How can I add CustomAttribute to all object properties dynamically? - c#

I have an object with multiple properties like this :
public int num1 { get; set; }
public int num2 { get; set; }
public string str1 { get; set; }
public string str2 { get; set; }
These properties are inside a class which is dynamically generated so it will erase all CustomAttributes on them.
I tried adding
[Submit]
MyClass myObject
but it didn't spread on my object properties
Is there a way to do that dynamically inside the c# ?

I'm having some trouble understanding your question, but let me attempt to clarify.
I have an object with multiple attributes
...
it will erase all CustomAttributes
In C# parlance, class members of the format <access> <type> <name> { get; set; } are referred to as "properties" rather than "attributes." "Attributes," on the other hand, are the C# implementation of annotations, such as the custom attributes to which you are referring.
That said, I currently understand you to mean you have an automatically generated class with multiple properties. You would like each of these properties to have their own custom attributes, but if you edit the class they are removed the next time it is generated, and you cannot get the class generator to include custom attributes.
It might be helpful to know more of the context of your class. How is it being generated, for example? If it is an Entity Framework class, the following SO question may provide some insight:
Add data annotations to a class generated by entity framework. In general, is (or can you make) the generated class partial? If so, then you can still follow the approach in the above question's answer, viz. make your own partial class implementation that provides the properties' custom attributes.
For example, if your generated class looks (or can be made to look) like this:
/// <auto-generated />
public partial class MyClass
{
public int Num1 { get; set; }
public int Num2 { get; set; }
public string Str1 { get; set; }
public string Str2 { get; set; }
}
You could write the other part of the partial class with the custom annotations, like this:
/// human generated
public partial class MyClass
{
[Submit]
public int Num1 { get; set; }
[Submit]
public int Num2 { get; set; }
[Submit]
public string Str1 { get; set; }
[Submit]
public string Str2 { get; set; }
}
Again, without knowing more about your situation, I am not certain if this provides you the information you need, but I hope it at least gives you a starting point.
Edit
If the class is not partial, you might consider wrapping your generated class with a class whose wrapping properties use the custom attribute. For example,
/// human generated
public class MyClassWrapper
{
private readonly MyClass wrapped;
public MyClassWrapper(MyClass wrapped)
{
this.wrapped = wrapped;
}
[Submit]
public int Num1 { get => this.wrapped.Num1; set => this.wrapped.Num1 = value; }
[Submit]
public int Num2 { get => this.wrapped.Num2; set => this.wrapped.Num2 = value; }
[Submit]
public string Str1 { get => this.wrapped.Str1; set => this.wrapped.Str1 = value; }
[Submit]
public string Str2 { get => this.wrapped.Str2; set => this.wrapped.Str2 = value; }
}
Edit 2
If you would rather have a more dynamic solution, at the cost of some design and runtime complexity, you might consider this SO question: How to add property-level Attribute to the TypeDescriptor at runtime?. It seems to address a similar concern --
Really, it's for MS's Application Settings that generates code, so you can't extend it in any way property-wise.
I won't duplicate Gman's explanation entirely here, but essentially this approach consists of
Get the type (MyClass) or an instance of the type myObject
Use TypeDescriptor.GetProvider(MyClass/myObject).GetTypeDescriptor(MyClass/myObject) to get the type or object's baseline ICustomTypeDescriptor
Construct his PropertyOverridingTypeDescriptor with this baseline descriptor
Iterate through MyClass/myObject's properties' definitions with TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(MyClass/myObject). Use TypeDescriptor.CreateProperty to create a new property definition based on the current property's definition, that adds the custom attribute EditorAttribute (or in your case SubmitAttribute), and use the PropertyOverridingTypeDescriptor constructed in 3. to use the new property definition.
Construct his TypeDescriptorOverridingProvider with the PropertyOverridingTypeDescriptor constructed in 3.
Apply the new property definitions to MyClass/myObject with TypeDescriptor.AddProvider

One more way to add attributes to a dynamically generated class is to add one more command line app to your code generation pipeline.
Here's an example how to rewrite C# code file with Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp library:
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Syntax;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Text;
using System;
using System.IO;
namespace SB.Common.ContractGenerator
{
class SubmitAttributeAdder : CSharpSyntaxRewriter
{
public override SyntaxNode VisitPropertyDeclaration(PropertyDeclarationSyntax node)=>
node.WithAttributeLists(
node.AttributeLists.Count == 0
? node.AttributeLists.Add(SyntaxFactory.AttributeList()
.AddAttributes(SyntaxFactory.Attribute(
SyntaxFactory.ParseName("Submit")))
// Add some whitespace to keep the code neat.
.WithLeadingTrivia(node.GetLeadingTrivia())
.WithTrailingTrivia(SyntaxFactory.Whitespace(Environment.NewLine)))
: node.AttributeLists);
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// The file name to be injected as a command line parameter
var tree = CSharpSyntaxTree.ParseText(
SourceText.From(File.ReadAllText("Test.cs")));
File.WriteAllText("Test.cs",
new SubmitAttributeAdder().Visit(tree.GetRoot()).ToString());
}
}
}
First, the input C# code file is parsed as the syntax tree, and then the SubmitAttributeAdder class skims through all declared classes and their properties to amend an attribute list for each of them.
After that the modified syntax tree is saved back to the same file.
Here the app only adds the Submit attribute in case the attribute list of a property is empty, but one can easily make the logic more sophisticated - e.g. check whether there are other attributes, add corresponding using <namespace> for the Submit attribute and so on.
An example Test.cs file before running the app:
namespace MyProject
{
class MyClass
{
public int num1 { get; set; }
public int num2 { get; set; }
public string str1 { get; set; }
public string str2 { get; set; }
}
}
...and after:
namespace MyProject
{
class MyClass
{
[Submit]
public int num1 { get; set; }
[Submit]
public int num2 { get; set; }
[Submit]
public string str1 { get; set; }
[Submit]
public string str2 { get; set; }
}
}

Related

deserialize integer into a string

Is there a way to deserialize an integer into a string ? I need it for compatibility reason.
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
namespace Abc.Test
{
[JsonSerializable(typeof(OrderInfo), GenerationMode = JsonSourceGenerationMode.Metadata)]
public partial class OrderInfoContext : JsonSerializerContext
{ }
public partial class OrderInfo
{
public string UserReference { get; set; }
}
public class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var json = #"{""UserReference"": 123}"; // <---- how having 123 deserialize as a string?
var s = JsonSerializer.Deserialize(json, OrderInfoContext.Default.OrderInfo);
}
}
}
In some cases it can make sense to separate your serialization objects (aka DTOs) from your domain objects. This give you several benefits:
Allow your domain objects to have behavior defined, without affecting serialization.
A place to handle any complicated changes to the model without losing backwards compatibility.
Allow the serialization objects to fulfill requirements like public setters, without affecting the usage in the rest of the code.
Ex:
public class OrderInfoDTO
{
public int UserReference { get; set; }
public OrderInfo ToModel() => new OrderInfo(UserReference.ToString();
}
public class OrderInfo{
public string UserReference {get;}
public OrderInfo(string userReference) => UserReference = userReference;
}
You can use a custom converter on a property. I'll look something like:
public partial class OrderInfo
{
[JsonConverter(typeof(YourCustomConverter))]
public string UserReference { get; set; }
}

Binding C# BindingList<T> to a DataGridView

Maybe the question is a little bit dumb, but I did not quite find solution anywhere else.
So I am using a BindingList of custom made class objects as a DataSource for DataGridView.
Everything works fine with properties, that are directly inherited from other classes, but if I have an object of other class in the main class, its properties wont show up in DataGridView.
Classes are:
enum Valsts
{
Latvija,
Igaunija,
Ķīna,
ASV
}
class Razotajs
{
public Valsts valsts { get; set; }
public string razotajaNosaukums { get; set; }
}
class Tehnika
{
public string krasa { get; set; }
public Razotajs razotajs = new Razotajs();
}
class Viedierice : Tehnika
{
public string operetajsistema { get; set; }
public double ekranaIzmers { get; set; }
public bool irHDMI { get; set; }
}
class MobilaisTelefons : Viedierice
{
public string modelis { get; set; }
public double svars { get; set; }
public SimKarte sim = new SimKarte();
public override string ToString()
{
return String.Join(";", modelis.ToString(),svars.ToString(),sim.veids.ToString(),operetajsistema.ToString(),ekranaIzmers.ToString(),irHDMI.ToString(),krasa.ToString(),razotajs.razotajaNosaukums.ToString(),
sim.numurs.ToString(),razotajs.valsts.ToString());
}
}
class SimKarte
{
public string veids { get; set;}
public int numurs { get; set; }
}
For example- I can see columns "modelis" and "svars", but attributes like "veids" and "numurs" from class SimKarte are not included in the DataGridView.
Is there any solution for this?
I've tried to add { get; set; } after declaring a new instance of an object in the class, but it's not even a real thing. I really don't have any idea, what would help me to solve this.
Thank you all in advance! :)
Honestly, I think the simplest solution is the one JohnG proposed; add proxy properties to your main class that read/write the properties of the complex objects
A datagridview will show only the simple types it knows how to show, from the top level class. It will not dig into properties of properties (otherwise even adding a string column would cause the grid to fill up with a Length column an Isinterned column etc..)
partial class MobilaisTelefons : Viedierice
{
public string modelis { get; set; }
public double svars { get; set; }
public SimKarte sim { get; set; } = new SimKarte();
public override string ToString()
{
return String.Join(";",
modelis, svars, sim.veids, operetajsistema, ekranaIzmers, irHDMI, krasa, razotajs.razotajaNosaukums,
sim.numurs, razotajs.valsts);
}
}
partial class MobilaisTelefons {
public string SimVeids { get => sim.veids; set => sim.veids = value; }
public string SimNumers { get => sim.numers; set => sim.numers = value; }
public string RazotajsRazotajaNosaukums { get => razotajs.razotajaNosaukums; set => razotajs.razotajaNosaukums = value; }
public Valsts RazotajsValsts { get => razotajs.valsts; set => razotajs.valsts = value; }
}
Few tips:
I made the extension of the class partial so you can put it in another file. Hiding its members from intellisense would be hard work
the Enum column will probably show as an int. if you want it to be sensible, use a DataGridViewComboBox column bound to a list of all the enum values/names. On the column, set the DataMember to "RazotajsValsts", the DataSource to the list of enums, the DisplayMember to the property representing the enum name and the ValueMember to the property representing the enum value. See Enum.GetValues.
Enums should only have a plural name (if valsts is plural) if they are flags
classes should not have a plural name
public properties names should be in PascalCase not camelCase
I simplified your tostring: you don't need to call to string on everything; string join will do it. You especially don't need to call tostring on a string

C#: How to statically get property attribute

I am looking for an elegant way of statically referencing a property attribute in C#. To give you an example, say I have this class:
public class A
{
[Attribute(Name="myAttributeName")]
public string Property1 { get; set; }
}
Now, I see the attribute as quite similar to a static member of a class, so in my mind, there should be an easy way to access the attribute from outside the class; e.g. through a similar operator to typeof or nameof (but it would return a list of attributes, since there may be multiple attributes to fetch). The way I would like to use this operator is as follows:
public class B
{
// Through an attribute definition
[Attribute2(attrof(A.Property1))]
public string Property2 { get; set; }
// In a method
public void method()
{
var attrs = attrof(A.property1);
}
}
I think I have found one way to make it work with two parameters like the example below - at least for the method invocation. Passing variables to attributes doesn't seem to work in C#, but that's nevertheless the way I'd like to construct my code.
public class C
{
public static object[] GetAttrs(Type type, string propertyName)
{
return type.GetProperty(propertyName).GetCustomAttributes(true);
}
}
public class A
{
[Attribute1(Name="myAttributeName")]
public string Property1 { get; set; }
}
public class B
{
// Through an attribute definition
// Unfortunately, passing variable to attrs not supported
// so this does not work
[Attribute2(C.GetAttrs(typeof(A), nameof(A.Property1)))]
public string Property2 { get; set; }
// In a method
public void method()
{
var attrs = C.GetAttrs(typeof(A), nameof(A.Property1));
}
}
However, it feels tedious to pass references to both the class and property, when syntactically, A.Property1 contains information about both - something a compiler should be able to draw information from. Therefore, I wonder if any such operator exists today, or if there are any other ideas on how this functionality could be achieved?
EDIT: I just thought about the B.Property2 attribute definition one more time and thought that it should still be possible to get this working, since I think attributes are constant. Or am I missing something here?
There is no default operator for such case, but you could implement something similar. Code to extract value from A.Property1 attribute is in Main function
using System;
using System.Reflection;
namespace ConsoleApp16
{
public class CustomAttribute : Attribute
{
public string Name { get; }
public CustomAttribute(string name)
{
Name = name;
}
}
public class ReferenceAttribute : Attribute
{
public string PropertyName { get; }
public Type Type { get; }
public ReferenceAttribute(Type type, string propertyName)
{
Type = type;
PropertyName = propertyName;
}
}
public class A
{
[Custom("text")]
public string Property1 { get; set; }
}
public class B
{
[Reference(typeof(A), nameof(A.Property1))]
public string Property { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var referenceAttribute = typeof(B).GetProperty(nameof(B.Property))
.GetCustomAttribute<ReferenceAttribute>();
var customAttribute = referenceAttribute.Type.GetProperty(referenceAttribute.PropertyName)
.GetCustomAttribute<CustomAttribute>();
Console.WriteLine(customAttribute.Name);
}
}
}

Using Reflection to get a class description

I'm trying to get the Full Class description into a string value. I have designated the classes to Enumerate through, to get back the full description. However; calling ToString() on any class object only provides a summary.
I want the full definition, as in what is shown in the class file (.cs) related to it.
public class Expose : System.Attribute
{
public bool DoExpose;
public Expose(bool doExpose)
{
DoExpose = doExpose;
}
public static void DoStuff()
{
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(Expose));
var types = GetTypesWithExposeAttribute(assembly);
// get full class description - like the Car.cs
Console.WriteLine(types.First().FullName);
}
public static IEnumerable<Type> GetTypesWithExposeAttribute(Assembly assembly)
{
foreach (Type type in assembly.GetTypes())
{
if (type.IsDefined(typeof(Expose), true))
{
yield return type;
}
}
}
}
[Expose(true)]
public class Car
{
public int CarId { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Speed { get; set; }
}
Assuming you are asking about "xml documentation comments".
The comments are not part of metadata and can't be accessed via reflection.
If you need additional information to be available via reflection - use attributes. (I.e. C# documentation comments).

Best practice for protobuf-net, versioning and surrogate types

I'm trying to determine how to address this use case using protobuf-net (Marc Gravell's implementation).
We have class A, which is considered version 1
An instance of class A has been serialized to disk
We now have class B, which is considered version 2 of class A (there were so many things wrong with class A, we had to create class B for the next version). Class A still exists in code, but only for legacy purposes.
I want to deserialize the version:1 data (stored to disk) as a class B instance, and use a logic routine to translate the data from the previous class A instance to a new instance of class B.
The instance of class B will be serialized to disk during operation.
The application should expect to deserialize instances of both class A and B.
The concept of data contract surrogates and the DataContractSerializer come to mind. The goal is transition the version:1 data to the new class B structure.
An example:
[DataContract]
public class A {
public A(){}
[DataMember]
public bool IsActive {get;set;]
[DataMember]
public int VersionNumber {
get { return 1; }
set { }
}
[DataMember]
public int TimeInSeconds {get;set;}
[DataMember]
public string Name {get;set;}
[DataMember]
public CustomObject CustomObj {get;set;} //Also a DataContract
[DataMember]
public List<ComplexThing> ComplexThings {get;set;} //Also a DataContract
...
}
[DataContract]
public class B {
public B(A a) {
this.Enabled = a.IsActive; //Property now has a different name
this.TimeInMilliseconds = a.TimeInSeconds * 1000; //Property requires math for correctness
this.Name = a.Name;
this.CustomObject2 = new CustomObject2(a.CustomObj); //Reference objects change, too
this.ComplexThings = new List<ComplexThings>();
this.ComplexThings.AddRange(a.ComplexThings);
...
}
public B(){}
[DataMember]
public bool Enabled {get;set;]
[DataMember]
public int Version {
get { return 2; }
set { }
}
[DataMember]
public double TimeInMilliseconds {get;set;}
[DataMember]
public string Name {get;set;}
[DataMember]
public CustomObject2 CustomObject {get;set;} //Also a DataContract
[DataMember]
public List<ComplexThing> ComplexThings {get;set;} //Also a DataContract
...
}
Class A was the first iteration of our object, and is actively in use. Data exists in v1 format, using class A for serialization.
After realizing the error of our ways, we create a new structure called class B. There are so many changes between A and B that we feel it's better to create B, as opposed to adapting the original class A.
But our application already exists and class A is being used to serialize data. We're ready to roll our changes out to the world, but we must first deserialize data created under version 1 (using class A) and instantiate it as class B. The data is significant enough that we can't just assume defaults in class B for missing data, but rather we must transition the data from a class A instance to class B. Once we have a class B instance, the application will serialize that data again in class B format (version 2).
We're assuming we'll make modifications to class B in the future, and we want to be able to iterate to a version 3, perhaps in a new class "C". We have two goals: address data already in existence, and prepare our objects for future migration.
The existing "transition" attributes (OnSerializing/OnSerialized,OnDeserializing/OnDeserialized,etc.) don't provide access to the previous data.
What is the expected practice when using protobuf-net in this scenario?
Right; looking at them you have indeed completely changed the contract. I know of no contract-based serializer that is going to love you for that, and protobuf-net is no different. If you already had a root node, you could do something like (in pseudo-code):
[Contract]
class Wrapper {
[Member] public A A {get;set;}
[Member] public B B {get;set;}
[Member] public C C {get;set;}
}
and just pick whichever of A/B/C is non-null, perhaps adding some conversion operators between them. However, if you just have a naked A in the old data, this gets hard. There are two approaches I can think of:
add lots of shim properties for compatibility; not very maintainable, and I don't recommend it
sniff the Version as an initial step, and tell the serializer what to expect.
For example, you could do:
int version = -1;
using(var reader = new ProtoReader(inputStream)) {
while(reader.ReadFieldHeader() > 0) {
const int VERSION_FIELD_NUMBER = /* todo */;
if(reader.FieldNumber == VERSION_FIELD_NUMBER) {
version = reader.ReadInt32();
// optional short-circuit; we're not expecting 2 Version numbers
break;
} else {
reader.SkipField();
}
}
}
inputStream.Position = 0; // rewind before deserializing
Now you can use the serializer, telling it what version it was serialized as; either via the generic Serializer.Deserialize<T> API, or via a Type instance from the two non-generic APIs (Serializer.NonGeneric.Deserialize or RuntimeTypeModel.Default.Deserialize - either way, you get to the same place; it is really a case of whether generic or non-generic is most convenient).
Then you would need some conversion code between A / B / C - either via your own custom operators / methods, or by something like auto-mapper.
If you don't want any ProtoReader code kicking around, you could also do:
[DataContract]
class VersionStub {
[DataMember(Order=VERSION_FIELD_NUMBER)]
public int Version {get;set;}
}
and run Deserialize<VersionStub>, which will give you access to the Version, which you can then use to do the type-specific deserialize; the main difference here is that the ProtoReader code allows you to short-circuit as soon as you have a version-number.
I don't have an expected practice, but this is what I'd do.
Given you still have access to your V1 class add a property on your V1 class that provides a V2 instance.
In your ProtoAfterDeserialization of V1 create an instance of V2 and seeing it's a Migration I'd suggest manually transfer across what you need (or if it's not too hard, try Merge YMMV).
Also in your ProtoBeforeSerialization throw some form of exception so that you don't attempt to write out the old one any more.
Edit: Examples of using these (VB code)
<ProtoBeforeSerialization()>
Private Sub BeforeSerialisaton()
End Sub
<ProtoAfterSerialization()>
Private Sub AfterSerialisaton()
End Sub
<ProtoBeforeDeserialization()>
Private Sub BeforeDeserialisation()
End Sub
<ProtoAfterDeserialization()>
Private Sub AfterDeserialisation()
End Sub
after seeing your example I hope this satisfied what you are trying to do. Class1 is how you load/convert.
using ProtoBuf;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
public class Class1
{
public Class1()
{
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream("c:\\formatADataFile.dat",
FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
{
A oldA = Serializer.Deserialize<A>(fs);
B newB = oldA.ConvertedToB;
}
}
}
[ProtoContract()]
public class B
{
public B(A a)
{
//Property now has a different name
this.Enabled = a.IsActive;
//Property requires math for correctness
this.TimeInMilliseconds = a.TimeInSeconds * 1000;
this.Name = a.Name;
//Reference objects change, too
this.CustomObject2 = new CustomObject2(a.CustomObj);
this.ComplexThings = new List<ComplexThings>();
this.ComplexThings.AddRange(a.ComplexThings);
//...
}
public B() { }
//[DataMember]
[ProtoMember(1)]
public bool Enabled { get; set; }
//[DataMember]
public int Version
{
get { return 2; }
private set { }
}
[ProtoMember(2)]
public double TimeInMilliseconds { get; set; }
[ProtoMember(3)]
public string Name { get; set; }
[ProtoMember(4)]
public CustomObject2 CustomObject { get; set; } //Also a DataContract
[ProtoMember(5)]
public List<ComplexThing> ComplexThings { get; set; } //Also a DataContract
///...
}
[ProtoContract()]
public class CustomObject2
{
public CustomObject2()
{
Something = string.Empty;
}
[ProtoMember(1)]
public string Something { get; set; }
}
[ProtoContract()]
public class A
{
public A()
{
mBConvert = new B();
}
[ProtoMember(1)]
public bool IsActive { get; set; }
[ProtoMember(2)]
public int VersionNumber
{
get { return 1; }
private set { }
}
[ProtoBeforeSerialization()]
private void NoMoreSavesForA()
{
throw new System.InvalidOperationException("Do Not Save A");
}
private B mBConvert;
[ProtoAfterDeserialization()]
private void TranslateToB()
{
mBConvert = new B(this);
}
public B ConvertedToB
{
get
{
return mBConvert;
}
}
[ProtoMember(3)]
public int TimeInSeconds { get; set; }
[ProtoMember(4)]
public string Name { get; set; }
[ProtoMember(5)]
public CustomObject CustomObj { get; set; } //Also a DataContract
[ProtoMember(6)]
public List<ComplexThing> ComplexThings { get; set; } //Also a DataContract
//...
}
[ProtoContract()]
public class CustomObject
{
public CustomObject()
{
}
[ProtoMember(1)]
public int Something { get; set; }
}
[ProtoContract()]
public class ComplexThing
{
public ComplexThing()
{
}
[ProtoMember(1)]
public int SomeOtherThing { get; set; }
}

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