We Keep Coding

Howto search through Properties of all kinds of types

I have a base class called Part and derived classes like Wire or Connector and many more that inherit from Part.
Now I want to implement a search function that searches all Properties of the derived classes for a string.
If necessary that string should be tried to be converted to the type of the Property. The Properties can also be Lists and should be searched on the first level.
class Part
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
class Wire : Part
{
public NumberWithUnit Diameter { get; set; }
public Weight Weight { get; set; }
}
class Connector : Part
{
public List<Part> ConnectedParts { get; set; }
}
I know how to generally search through the Properties of base types with Reflection like this
private bool SearchProperties<T>(T part, string searchString) where T : Part
{
var props = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (var prop in props)
{
var value = prop.GetValue(part);
if (value is string)
{
if (string.Equals(value, searchString))
return true;
}
else if (value is int)
{
int v;
if (int.TryParse(searchString, out v))
{
if(v == (int) value)
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
But that would be a long list of types and I have Properties of Type Weight for instance and many more. Is there some kind of general way to search without casting all types?

Consider going the opposite direction with your conversion. Rather than converting your search string into each possible value, just convert the value into a string:
private bool SearchProperties<T>(T part, string searchString) where T : Part
{
var props = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (var prop in props)
{
var value = prop.GetValue(part);
if (value is IEnumerable)
{
// special handling for collections
}
else if(value != null)
{
string valueString = value.ToString();
if (string.Equals(valueString, searchString))
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
Besides working pretty well for most built-in types, the only thing you have to do to get it to work for Weight, etc. is make sure they implement ToString().
Another solution would be to use TypeDescriptor:
private bool SearchProperties<T>(T part, string searchString) where T : Part
{
var props = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (var prop in props)
{
var value = prop.GetValue(part);
if (value is IEnumerable)
{
// special handling for collections
}
else if(value != null)
{
object searchValue = null;
try
{
searchValue = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(value).ConvertFromString(searchString);
} catch {}
if (searchValue != null && object.Equals(value, searchValue))
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
TypeDescriptor works well for most built-in types, but requires extra work if you're dealing with custom types.

I think the following should cover the most of the practical scenarios:
public static bool SearchProperties(object target, string searchString)
{
if (target == null) return false;
// Common types
var convertible = target as IConvertible;
if (convertible != null)
{
var typeCode = convertible.GetTypeCode();
if (typeCode == TypeCode.String) return target.ToString() == searchString;
if (typeCode == TypeCode.DBNull) return false;
if (typeCode != TypeCode.Object)
{
try
{
var value = Convert.ChangeType(searchString, typeCode);
return target.Equals(value);
}
catch { return false; }
}
}
if (target is DateTimeOffset)
{
DateTimeOffset value;
return DateTimeOffset.TryParse(searchString, out value) && value == (DateTimeOffset)target;
}
var enumerable = target as IEnumerable;
if (enumerable != null)
{
// Collection
foreach (var item in enumerable)
if (SearchProperties(item, searchString)) return true;
}
else
{
// Complex type
var properties = target.GetType().GetProperties();
foreach (var property in properties)
{
if (property.GetMethod == null || property.GetMethod.GetParameters().Length > 0) continue;
var value = property.GetValue(target);
if (SearchProperties(value, searchString)) return true;
}
}
return false;
}

I will give you one different idea to do it.
You could try something like that:
private bool SearchProperties<T, W>(T part, W searchValue) where T : Part
{
var props = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (var prop in props)
{
if (typeof(W) == prop.PropertyType)
{
var value = prop.GetValue(part, null);
if (searchValue.Equals(value))
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
You need to call the method like this:
private void button12_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Part p = new Part();
p.Id = 2;
p.Name = "test";
p.bla = new Bla();
SearchProperties<Part, int>(p, 2);
}
And if you need to compare the complex properties (Weight, ...) by a different way from GetHashCode you could override the method Equals or the == operator.
class Weight
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return Id == ((Weight)obj).Id;
}
}

How to get the Count property using reflection for Generic types

I have a list of objects, of which I cannot know the type of at compile-time.
I need to identify any of these objects where a 'Count' property exists, and get the value if it does.
This code works for simple Collection types:
PropertyInfo countProperty = objectValue.GetType().GetProperty("Count");
if (countProperty != null)
{
int count = (int)countProperty.GetValue(objectValue, null);
}
The problem is that this doesn't work for generic types, such as IDictionary<TKey,TValue>. In those cases, the 'countProperty' value is returned as null, even though a 'Count' property exists in the instanced object.
All I want to do is identify any collection/dictionary based object and find the size of it, if it has one.
Edit: as requested, here's the entire listing of code that doesn't work
private static void GetCacheCollectionValues(ref CacheItemInfo item, object cacheItemValue)
{
try
{
//look for a count property using reflection
PropertyInfo countProperty = cacheItemValue.GetType().GetProperty("Count");
if (countProperty != null)
{
int count = (int)countProperty.GetValue(cacheItemValue, null);
item.Count = count;
}
else
{
//poke around for a 'values' property
PropertyInfo valuesProperty = cacheItemValue.GetType().GetProperty("Values");
int valuesCount = -1;
if (valuesProperty != null)
{
object values = valuesProperty.GetValue(cacheItemValue, null);
if (values != null)
{
PropertyInfo valuesCountProperty = values.GetType().GetProperty("Count");
if (countProperty != null)
{
valuesCount = (int)valuesCountProperty.GetValue(cacheItemValue, null);
}
}
}
if (valuesCount > -1)
item.Count = valuesCount;
else
item.Count = -1;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
item.Count = -1;
item.Message = "Exception on 'Count':" + ex.Message;
}
}
This works OK on simple collections, but not on an object created from a class I have which is derived from Dictionary<TKey,TValue>. Ie
CustomClass :
Dictionary<TKey,TValue>
CacheItemInfo is just a simple class that contains properties for cache items - ie, key, count, type, expiration datetime

The first thing you should try is casting to ICollection, as this has a very cheap .Count:
ICollection col = objectValue as ICollection;
if(col != null) return col.Count;
The Count for dictionary should work though - I've tested this with Dictionary<,> and it works fine - but note that even if something implements IDictionary<,>, the concrete type (returned via GetType()) doesn't have to have a .Count on the public API - it could use explicit interface implementation to satisfy the interface while not having a public int Count {get;}. Like I say: it works for Dictionary<,> - but not necessarily for every type.
As a last ditch effort if everything else fails:
IEnumerable enumerable = objectValue as IEnumerable;
if(enumerable != null)
{
int count = 0;
foreach(object val in enumerable) count++;
return count;
}
Edit to look into the Dictionary<,> question raised in comments:
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public class CustomClass : Dictionary<int, int> { }
public class CacheItemInfo
{
public int Count { get; set; }
public string Message { get; set; }
}
class Program {
public static void Main() {
var cii = new CacheItemInfo();
var data = new CustomClass { { 1, 1 }, { 2, 2 }, { 3, 3 } };
GetCacheCollectionValues(ref cii, data);
Console.WriteLine(cii.Count); // expect 3
}
private static void GetCacheCollectionValues(ref CacheItemInfo item, object cacheItemValue)
{
try
{
ICollection col;
IEnumerable enumerable;
if (cacheItemValue == null)
{
item.Count = -1;
}
else if ((col = cacheItemValue as ICollection) != null)
{
item.Count = col.Count;
}
else if ((enumerable = cacheItemValue as IEnumerable) != null)
{
int count = 0;
foreach (object val in enumerable) count++;
item.Count = count;
}
else
{
item.Count = -1;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
item.Count = -1;
item.Message = "Exception on 'Count':" + ex.Message;
}
}
}

How about adding this after your first check (!untested!) ...
foreach (Type interfaceType in objectValue.GetType().GetInterfaces())
{
countProperty = interfaceType.GetProperty("Count");
//etc.
}

C# implementation of deep/recursive object comparison in .net 3.5

I am looking for a C# specific , open source (or source code available) implementation of recursive, or deep, object comparison.
I currently have two graphs of live objects that I am looking to compare to each other, with the result of the comparison being a set of discrepancies in the graphs. The objects are instantiations of a set of classes that are known at run time (but not necessarily at compile time).
There is a specific requirement to be able to map from the discrepancies in the graphs, back to the objects containing the discrepancies.

I found a really nice, free implementation at www.kellermansoftware.com called Compare .NET Objects which can be found here. Highly recommended.
Appears to have relocated to github - most recent version is available here

This is a complex area; I've done some things like this at runtime, and it quickly gets messy. If possible, you might find that the simplest way to do this is to serialize the objects and compare the serialized form (perhaps xml-diff and XmlSerializer). This is complicated a little by the types not being known until runtime, but not hugely (you can always use new XmlSerializer(obj.GetType()) etc).
That would be my default approach, anyway.

Here's an NUnit 2.4.6 custom constraint we use for comparing complex graphs. It supports embedded collections, parent references, setting tolerance for numeric comparisons, identifying field names to ignore (even deep within the hierarchy), and decorating types to be always ignored.
I'm sure this code can be adapted to be used outside NUnit, the bulk of the code isn't dependent on NUnit.
We use this in thousands of unit tests.
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Text;
using NUnit.Framework;
using NUnit.Framework.Constraints;
namespace Tests
{
public class ContentsEqualConstraint : Constraint
{
private readonly object expected;
private Constraint failedEquality;
private string expectedDescription;
private string actualDescription;
private readonly Stack<string> typePath = new Stack<string>();
private string typePathExpanded;
private readonly HashSet<string> _ignoredNames = new HashSet<string>();
private readonly HashSet<Type> _ignoredTypes = new HashSet<Type>();
private readonly LinkedList<Type> _ignoredInterfaces = new LinkedList<Type>();
private readonly LinkedList<string> _ignoredSuffixes = new LinkedList<string>();
private readonly IDictionary<Type, Func<object, object, bool>> _predicates = new Dictionary<Type, Func<object, object, bool>>();
private bool _withoutSort;
private int _maxRecursion = int.MaxValue;
private readonly HashSet<VisitedComparison> _visitedObjects = new HashSet<VisitedComparison>();
private static readonly HashSet<string> _globallyIgnoredNames = new HashSet<string>();
private static readonly HashSet<Type> _globallyIgnoredTypes = new HashSet<Type>();
private static readonly LinkedList<Type> _globallyIgnoredInterfaces = new LinkedList<Type>();
private static object _regionalTolerance;
public ContentsEqualConstraint(object expectedValue)
{
expected = expectedValue;
}
public ContentsEqualConstraint Comparing<T>(Func<T, T, bool> predicate)
{
Type t = typeof (T);
if (predicate == null)
{
_predicates.Remove(t);
}
else
{
_predicates[t] = (x, y) => predicate((T) x, (T) y);
}
return this;
}
public ContentsEqualConstraint Ignoring(string fieldName)
{
_ignoredNames.Add(fieldName);
return this;
}
public ContentsEqualConstraint Ignoring(Type fieldType)
{
if (fieldType.IsInterface)
{
_ignoredInterfaces.AddFirst(fieldType);
}
else
{
_ignoredTypes.Add(fieldType);
}
return this;
}
public ContentsEqualConstraint IgnoringSuffix(string suffix)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(suffix))
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("suffix");
}
_ignoredSuffixes.AddLast(suffix);
return this;
}
public ContentsEqualConstraint WithoutSort()
{
_withoutSort = true;
return this;
}
public ContentsEqualConstraint RecursingOnly(int levels)
{
_maxRecursion = levels;
return this;
}
public static void GlobalIgnore(string fieldName)
{
_globallyIgnoredNames.Add(fieldName);
}
public static void GlobalIgnore(Type fieldType)
{
if (fieldType.IsInterface)
{
_globallyIgnoredInterfaces.AddFirst(fieldType);
}
else
{
_globallyIgnoredTypes.Add(fieldType);
}
}
public static IDisposable RegionalIgnore(string fieldName)
{
return new RegionalIgnoreTracker(fieldName);
}
public static IDisposable RegionalIgnore(Type fieldType)
{
return new RegionalIgnoreTracker(fieldType);
}
public static IDisposable RegionalWithin(object tolerance)
{
return new RegionalWithinTracker(tolerance);
}
public override bool Matches(object actualValue)
{
typePathExpanded = null;
actual = actualValue;
return Matches(expected, actualValue);
}
private bool Matches(object expectedValue, object actualValue)
{
bool matches = true;
if (!MatchesNull(expectedValue, actualValue, ref matches))
{
return matches;
}
// DatesEqualConstraint supports tolerance in dates but works as equal constraint for everything else
Constraint eq = new DatesEqualConstraint(expectedValue).Within(tolerance ?? _regionalTolerance);
if (eq.Matches(actualValue))
{
return true;
}
if (MatchesVisited(expectedValue, actualValue, ref matches))
{
if (MatchesDictionary(expectedValue, actualValue, ref matches) &&
MatchesList(expectedValue, actualValue, ref matches) &&
MatchesType(expectedValue, actualValue, ref matches) &&
MatchesPredicate(expectedValue, actualValue, ref matches))
{
MatchesFields(expectedValue, actualValue, eq, ref matches);
}
}
return matches;
}
private bool MatchesNull(object expectedValue, object actualValue, ref bool matches)
{
if (IsNullEquivalent(expectedValue))
{
expectedValue = null;
}
if (IsNullEquivalent(actualValue))
{
actualValue = null;
}
if (expectedValue == null && actualValue == null)
{
matches = true;
return false;
}
if (expectedValue == null)
{
expectedDescription = "null";
actualDescription = "NOT null";
matches = Failure;
return false;
}
if (actualValue == null)
{
expectedDescription = "not null";
actualDescription = "null";
matches = Failure;
return false;
}
return true;
}
private bool MatchesType(object expectedValue, object actualValue, ref bool matches)
{
Type expectedType = expectedValue.GetType();
Type actualType = actualValue.GetType();
if (expectedType != actualType)
{
try
{
Convert.ChangeType(actualValue, expectedType);
}
catch(InvalidCastException)
{
expectedDescription = expectedType.FullName;
actualDescription = actualType.FullName;
matches = Failure;
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
private bool MatchesPredicate(object expectedValue, object actualValue, ref bool matches)
{
Type t = expectedValue.GetType();
Func<object, object, bool> predicate;
if (_predicates.TryGetValue(t, out predicate))
{
matches = predicate(expectedValue, actualValue);
return false;
}
return true;
}
private bool MatchesVisited(object expectedValue, object actualValue, ref bool matches)
{
var c = new VisitedComparison(expectedValue, actualValue);
if (_visitedObjects.Contains(c))
{
matches = true;
return false;
}
_visitedObjects.Add(c);
return true;
}
private bool MatchesDictionary(object expectedValue, object actualValue, ref bool matches)
{
if (expectedValue is IDictionary && actualValue is IDictionary)
{
var expectedDictionary = (IDictionary)expectedValue;
var actualDictionary = (IDictionary)actualValue;
if (expectedDictionary.Count != actualDictionary.Count)
{
expectedDescription = expectedDictionary.Count + " item dictionary";
actualDescription = actualDictionary.Count + " item dictionary";
matches = Failure;
return false;
}
foreach (DictionaryEntry expectedEntry in expectedDictionary)
{
if (!actualDictionary.Contains(expectedEntry.Key))
{
expectedDescription = expectedEntry.Key + " exists";
actualDescription = expectedEntry.Key + " does not exist";
matches = Failure;
return false;
}
if (CanRecurseFurther)
{
typePath.Push(expectedEntry.Key.ToString());
if (!Matches(expectedEntry.Value, actualDictionary[expectedEntry.Key]))
{
matches = Failure;
return false;
}
typePath.Pop();
}
}
matches = true;
return false;
}
return true;
}
private bool MatchesList(object expectedValue, object actualValue, ref bool matches)
{
if (!(expectedValue is IList && actualValue is IList))
{
return true;
}
var expectedList = (IList) expectedValue;
var actualList = (IList) actualValue;
if (!Matches(expectedList.Count, actualList.Count))
{
matches = false;
}
else
{
if (CanRecurseFurther)
{
int max = expectedList.Count;
if (max != 0 && !_withoutSort)
{
SafeSort(expectedList);
SafeSort(actualList);
}
for (int i = 0; i < max; i++)
{
typePath.Push(i.ToString());
if (!Matches(expectedList[i], actualList[i]))
{
matches = false;
return false;
}
typePath.Pop();
}
}
matches = true;
}
return false;
}
private void MatchesFields(object expectedValue, object actualValue, Constraint equalConstraint, ref bool matches)
{
Type expectedType = expectedValue.GetType();
FieldInfo[] fields = expectedType.GetFields(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
// should have passed the EqualConstraint check
if (expectedType.IsPrimitive ||
expectedType == typeof(string) ||
expectedType == typeof(Guid) ||
fields.Length == 0)
{
failedEquality = equalConstraint;
matches = Failure;
return;
}
if (expectedType == typeof(DateTime))
{
var expectedDate = (DateTime)expectedValue;
var actualDate = (DateTime)actualValue;
if (Math.Abs((expectedDate - actualDate).TotalSeconds) > 3.0)
{
failedEquality = equalConstraint;
matches = Failure;
return;
}
matches = true;
return;
}
if (CanRecurseFurther)
{
while(true)
{
foreach (FieldInfo field in fields)
{
if (!Ignore(field))
{
typePath.Push(field.Name);
if (!Matches(GetValue(field, expectedValue), GetValue(field, actualValue)))
{
matches = Failure;
return;
}
typePath.Pop();
}
}
expectedType = expectedType.BaseType;
if (expectedType == null)
{
break;
}
fields = expectedType.GetFields(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
}
}
matches = true;
return;
}
private bool Ignore(FieldInfo field)
{
if (_ignoredNames.Contains(field.Name) ||
_ignoredTypes.Contains(field.FieldType) ||
_globallyIgnoredNames.Contains(field.Name) ||
_globallyIgnoredTypes.Contains(field.FieldType) ||
field.GetCustomAttributes(typeof (IgnoreContentsAttribute), false).Length != 0)
{
return true;
}
foreach(string ignoreSuffix in _ignoredSuffixes)
{
if (field.Name.EndsWith(ignoreSuffix))
{
return true;
}
}
foreach (Type ignoredInterface in _ignoredInterfaces)
{
if (ignoredInterface.IsAssignableFrom(field.FieldType))
{
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
private static bool Failure
{
get
{
return false;
}
}
private static bool IsNullEquivalent(object value)
{
return value == null ||
value == DBNull.Value ||
(value is int && (int) value == int.MinValue) ||
(value is double && (double) value == double.MinValue) ||
(value is DateTime && (DateTime) value == DateTime.MinValue) ||
(value is Guid && (Guid) value == Guid.Empty) ||
(value is IList && ((IList)value).Count == 0);
}
private static object GetValue(FieldInfo field, object source)
{
try
{
return field.GetValue(source);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
return ex;
}
}
public override void WriteMessageTo(MessageWriter writer)
{
if (TypePath.Length != 0)
{
writer.WriteLine("Failure on " + TypePath);
}
if (failedEquality != null)
{
failedEquality.WriteMessageTo(writer);
}
else
{
base.WriteMessageTo(writer);
}
}
public override void WriteDescriptionTo(MessageWriter writer)
{
writer.Write(expectedDescription);
}
public override void WriteActualValueTo(MessageWriter writer)
{
writer.Write(actualDescription);
}
private string TypePath
{
get
{
if (typePathExpanded == null)
{
string[] p = typePath.ToArray();
Array.Reverse(p);
var text = new StringBuilder(128);
bool isFirst = true;
foreach(string part in p)
{
if (isFirst)
{
text.Append(part);
isFirst = false;
}
else
{
int i;
if (int.TryParse(part, out i))
{
text.Append("[" + part + "]");
}
else
{
text.Append("." + part);
}
}
}
typePathExpanded = text.ToString();
}
return typePathExpanded;
}
}
private bool CanRecurseFurther
{
get
{
return typePath.Count < _maxRecursion;
}
}
private static bool SafeSort(IList list)
{
if (list == null)
{
return false;
}
if (list.Count < 2)
{
return true;
}
try
{
object first = FirstNonNull(list) as IComparable;
if (first == null)
{
return false;
}
if (list is Array)
{
Array.Sort((Array)list);
return true;
}
return CallIfExists(list, "Sort");
}
catch
{
return false;
}
}
private static object FirstNonNull(IEnumerable enumerable)
{
if (enumerable == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("enumerable");
}
foreach (object item in enumerable)
{
if (item != null)
{
return item;
}
}
return null;
}
private static bool CallIfExists(object instance, string method)
{
if (instance == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("instance");
}
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(method))
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("method");
}
Type target = instance.GetType();
MethodInfo m = target.GetMethod(method, new Type[0]);
if (m != null)
{
m.Invoke(instance, null);
return true;
}
return false;
}
#region VisitedComparison Helper
private class VisitedComparison
{
private readonly object _expected;
private readonly object _actual;
public VisitedComparison(object expected, object actual)
{
_expected = expected;
_actual = actual;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return GetHashCode(_expected) ^ GetHashCode(_actual);
}
private static int GetHashCode(object o)
{
if (o == null)
{
return 0;
}
return o.GetHashCode();
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj == null)
{
return false;
}
if (obj.GetType() != typeof(VisitedComparison))
{
return false;
}
var other = (VisitedComparison) obj;
return _expected == other._expected &&
_actual == other._actual;
}
}
#endregion
#region RegionalIgnoreTracker Helper
private class RegionalIgnoreTracker : IDisposable
{
private readonly string _fieldName;
private readonly Type _fieldType;
public RegionalIgnoreTracker(string fieldName)
{
if (!_globallyIgnoredNames.Add(fieldName))
{
_globallyIgnoredNames.Add(fieldName);
_fieldName = fieldName;
}
}
public RegionalIgnoreTracker(Type fieldType)
{
if (!_globallyIgnoredTypes.Add(fieldType))
{
_globallyIgnoredTypes.Add(fieldType);
_fieldType = fieldType;
}
}
public void Dispose()
{
if (_fieldName != null)
{
_globallyIgnoredNames.Remove(_fieldName);
}
if (_fieldType != null)
{
_globallyIgnoredTypes.Remove(_fieldType);
}
}
}
#endregion
#region RegionalWithinTracker Helper
private class RegionalWithinTracker : IDisposable
{
public RegionalWithinTracker(object tolerance)
{
_regionalTolerance = tolerance;
}
public void Dispose()
{
_regionalTolerance = null;
}
}
#endregion
#region IgnoreContentsAttribute
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Field)]
public sealed class IgnoreContentsAttribute : Attribute
{
}
#endregion
}
public class DatesEqualConstraint : EqualConstraint
{
private readonly object _expected;
public DatesEqualConstraint(object expectedValue) : base(expectedValue)
{
_expected = expectedValue;
}
public override bool Matches(object actualValue)
{
if (tolerance != null && tolerance is TimeSpan)
{
if (_expected is DateTime && actualValue is DateTime)
{
var expectedDate = (DateTime) _expected;
var actualDate = (DateTime) actualValue;
var toleranceSpan = (TimeSpan) tolerance;
if ((actualDate - expectedDate).Duration() <= toleranceSpan)
{
return true;
}
}
tolerance = null;
}
return base.Matches(actualValue);
}
}
}

This is actually a simple process. Using reflection you can compare each field on the object.
public static Boolean ObjectMatches(Object x, Object y)
{
if (x == null && y == null)
return true;
else if ((x == null && y != null) || (x != null && y == null))
return false;
Type tx = x.GetType();
Type ty = y.GetType();
if (tx != ty)
return false;
foreach(FieldInfo field in tx.GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly))
{
if (field.FieldType.IsValueType && (field.GetValue(x).ToString() != field.GetValue(y).ToString()))
return false;
else if (field.FieldType.IsClass && !ObjectMatches(field.GetValue(x), field.GetValue(y)))
return false;
}
return true;
}

Using the Nuget suggested by Jesse and this code I managed to compare two objects with great results.
using KellermanSoftware.CompareNetObjects;
using System;
namespace MyProgram.UnitTestHelper
{
public class ObjectComparer
{
public static bool ObjectsHaveSameValues(object first, object second)
{
CompareLogic cl = new CompareLogic();
ComparisonResult result = cl.Compare(first, second);
if (!result.AreEqual)
Console.WriteLine(result.DifferencesString);
return result.AreEqual;
}
}
}

Here is a simple comparer that we've used with unit testing to assert that two objects have equal properties. It's a mash-up of ideas found in various articles, and handles circular references.
public static class TestHelper
{
public static void AssertAreEqual(Object expected, Object actual, String name)
{
// Start a new check with an empty list of actual objects checked
// The list of actual objects checked is used to ensure that circular references don't result in infinite recursion
List<Object> actualObjectsChecked = new List<Object>();
AssertAreEqual(expected, actual, name, actualObjectsChecked);
}
private static void AssertAreEqual(Object expected, Object actual, String name, List<Object> actualObjectsChecked)
{
// Just return if already checked the actual object
if (actualObjectsChecked.Contains(actual))
{
return;
}
actualObjectsChecked.Add(actual);
// If both expected and actual are null, they are considered equal
if (expected == null && actual == null)
{
return;
}
if (expected == null && actual != null)
{
Assert.Fail(String.Format("The actual value of {0} was not null when null was expected.", name));
}
if (expected != null && actual == null)
{
Assert.Fail(String.Format("The actual value of {0} was null when an instance was expected.", name));
}
// Get / check type info
// Note: GetType always returns instantiated (i.e. most derived) type
Type expectedType = expected.GetType();
Type actualType = actual.GetType();
if (expectedType != actualType)
{
Assert.Fail(String.Format("The actual type of {0} was not the same as the expected type.", name));
}
// If expected is a Primitive, Value, or IEquatable type, assume Equals is sufficient to check
// Note: Every IEquatable type should have also overridden Object.Equals
if (expectedType.IsPrimitive || expectedType.IsValueType || expectedType.IsIEquatable())
{
Assert.IsTrue(expected.Equals(actual), "The actual {0} is not equal to the expected.", name);
return;
}
// If expected is an IEnumerable type, assume comparing enumerated items is sufficient to check
IEnumerable<Object> expectedEnumerable = expected as IEnumerable<Object>;
IEnumerable<Object> actualEnumerable = actual as IEnumerable<Object>;
if ((expectedEnumerable != null) && (actualEnumerable != null))
{
Int32 actualEnumerableCount = actualEnumerable.Count();
Int32 expectedEnumerableCount = expectedEnumerable.Count();
// Check size first
if (actualEnumerableCount != expectedEnumerableCount)
{
Assert.Fail(String.Format("The actual number of enumerable items in {0} did not match the expected number.", name));
}
// Check items in order, assuming order is the same
for (int i = 0; i < actualEnumerableCount; ++i)
{
AssertAreEqual(expectedEnumerable.ElementAt(i), actualEnumerable.ElementAt(i), String.Format("{0}[{1}]", name, i), actualObjectsChecked);
}
return;
}
// If expected is not a Primitive, Value, IEquatable, or Ienumerable type, assume comparing properties is sufficient to check
// Iterate through properties
foreach (PropertyInfo propertyInfo in actualType.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
// Skip properties that can't be read or require parameters
if ((!propertyInfo.CanRead) || (propertyInfo.GetIndexParameters().Length != 0))
{
continue;
}
// Get properties from both
Object actualProperty = propertyInfo.GetValue(actual, null);
Object expectedProperty = propertyInfo.GetValue(expected, null);
AssertAreEqual(expectedProperty, actualProperty, String.Format("{0}.{1}", name, propertyInfo.Name), actualObjectsChecked);
}
}
public static Boolean IsIEquatable(this Type type)
{
return type.GetInterfaces().Any(x => x.IsGenericType && x.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(IEquatable<>));
}
}

C# Reflection Indexed Properties

I am writing a Clone method using reflection. How do I detect that a property is an indexed property using reflection? For example:
public string[] Items
{
get;
set;
}
My method so far:
public static T Clone<T>(T from, List<string> propertiesToIgnore) where T : new()
{
T to = new T();
Type myType = from.GetType();
PropertyInfo[] myProperties = myType.GetProperties();
for (int i = 0; i < myProperties.Length; i++)
{
if (myProperties[i].CanWrite && !propertiesToIgnore.Contains(myProperties[i].Name))
{
myProperties[i].SetValue(to,myProperties[i].GetValue(from,null),null);
}
}
return to;
}

if (propertyInfo.GetIndexParameters().Length > 0)
{
// Property is an indexer
}

Sorry, but
public string[] Items { get; set; }
is not an indexed property, it's merely of an array type!
However the following is:
public string this[int index]
{
get { ... }
set { ... }
}

What you want is the GetIndexParameters() method. If the array that it returns has more than 0 items, that means it's an indexed property.
See the MSDN documentation for more details.

If you call property.GetValue(obj,null), and the property IS indexed, then you will get a parameter count mismatch exception. Better to check whether the property is indexed using GetIndexParameters() and then decide what to do.

Here is some code that worked for me:
foreach (PropertyInfo property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
object value = property.GetValue(obj, null);
if (value is object[])
{
....
}
}
P.S. .GetIndexParameters().Length > 0) works for the case described in this article: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b05d59ty.aspx
So if you care about the property named Chars for a value of type string, use that, but it does not work for most of the arrays I was interested in, including, I am pretty sure, a string array from the original question.

You can convert the indexer to IEnumerable
public static IEnumerable<T> AsEnumerable<T>(this object o) where T : class {
var list = new List<T>();
System.Reflection.PropertyInfo indexerProperty = null;
foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo pi in o.GetType().GetProperties()) {
if (pi.GetIndexParameters().Length > 0) {
indexerProperty = pi;
break;
}
}
if (indexerProperty.IsNotNull()) {
var len = o.GetPropertyValue<int>("Length");
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
var item = indexerProperty.GetValue(o, new object[]{i});
if (item.IsNotNull()) {
var itemObject = item as T;
if (itemObject.IsNotNull()) {
list.Add(itemObject);
}
}
}
}
return list;
}
public static bool IsNotNull(this object o) {
return o != null;
}
public static T GetPropertyValue<T>(this object source, string property) {
if (source == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("source");
var sourceType = source.GetType();
var sourceProperties = sourceType.GetProperties();
var properties = sourceProperties
.Where(s => s.Name.Equals(property));
if (properties.Count() == 0) {
sourceProperties = sourceType.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
properties = sourceProperties.Where(s => s.Name.Equals(property));
}
if (properties.Count() > 0) {
var propertyValue = properties
.Select(s => s.GetValue(source, null))
.FirstOrDefault();
return propertyValue != null ? (T)propertyValue : default(T);
}
return default(T);
}

object dumper class

I'm looking for a class that can output an object and all its leaf values in a format similar to this:
User
- Name: Gordon
- Age : 60
- WorkAddress
- Street: 10 Downing Street
- Town: London
- Country: UK
- HomeAddresses[0]
...
- HomeAddresses[1]
...
(Or a clearer format). This would be equivalent to:
public class User
{
public string Name { get;set; }
public int Age { get;set; }
public Address WorkAddress { get;set; }
public List<Address> HomeAddresses { get;set; }
}
public class Address
{
public string Street { get;set; }
public string Town { get;set; }
public string Country { get;set; }
}
A kind of string representation of the PropertyGrid control, minus having to implement a large set of designers for each type.
PHP has something that does this called var_dump. I don't want to use a watch, as this is for printing out.
Could anyone point me to something like this if it exists? Or, write one for a bounty.

The object dumper posted in sgmoore's link:
//Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
// See the ReadMe.html for additional information
public class ObjectDumper {
public static void Write(object element)
{
Write(element, 0);
}
public static void Write(object element, int depth)
{
Write(element, depth, Console.Out);
}
public static void Write(object element, int depth, TextWriter log)
{
ObjectDumper dumper = new ObjectDumper(depth);
dumper.writer = log;
dumper.WriteObject(null, element);
}
TextWriter writer;
int pos;
int level;
int depth;
private ObjectDumper(int depth)
{
this.depth = depth;
}
private void Write(string s)
{
if (s != null) {
writer.Write(s);
pos += s.Length;
}
}
private void WriteIndent()
{
for (int i = 0; i < level; i++) writer.Write(" ");
}
private void WriteLine()
{
writer.WriteLine();
pos = 0;
}
private void WriteTab()
{
Write(" ");
while (pos % 8 != 0) Write(" ");
}
private void WriteObject(string prefix, object element)
{
if (element == null || element is ValueType || element is string) {
WriteIndent();
Write(prefix);
WriteValue(element);
WriteLine();
}
else {
IEnumerable enumerableElement = element as IEnumerable;
if (enumerableElement != null) {
foreach (object item in enumerableElement) {
if (item is IEnumerable && !(item is string)) {
WriteIndent();
Write(prefix);
Write("...");
WriteLine();
if (level < depth) {
level++;
WriteObject(prefix, item);
level--;
}
}
else {
WriteObject(prefix, item);
}
}
}
else {
MemberInfo[] members = element.GetType().GetMembers(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
WriteIndent();
Write(prefix);
bool propWritten = false;
foreach (MemberInfo m in members) {
FieldInfo f = m as FieldInfo;
PropertyInfo p = m as PropertyInfo;
if (f != null || p != null) {
if (propWritten) {
WriteTab();
}
else {
propWritten = true;
}
Write(m.Name);
Write("=");
Type t = f != null ? f.FieldType : p.PropertyType;
if (t.IsValueType || t == typeof(string)) {
WriteValue(f != null ? f.GetValue(element) : p.GetValue(element, null));
}
else {
if (typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(t)) {
Write("...");
}
else {
Write("{ }");
}
}
}
}
if (propWritten) WriteLine();
if (level < depth) {
foreach (MemberInfo m in members) {
FieldInfo f = m as FieldInfo;
PropertyInfo p = m as PropertyInfo;
if (f != null || p != null) {
Type t = f != null ? f.FieldType : p.PropertyType;
if (!(t.IsValueType || t == typeof(string))) {
object value = f != null ? f.GetValue(element) : p.GetValue(element, null);
if (value != null) {
level++;
WriteObject(m.Name + ": ", value);
level--;
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
private void WriteValue(object o)
{
if (o == null) {
Write("null");
}
else if (o is DateTime) {
Write(((DateTime)o).ToShortDateString());
}
else if (o is ValueType || o is string) {
Write(o.ToString());
}
else if (o is IEnumerable) {
Write("...");
}
else {
Write("{ }");
}
}
}
2015 Update
YAML also serves this purpose quite well, this is how it can be done with YamlDotNet
install-package YamlDotNet
private static void DumpAsYaml(object o)
{
var stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
var serializer = new Serializer();
serializer.Serialize(new IndentedTextWriter(new StringWriter(stringBuilder)), o);
Console.WriteLine(stringBuilder);
}

You could use the JSON serialiser, which should be easy to read for anyone use to working with JSON
User theUser = new User();
theUser.Name = "Joe";
System.Runtime.Serialization.Json.DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new System.Runtime.Serialization.Json.DataContractJsonSerializer(myPerson.GetType());
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
serializer.WriteObject(ms, theUser );
string json = Encoding.Default.GetString(ms.ToArray());

Updated 2019
You can find the ObjectDumper project on GitHub. You can also add it via Visual Studio via NuGet package manager.

If you're working with markup, System.Web.ObjectInfo.Print (ASP.NET Web Pages 2) will accomplish this, nicely formatted for HTML.
For example:
#ObjectInfo.Print(new {
Foo = "Hello",
Bar = "World",
Qux = new {
Number = 42,
},
})
In a webpage, produces:

Here's a visual studio extension I wrote to do this:
https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/c6a21c68-f815-4895-999f-cd0885d8774f
in action:

I know this is an old question, but thought I'd throw out an alternative that worked for me, took me about two minutes to do.
Install Newtonsoft Json.NET:
http://james.newtonking.com/json
(or nuget version) http://www.nuget.org/packages/newtonsoft.json/
Reference Assembly:
using Newtonsoft.Json;
Dump JSON string to log:
txtResult.Text = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(testObj);

You could write that very easily with a little bit of reflection. Something kind of like:
public void Print(object value, int depth)
{
foreach(var property in value.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var subValue = property.GetValue(value);
if(subValue is IEnumerable)
{
PrintArray(property, (IEnumerable)subValue);
}
else
{
PrintProperty(property, subValue);
}
}
}
You can write up the PrintArray and PrintProperty methods.

I have a handy T.Dump() Extension method that should be pretty close to the results you're looking for. As its an extension method, its non-invasive and should work on all POCO objects.
Example Usage
var model = new TestModel();
Console.WriteLine(model.Dump());
Example Output
{
Int: 1,
String: One,
DateTime: 2010-04-11,
Guid: c050437f6fcd46be9b2d0806a0860b3e,
EmptyIntList: [],
IntList:
[
1,
2,
3
],
StringList:
[
one,
two,
three
],
StringIntMap:
{
a: 1,
b: 2,
c: 3
}
}

If you don't feel like copying and pasting Chris S's code, the Visual Studio 2008 samples come with an ObjectDumper.
Drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Samples\1033\LinqSamples\ObjectDumper

Here is an alternative:
using System.Reflection;
public void Print(object value)
{
PropertyInfo[] myPropertyInfo;
string temp="Properties of "+value+" are:\n";
myPropertyInfo = value.GetType().GetProperties();
for (int i = 0; i < myPropertyInfo.Length; i++)
{
temp+=myPropertyInfo[i].ToString().PadRight(50)+" = "+myPropertyInfo[i].GetValue(value, null)+"\n";
}
MessageBox.Show(temp);
}
(just touching level 1, no depth, but says a lot)

For most classes, you could use the DataContractSerializer

I just came across a similar requirement in a Blazor project, and came up with the following very simple component to output an object's (and it's child objects') data to the screen:
ObjectDumper.razor:
#using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components
#using Newtonsoft.Json
<div>
<button onclick="#DumpVMToConsole">#ButtonText</button>
<pre id="json">#_objectAsJson</pre>
</div>
#functions {
// This component allows the easy visualisation of the values currently held in
// an object and its child objects. Add this component to a page and pass in a
// param for the object to monitor, then press the button to see the object's data
// as nicely formatted JSON
// Use like this: <ObjectDumper ObjectToDump="#_billOfLadingVM" />
[Parameter]
private object ObjectToDump { get; set; }
[Parameter]
private string ButtonText { get; set; } = "Show object's data";
string _buttonText;
string _objectAsJson = "";
public void DumpVMToConsole()
{
_objectAsJson = GetObjectAsFormattedJson(ObjectToDump);
Console.WriteLine(_objectAsJson);
}
public string GetObjectAsFormattedJson(object obj)
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(
value: obj,
formatting: Formatting.Indented,
settings: new JsonSerializerSettings
{
PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects
});
}
}
You then stick that somewhere on a Blazor page as follows:
<ObjectDumper ObjectToDump="#YourObjectToVisualise" />
Which then renders a button you can press to see the current values of the bound object:
I've stuck that in a GitHub repo: tomRedox/BlazorObjectDumper