRow) where T : new()
{
T item = new T();
IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> properties = item.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public)
.Where(x => x.CanWrite);
foreach (DataColumn column in dataRow.Table.Columns)
{
if (dataRow[column] == DBNull.Value)
{
continue;
}
PropertyInfo property = properties.FirstOrDefault(x => column.ColumnName.Equals(x.Name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
if (property == null)
{
continue;
}
try
{
Type t = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(property.PropertyType) ?? property.PropertyType;
object safeValue = (dataRow[column] == null) ? null : Convert.ChangeType(dataRow[column], t);
property.SetValue(item, safeValue, null);
}
catch
{
throw new Exception($"The value '{dataRow[column]}' cannot be mapped to the property '{property.Name}'!");
}
}
return item;
}
}
And you can use the above extension method like so
foreach (DataRow row in dataTable.Rows)
{
SomeClassType obj = row.Cast<SomeClassType>();
// do something with your object
}

Given Converter<TIn, TOut> is a delegate, then the following should work:
List<Person> personList = new List<Person>();
personList = ConvertDataRowToList(ds, (row) => {
return new Person
{
FirstName = row["FirstName"],
LastName = row["LastName"]
// Rest of properties should assign here...
};
});
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.converter-2

Apart from the manual method Avi shows, you can use a mapping system like AutoMapper to do the transformation for you. This is particularly useful in the case where you have a lot of columns/properties to map.
Check out this article on how to use AutoMapper to convert a DataTable to a list of objects.

DataRow has a property ItemArray, which contains an array of object values. You can work with this array and create any custom type with the values from your DataRow.

With less complications ;), two steps will solve the task:
1. cast to dictionary (ToDictionary).
2. map dictionary to entity (MapToEntity).
public static IDictionary<string, object> ToDictionary(
this DataRow content
)
{
var values = content.ItemArray;
var columns = content
.Table
.Columns
.Cast<DataColumn>()
.Select(x => x.ColumnName);
return values
.Select((v, m) => new { v, m })
.ToDictionary(
x => columns.ElementAt(x.m)
, x => (x.v == DBNull.Value ? null : x.v)
);
}
public static T MapToEntity<T>(
this IDictionary<string, object> source
)
where T : class, new()
{
// t - target
T t_object = new T();
Type t_type = t_object.GetType();
foreach (var kvp in source)
{
PropertyInfo t_property = t_type.GetProperty(kvp.Key);
if (t_property != null)
{
t_property.SetValue(t_object, kvp.Value);
}
}
return t_object;
}
...and the usage would be:
DataRow dr = getSomeDataRow(someArgs);
ABC result = dr.ToDictionary()
.MapToEntity<ABC>();

You could convert the whole Data table into a list Object like the code below. Of course, you can take the specific object which you want with the index or the field value.
/// <summary>
/// convert a datatable to list Object
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">object model</typeparam>
/// <param name="dataTable"></param>
/// <returns>ex ussage: List<User> listTbl = CommonFunc.convertDatatblToListObj<User>(dataTable);</returns>
public static List<T> convertDatatableToListObject<T>(DataTable dataTable)
{
List<T> res = new List<T>();
try
{
string tblJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(dataTable);
res = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<T>>(tblJson);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
string exStr = ex.Message;
}
return res;
}

With these changes worked fine for me, for fields int, long, int? and long?
// function that creates an object from the given data row
public static T CreateItemFromRow<T>(DataRow row) where T : new()
{
// create a new object
T item = new T();
// set the item
SetItemFromRow(item, row);
// return
return item;
}
public static void SetItemFromRow<T>(T item, DataRow row) where T : new()
{
// go through each column
foreach (DataColumn c in row.Table.Columns)
{
// find the property for the column
PropertyInfo p = item.GetType().GetProperty(c.ColumnName);
// if exists, set the value
if (p != null && row[c] != DBNull.Value)
{
if (p.PropertyType.Name == "Int64")
{
p.SetValue(item, long.Parse(row[c].ToString()), null);
}
else if (p.PropertyType.Name == "Int32")
{
p.SetValue(item, int.Parse(row[c].ToString()), null);
}
else if (p.PropertyType.FullName.StartsWith("System.Nullable`1[[System.Int32"))
{
p.SetValue(item, (int?)int.Parse(row[c].ToString()), null);
}
else if (p.PropertyType.FullName.StartsWith("System.Nullable`1[[System.Int64"))
{
p.SetValue(item, (long?)long.Parse(row[c].ToString()), null);
}
else
{
p.SetValue(item, row[c], null);
}
}
}
}

Datatable to object by using reflection and linq

I have a datatable like this
Name| Value
----|------
NA | VA
NB | VB
NC | VC1
NC | VC2
ND | VD1
ND | VD2
and a class like this
Class NVMapping {
List<string> NC { get; set; }
List<string> ND { get; set; }
string NA { get; set; }
string NB { get; set; }
}
How to use linq or other way to transfer the datatable to this type ?
I think I need to emphasize one thing here. This kinda mapping will be a lot in my application.
Somehow I think using reflection can make this function be generic to handle all these kinda mapping.
So if possible, I would prefer a generic function like using reflection to achieve this.
If possible, it will even better just transfering datatable into an object like above transformation.
Thanks !

May I suggest writing a generic method that uses reflection. The following method uses reflection to populate a class's public properties from a DataRow in a DataTable (or a List<> of classes, one from each DataRow in the DataTable) where the ColumnName matches the name of the public property in the class exactly (case-sensitive).
If the DataTable has extra columns that don't match up to a property in the class, they are ignored. If the DataTable is missing columns to match a class property, that property is ignored and left at the default value for that type (since it is a property).
public static IList<T> DatatableToClass<T>(DataTable Table) where T : class, new()
{
if (!Helper.IsValidDatatable(Table))
return new List<T>();
Type classType = typeof(T);
IList<PropertyInfo> propertyList = classType.GetProperties();
// Parameter class has no public properties.
if (propertyList.Count == 0)
return new List<T>();
List<string> columnNames = Table.Columns.Cast<DataColumn>().Select(column => column.ColumnName).ToList();
List<T> result = new List<T>();
try
{
foreach (DataRow row in Table.Rows)
{
T classObject = new T();
foreach (PropertyInfo property in propertyList)
{
if (property != null && property.CanWrite) // Make sure property isn't read only
{
if (columnNames.Contains(property.Name)) // If property is a column name
{
if (row[property.Name] != System.DBNull.Value) // Don't copy over DBNull
{
object propertyValue = System.Convert.ChangeType(
row[property.Name],
property.PropertyType
);
property.SetValue(classObject, propertyValue, null);
}
}
}
}
result.Add(classObject);
}
return result;
}
catch
{
return new List<T>();
}
}
If you interested in going the other way, and fill out a DataTable from a class's public properties, I cover that and more on my C# blog, CSharpProgramming.tips/Class-to-DataTable

Here it is:
IEnumerable<DataRow> rows = table.AsEnumerable();
string naValue = null;
var naRow = rows.FirstOrDefault(r => r.Field<string>("Name") == "NA");
if(naRow != null)
naValue = naRow.Field<string>("Value");
string nbValue = null;
var nbRow = rows.FirstOrDefault(r => r.Field<string>("Name") == "NB");
if(nbRow != null)
nbValue = nbRow.Field<string>("Value");
NVMapping map = new NVMapping {
NC = rows.Where(r => r.Field<string>("Name") == "NC")
.Select(r => r.Field<string>("Value")).ToList(),
ND = rows.Where(r => r.Field<string>("Name") == "ND")
.Select(r => r.Field<string>("Value")).ToList(),
NA = naValue,
NB = nbValue
};

C# Filling datagridview

When I fill datagridview with list of objects
I can not sort columns
However, I fill the same datagridview with datatable
I can sort columns
How i can sort it when i work with both of them?

Best way I know to do this is to derive from BindingList<T> and implement the sorting functionality. I've been using a variation of the class in the following link for some time. Works great!
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/winformsdatacontrols/thread/12eb59d3-e687-4e36-93ab-bf6741954d39/

You can convert it to a DataTable. Probably not as clean and efficient as implementing BindingList<T>, but it works. Taken from... Lord knows where; not original. Refactored a bit.
To use:
List<MyObject> myObjects = GetFromDatabase(); // fake method of your choosing
DataTable dataTable = ToDataTable(myObjects);
yourDataGridView.DataSource = dataTable;
ToDataTable and other methods:
public static DataTable ToDataTable<T>(IEnumerable<T> items)
{
var tb = new DataTable(typeof (T).Name);
PropertyInfo[] props = typeof (T).GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
Type t = GetCoreType(prop.PropertyType);
tb.Columns.Add(prop.Name, t);
}
foreach (T item in items)
{
var values = new object[props.Length];
for (int i = 0; i < props.Length; i++)
{
values[i] = props[i].GetValue(item, null);
}
tb.Rows.Add(values);
}
return tb;
}
public static Type GetCoreType(Type t)
{
if (t != null && IsNullable(t))
{
if (!t.IsValueType)
{
return t;
}
else
{
return Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(t);
}
}
else
{
return t;
}
}
public static bool IsNullable(Type t)
{
return !t.IsValueType || (t.IsGenericType && t.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>));
}