Get properties and values from unknown object - c#

From the world of PHP I have decided to give C# a go. I've had a search but can't seem to find the answer of how to do the equivalent to this.
$object = new Object();
$vars = get_class_vars(get_class($object));
foreach($vars as $var)
{
doSomething($object->$var);
}
I basically have a List of an object. The object could be one of three different types and will have a set of public properties. I want to be able to get a list of the properties for the object, loop over them and then write them out to a file.
I'm thinking this has something to do with c# reflection but it's all new to me.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.


This should do it:
Type myType = myObject.GetType();
IList<PropertyInfo> props = new List<PropertyInfo>(myType.GetProperties());
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
object propValue = prop.GetValue(myObject, null);
// Do something with propValue
}


void Test(){
var obj = new{a="aaa", b="bbb"};
var val_a = obj.GetValObjDy("a"); //="aaa"
var val_b = obj.GetValObjDy("b"); //="bbb"
}
//create in a static class
static public object GetValObjDy(this object obj, string propertyName)
{
return obj.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(obj, null);
}


Yes, Reflection would be the way to go. First, you would get the Type that represents the type (at runtime) of the instance in the list. You can do this by calling the GetType method on Object. Because it is on the Object class, it's callable by every object in .NET, as all types derive from Object (well, technically, not everything, but that's not important here).
Once you have the Type instance, you can call the GetProperties method to get the PropertyInfo instances which represent the run-time informationa about the properties on the Type.
Note, you can use the overloads of GetProperties to help classify which properties you retrieve.
From there, you would just write the information out to a file.
Your code above, translated, would be:
// The instance, it can be of any type.
object o = <some object>;
// Get the type.
Type type = o.GetType();
// Get all public instance properties.
// Use the override if you want to classify
// which properties to return.
foreach (PropertyInfo info in type.GetProperties())
{
// Do something with the property info.
DoSomething(info);
}
Note that if you want method information or field information, you would have to call the one of the overloads of the GetMethods or GetFields methods respectively.
Also note, it's one thing to list out the members to a file, but you shouldn't use this information to drive logic based on property sets.
Assuming you have control over the implementations of the types, you should derive from a common base class or implement a common interface and make the calls on those (you can use the as or is operator to help determine which base class/interface you are working with at runtime).
However, if you don't control these type definitions and have to drive logic based on pattern matching, then that's fine.


well, in C# it's similar.
Here's one of the simplest examples (only for public properties):
var someObject = new { .../*properties*/... };
var propertyInfos = someObject.GetType().GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo pInfo in propertyInfos)
{
string propertyName = pInfo.Name; //gets the name of the property
doSomething(pInfo.GetValue(someObject,null));
}


One line solution using Linq...
var obj = new {Property1 = 1, Property2 = 2};
var property1 = obj.GetType().GetProperties().First(o => o.Name == "Property1").GetValue(obj , null);


To get specific property value from property name
public class Bike{
public string Name {get;set;}
}
Bike b = new Bike {Name = "MyBike"};
to access property value of Name from string name of property
public object GetPropertyValue(string propertyName)
{
//returns value of property Name
return this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(this, null);
}


You can use GetType - GetProperties - Linq Foreach:
obj.GetType().GetProperties().ToList().ForEach(p =>{
//p is each PropertyInfo
DoSomething(p);
});


Here's something I use to transform an IEnumerable<T> into a DataTable that contains columns representing T's properties, with one row for each item in the IEnumerable:
public static DataTable ToDataTable<T>(IEnumerable<T> items)
{
var table = CreateDataTableForPropertiesOfType<T>();
PropertyInfo[] piT = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (var item in items)
{
var dr = table.NewRow();
for (int property = 0; property < table.Columns.Count; property++)
{
if (piT[property].CanRead)
{
var value = piT[property].GetValue(item, null);
if (piT[property].PropertyType.IsGenericType)
{
if (value == null)
{
dr[property] = DBNull.Value;
}
else
{
dr[property] = piT[property].GetValue(item, null);
}
}
else
{
dr[property] = piT[property].GetValue(item, null);
}
}
}
table.Rows.Add(dr);
}
return table;
}
public static DataTable CreateDataTableForPropertiesOfType<T>()
{
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
PropertyInfo[] piT = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in piT)
{
Type propertyType = null;
if (pi.PropertyType.IsGenericType)
{
propertyType = pi.PropertyType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
}
else
{
propertyType = pi.PropertyType;
}
DataColumn dc = new DataColumn(pi.Name, propertyType);
if (pi.CanRead)
{
dt.Columns.Add(dc);
}
}
return dt;
}
This is "somewhat" overcomplicated, but it's actually quite good for seeing what the outcome is, as you can give it a List<T> of, for example:
public class Car
{
string Make { get; set; }
int YearOfManufacture {get; set; }
}
And you'll be returned a DataTable with the structure:
Make (string)
YearOfManufacture (int)
With one row per item in your List<Car>


This example trims all the string properties of an object.
public static void TrimModelProperties(Type type, object obj)
{
var propertyInfoArray = type.GetProperties(
BindingFlags.Public |
BindingFlags.Instance);
foreach (var propertyInfo in propertyInfoArray)
{
var propValue = propertyInfo.GetValue(obj, null);
if (propValue == null)
continue;
if (propValue.GetType().Name == "String")
propertyInfo.SetValue(
obj,
((string)propValue).Trim(),
null);
}
}


I haven't found this to work on, say Application objects. I have however had success with
var serializer = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
string rval = serializer.Serialize(myAppObj);


You can try this:
string[] arr = ((IEnumerable)obj).Cast<object>()
.Select(x => x.ToString())
.ToArray();
Once every array implements IEnumerable interface


public Dictionary<string, string> ToDictionary(object obj)
{
Dictionary<string, string> dictionary = new Dictionary<string, string>();
Type objectType = obj.GetType();
IList<PropertyInfo> props = new List<PropertyInfo>(objectType.GetProperties());
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
object propValue = prop.GetValue(obj, null);
dictionary.Add(prop.Name, propValue.ToString());
}
return dictionary;
}


/// get set value field in object to object new (two object field like )
public static void SetValueObjectToObject (object sourceObj , object resultObj)
{
IList<PropertyInfo> props = new List<PropertyInfo>(sourceObj.GetType().GetProperties());
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
try
{
//get value in sourceObj
object propValue = prop.GetValue(sourceObj, null);
//set value in resultObj
PropertyInfo propResult = resultObj.GetType().GetProperty(prop.Name, BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
if (propResult != null && propResult.CanWrite)
{
propResult.SetValue(resultObj, propValue, null);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// do something with Ex
}
}
}

Related

How to use property in dynamic class if i know the name of it [duplicate]

I am trying implement the Data transformation using Reflection1 example in my code.
The GetSourceValue function has a switch comparing various types, but I want to remove these types and properties and have GetSourceValue get the value of the property using only a single string as the parameter. I want to pass a class and property in the string and resolve the value of the property.
Is this possible?
1 Web Archive version of original blog post

public static object GetPropValue(object src, string propName)
{
return src.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue(src, null);
}
Of course, you will want to add validation and whatnot, but that is the gist of it.

How about something like this:
public static Object GetPropValue(this Object obj, String name) {
foreach (String part in name.Split('.')) {
if (obj == null) { return null; }
Type type = obj.GetType();
PropertyInfo info = type.GetProperty(part);
if (info == null) { return null; }
obj = info.GetValue(obj, null);
}
return obj;
}
public static T GetPropValue<T>(this Object obj, String name) {
Object retval = GetPropValue(obj, name);
if (retval == null) { return default(T); }
// throws InvalidCastException if types are incompatible
return (T) retval;
}
This will allow you to descend into properties using a single string, like this:
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
int min = GetPropValue<int>(now, "TimeOfDay.Minutes");
int hrs = now.GetPropValue<int>("TimeOfDay.Hours");
You can either use these methods as static methods or extensions.

Add to any Class:
public class Foo
{
public object this[string propertyName]
{
get { return this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(this, null); }
set { this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).SetValue(this, value, null); }
}
public string Bar { get; set; }
}
Then, you can use as:
Foo f = new Foo();
// Set
f["Bar"] = "asdf";
// Get
string s = (string)f["Bar"];

What about using the CallByName of the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace (Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)? It uses reflection to get properties, fields, and methods of normal objects, COM objects, and even dynamic objects.
using Microsoft.VisualBasic;
using Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices;
and then
Versioned.CallByName(this, "method/function/prop name", CallType.Get).ToString();

Great answer by jheddings. I would like to improve it by allowing referencing of aggregated arrays or collections of objects, so that propertyName could be property1.property2[X].property3:
public static object GetPropertyValue(object srcobj, string propertyName)
{
if (srcobj == null)
return null;
object obj = srcobj;
// Split property name to parts (propertyName could be hierarchical, like obj.subobj.subobj.property
string[] propertyNameParts = propertyName.Split('.');
foreach (string propertyNamePart in propertyNameParts)
{
if (obj == null) return null;
// propertyNamePart could contain reference to specific
// element (by index) inside a collection
if (!propertyNamePart.Contains("["))
{
PropertyInfo pi = obj.GetType().GetProperty(propertyNamePart);
if (pi == null) return null;
obj = pi.GetValue(obj, null);
}
else
{ // propertyNamePart is areference to specific element
// (by index) inside a collection
// like AggregatedCollection[123]
// get collection name and element index
int indexStart = propertyNamePart.IndexOf("[")+1;
string collectionPropertyName = propertyNamePart.Substring(0, indexStart-1);
int collectionElementIndex = Int32.Parse(propertyNamePart.Substring(indexStart, propertyNamePart.Length-indexStart-1));
// get collection object
PropertyInfo pi = obj.GetType().GetProperty(collectionPropertyName);
if (pi == null) return null;
object unknownCollection = pi.GetValue(obj, null);
// try to process the collection as array
if (unknownCollection.GetType().IsArray)
{
object[] collectionAsArray = unknownCollection as object[];
obj = collectionAsArray[collectionElementIndex];
}
else
{
// try to process the collection as IList
System.Collections.IList collectionAsList = unknownCollection as System.Collections.IList;
if (collectionAsList != null)
{
obj = collectionAsList[collectionElementIndex];
}
else
{
// ??? Unsupported collection type
}
}
}
}
return obj;
}

If I use the code from Ed S. I get
'ReflectionExtensions.GetProperty(Type, string)' is inaccessible due to its protection level
It seems that GetProperty() is not available in Xamarin.Forms. TargetFrameworkProfile is Profile7 in my Portable Class Library (.NET Framework 4.5, Windows 8, ASP.NET Core 1.0, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.iOS Classic).
Now I found a working solution:
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
public static object GetPropValue(object source, string propertyName)
{
var property = source.GetType().GetRuntimeProperties().FirstOrDefault(p => string.Equals(p.Name, propertyName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
return property?.GetValue(source);
}
Source

About the nested properties discussion, you can avoid all the reflection stuff if you use the DataBinder.Eval Method (Object, String) as below:
var value = DataBinder.Eval(DateTime.Now, "TimeOfDay.Hours");
Of course, you'll need to add a reference to the System.Web assembly, but this probably isn't a big deal.

The method to call has changed in .NET Standard (as of 1.6). Also we can use C# 6's null conditional operator.
using System.Reflection;
public static object GetPropValue(object src, string propName)
{
return src.GetType().GetRuntimeProperty(propName)?.GetValue(src);
}

The below method works perfect for me:
class MyClass {
public string prop1 { set; get; }
public object this[string propertyName]
{
get { return this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(this, null); }
set { this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).SetValue(this, value, null); }
}
}
To get the property value:
MyClass t1 = new MyClass();
...
string value = t1["prop1"].ToString();
To set the property value:
t1["prop1"] = value;

public static List<KeyValuePair<string, string>> GetProperties(object item) //where T : class
{
var result = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>();
if (item != null)
{
var type = item.GetType();
var properties = type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
foreach (var pi in properties)
{
var selfValue = type.GetProperty(pi.Name).GetValue(item, null);
if (selfValue != null)
{
result.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>(pi.Name, selfValue.ToString()));
}
else
{
result.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>(pi.Name, null));
}
}
}
return result;
}
This is a way to get all properties with their values in a List.

Using PropertyInfo of the System.Reflection namespace. Reflection compiles just fine no matter what property we try to access. The error will come up during run-time.
public static object GetObjProperty(object obj, string property)
{
Type t = obj.GetType();
PropertyInfo p = t.GetProperty("Location");
Point location = (Point)p.GetValue(obj, null);
return location;
}
It works fine to get the Location property of an object
Label1.Text = GetObjProperty(button1, "Location").ToString();
We'll get the Location : {X=71,Y=27}
We can also return location.X or location.Y on the same way.

public class YourClass
{
//Add below line in your class
public object this[string propertyName] => GetType().GetProperty(propertyName)?.GetValue(this, null);
public string SampleProperty { get; set; }
}
//And you can get value of any property like this.
var value = YourClass["SampleProperty"];

The following code is a Recursive method for displaying the entire hierarchy of all of the Property Names and Values contained in an object's instance. This method uses a simplified version of AlexD's GetPropertyValue() answer above in this thread. Thanks to this discussion thread, I was able to figure out how to do this!
For example, I use this method to show an explosion or dump of all of the properties in a WebService response by calling the method as follows:
PropertyValues_byRecursion("Response", response, false);
public static object GetPropertyValue(object srcObj, string propertyName)
{
if (srcObj == null)
{
return null;
}
PropertyInfo pi = srcObj.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName.Replace("[]", ""));
if (pi == null)
{
return null;
}
return pi.GetValue(srcObj);
}
public static void PropertyValues_byRecursion(string parentPath, object parentObj, bool showNullValues)
{
/// Processes all of the objects contained in the parent object.
/// If an object has a Property Value, then the value is written to the Console
/// Else if the object is a container, then this method is called recursively
/// using the current path and current object as parameters
// Note: If you do not want to see null values, set showNullValues = false
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in parentObj.GetType().GetTypeInfo().GetProperties())
{
// Build the current object property's namespace path.
// Recursion extends this to be the property's full namespace path.
string currentPath = parentPath + "." + pi.Name;
// Get the selected property's value as an object
object myPropertyValue = GetPropertyValue(parentObj, pi.Name);
if (myPropertyValue == null)
{
// Instance of Property does not exist
if (showNullValues)
{
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + " = null");
// Note: If you are replacing these Console.Write... methods callback methods,
// consider passing DBNull.Value instead of null in any method object parameters.
}
}
else if (myPropertyValue.GetType().IsArray)
{
// myPropertyValue is an object instance of an Array of business objects.
// Initialize an array index variable so we can show NamespacePath[idx] in the results.
int idx = 0;
foreach (object business in (Array)myPropertyValue)
{
if (business == null)
{
// Instance of Property does not exist
// Not sure if this is possible in this context.
if (showNullValues)
{
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "]" + " = null");
}
}
else if (business.GetType().IsArray)
{
// myPropertyValue[idx] is another Array!
// Let recursion process it.
PropertyValues_byRecursion(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "]", business, showNullValues);
}
else if (business.GetType().IsSealed)
{
// Display the Full Property Path and its Value
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "] = " + business.ToString());
}
else
{
// Unsealed Type Properties can contain child objects.
// Recurse into my property value object to process its properties and child objects.
PropertyValues_byRecursion(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "]", business, showNullValues);
}
idx++;
}
}
else if (myPropertyValue.GetType().IsSealed)
{
// myPropertyValue is a simple value
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + " = " + myPropertyValue.ToString());
}
else
{
// Unsealed Type Properties can contain child objects.
// Recurse into my property value object to process its properties and child objects.
PropertyValues_byRecursion(currentPath, myPropertyValue, showNullValues);
}
}
}

public static TValue GetFieldValue<TValue>(this object instance, string name)
{
var type = instance.GetType();
var field = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Instance).FirstOrDefault(e => typeof(TValue).IsAssignableFrom(e.FieldType) && e.Name == name);
return (TValue)field?.GetValue(instance);
}
public static TValue GetPropertyValue<TValue>(this object instance, string name)
{
var type = instance.GetType();
var field = type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Instance).FirstOrDefault(e => typeof(TValue).IsAssignableFrom(e.PropertyType) && e.Name == name);
return (TValue)field?.GetValue(instance);
}

Dim NewHandle As YourType = CType(Microsoft.VisualBasic.CallByName(ObjectThatContainsYourVariable, "YourVariableName", CallType), YourType)

Here is another way to find a nested property that doesn't require the string to tell you the nesting path. Credit to Ed S. for the single property method.
public static T FindNestedPropertyValue<T, N>(N model, string propName) {
T retVal = default(T);
bool found = false;
PropertyInfo[] properties = typeof(N).GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties) {
var currentProperty = property.GetValue(model, null);
if (!found) {
try {
retVal = GetPropValue<T>(currentProperty, propName);
found = true;
} catch { }
}
}
if (!found) {
throw new Exception("Unable to find property: " + propName);
}
return retVal;
}
public static T GetPropValue<T>(object srcObject, string propName) {
return (T)srcObject.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue(srcObject, null);
}

You never mention what object you are inspecting, and since you are rejecting ones that reference a given object, I will assume you mean a static one.
using System.Reflection;
public object GetPropValue(string prop)
{
int splitPoint = prop.LastIndexOf('.');
Type type = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetType(prop.Substring(0, splitPoint));
object obj = null;
return type.GetProperty(prop.Substring(splitPoint + 1)).GetValue(obj, null);
}
Note that I marked the object that is being inspected with the local variable obj. null means static, otherwise set it to what you want. Also note that the GetEntryAssembly() is one of a few available methods to get the "running" assembly, you may want to play around with it if you are having a hard time loading the type.

Have a look at the Heleonix.Reflection library. You can get/set/invoke members by paths, or create a getter/setter (lambda compiled into a delegate) which is faster than reflection. For example:
var success = Reflector.Get(DateTime.Now, null, "Date.Year", out int value);
Or create a getter once and cache for reuse (this is more performant but might throw NullReferenceException if an intermediate member is null):
var getter = Reflector.CreateGetter<DateTime, int>("Date.Year", typeof(DateTime));
getter(DateTime.Now);
Or if you want to create a List<Action<object, object>> of different getters, just specify base types for compiled delegates (type conversions will be added into compiled lambdas):
var getter = Reflector.CreateGetter<object, object>("Date.Year", typeof(DateTime));
getter(DateTime.Now);

Although the original question was about how to get the value of the property using only a single string as the parameter, it makes a lot of sense here to use an Expression rather than simply a string to ensure that the caller never uses a hard coded property name. Here is a one line version with usage:
public static class Utils
...
public static TVal GetPropertyValue<T, TVal>(T t, Expression<Func<T, TVal>> x)
=> (TVal)((x.Body as MemberExpression)?.Member as PropertyInfo)!.GetValue(t);
...
var val = Utils.GetPropertyValue(foo, p => p.Bar);
Here is a slightly better version in terms of readability a error handling:
public static TVal GetPropertyValue<T, TVal>(T t, Expression<Func<T, TVal>> x)
{
var m = (x.Body as MemberExpression)?.Member;
var p = m as PropertyInfo;
if (null == p)
throw new ArgumentException($"Unknown property: {typeof(T).Name}.{(m?.Name??"???")}");
return (TVal)p.GetValue(t);
}
In short you pass in a lambda expression reading a property. The body of the lambda - the part on the right of the fat arrow - is a member expression from which you can get the member name and which you can cast to a PropertyInfo, provided the member is actually a Property and not, for instance, a method.
In the short version, the null forgiving operator - the ! in the expression - tells the compiler that the PropertyInfo will not be null. This is a big lie and you will get a NullReferenceException at runtime. The longer version gives you the name of the property if it manages to get it.
PS: Thanks to Oleg G. for the initial version of this code :)

shorter way ....
var a = new Test { Id = 1 , Name = "A" , date = DateTime.Now};
var b = new Test { Id = 1 , Name = "AXXX", date = DateTime.Now };
var compare = string.Join("",a.GetType().GetProperties().Select(x => x.GetValue(a)).ToArray())==
string.Join("",b.GetType().GetProperties().Select(x => x.GetValue(b)).ToArray());

jheddings and AlexD both wrote excellent answers on how to resolve property strings. I'd like to throw mine in the mix, since I wrote a dedicated library exactly for that purpose.
Pather.CSharp's main class is Resolver. Per default it can resolve properties, array and dictionary entries.
So, for example, if you have an object like this
var o = new { Property1 = new { Property2 = "value" } };
and want to get Property2, you can do it like this:
IResolver resolver = new Resolver();
var path = "Property1.Property2";
object result = r.Resolve(o, path);
//=> "value"
This is the most basic example of the paths it can resolve. If you want to see what else it can, or how you can extend it, just head to its Github page.

Here's what I got based on other answers. A little overkill on getting so specific with the error handling.
public static T GetPropertyValue<T>(object sourceInstance, string targetPropertyName, bool throwExceptionIfNotExists = false)
{
string errorMsg = null;
try
{
if (sourceInstance == null || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(targetPropertyName))
{
errorMsg = $"Source object is null or property name is null or whitespace. '{targetPropertyName}'";
Log.Warn(errorMsg);
if (throwExceptionIfNotExists)
throw new ArgumentException(errorMsg);
else
return default(T);
}
Type returnType = typeof(T);
Type sourceType = sourceInstance.GetType();
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = sourceType.GetProperty(targetPropertyName, returnType);
if (propertyInfo == null)
{
errorMsg = $"Property name '{targetPropertyName}' of type '{returnType}' not found for source object of type '{sourceType}'";
Log.Warn(errorMsg);
if (throwExceptionIfNotExists)
throw new ArgumentException(errorMsg);
else
return default(T);
}
return (T)propertyInfo.GetValue(sourceInstance, null);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
errorMsg = $"Problem getting property name '{targetPropertyName}' from source instance.";
Log.Error(errorMsg, ex);
if (throwExceptionIfNotExists)
throw;
}
return default(T);
}

Here is my solution. It works also with COM objects and allows to access collection/array items from COM objects.
public static object GetPropValue(this object obj, string name)
{
foreach (string part in name.Split('.'))
{
if (obj == null) { return null; }
Type type = obj.GetType();
if (type.Name == "__ComObject")
{
if (part.Contains('['))
{
string partWithoundIndex = part;
int index = ParseIndexFromPropertyName(ref partWithoundIndex);
obj = Versioned.CallByName(obj, partWithoundIndex, CallType.Get, index);
}
else
{
obj = Versioned.CallByName(obj, part, CallType.Get);
}
}
else
{
PropertyInfo info = type.GetProperty(part);
if (info == null) { return null; }
obj = info.GetValue(obj, null);
}
}
return obj;
}
private static int ParseIndexFromPropertyName(ref string name)
{
int index = -1;
int s = name.IndexOf('[') + 1;
int e = name.IndexOf(']');
if (e < s)
{
throw new ArgumentException();
}
string tmp = name.Substring(s, e - s);
index = Convert.ToInt32(tmp);
name = name.Substring(0, s - 1);
return index;
}

Whenever you want to loop over all properties in on an object and then use each value of the property must use this piece of code:
foreach (var property in request.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var valueOfProperty = property.GetValue(properties, null);
}

Convert anonymous type with nested dictionaries to human-readable string for testing purposes [duplicate]

I want to take an anonymous object as argument to a method, and then iterate over its properties to add each property/value to a a dynamic ExpandoObject.
So what I need is to go from
new { Prop1 = "first value", Prop2 = SomeObjectInstance, Prop3 = 1234 }
to knowing names and values of each property, and being able to add them to the ExpandoObject.
How do I accomplish this?
Side note: This will be done in many of my unit tests (I'm using it to refactor away a lot of junk in the setup), so performance is to some extent relevant. I don't know enough about reflection to say for sure, but from what I've understood it's pretty performance heavy, so if it's possible I'd rather avoid it...
Follow-up question:
As I said, I'm taking this anonymous object as an argument to a method. What datatype should I use in the method's signature? Will all properties be available if I use object?

foreach(var prop in myVar.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}, Value: {1}",prop.Name, prop.GetValue(myVar,null));
}

Reflect on the anonymous object to get its property names and values, then take advantage of an ExpandoObject actually being a dictionary to populate it. Here's an example, expressed as a unit test:
[TestMethod]
public void ShouldBeAbleToConvertAnAnonymousObjectToAnExpandoObject()
{
var additionalViewData = new {id = "myControlId", css = "hide well"};
dynamic result = new ExpandoObject();
var dict = (IDictionary<string, object>)result;
foreach (PropertyInfo propertyInfo in additionalViewData.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
dict[propertyInfo.Name] = propertyInfo.GetValue(additionalViewData, null);
}
Assert.AreEqual(result.id, "myControlId");
Assert.AreEqual(result.css, "hide well");
}

An alternative approach is to use DynamicObject instead of ExpandoObject, and that way you only have the overhead of doing the reflection if you actually try to access a property from the other object.
public class DynamicForwarder : DynamicObject
{
private object _target;
public DynamicForwarder(object target)
{
_target = target;
}
public override bool TryGetMember(
GetMemberBinder binder, out object result)
{
var prop = _target.GetType().GetProperty(binder.Name);
if (prop == null)
{
result = null;
return false;
}
result = prop.GetValue(_target, null);
return true;
}
}
Now it only does the reflection when you actually try to access the property via a dynamic get. On the downside, if you repeatedly access the same property, it has to do the reflection each time. So you could cache the result:
public class DynamicForwarder : DynamicObject
{
private object _target;
private Dictionary<string, object> _cache = new Dictionary<string, object>();
public DynamicForwarder(object target)
{
_target = target;
}
public override bool TryGetMember(
GetMemberBinder binder, out object result)
{
// check the cache first
if (_cache.TryGetValue(binder.Name, out result))
return true;
var prop = _target.GetType().GetProperty(binder.Name);
if (prop == null)
{
result = null;
return false;
}
result = prop.GetValue(_target, null);
_cache.Add(binder.Name, result); // <-------- insert into cache
return true;
}
}
You could support storing a list of target objects to coalesce their properties, and support setting properties (with a similar override called TrySetMember) to allow you to dynamically set values in the cache dictionary.
Of course, the overhead of reflection is probably not going to be worth worrying about, but for large objects this could limit the impact of it. What is maybe more interesting is the extra flexibility it gives you.

This is an old question, but now you should be able to do this with the following code:
dynamic expObj = new ExpandoObject();
expObj.Name = "James Kirk";
expObj.Number = 34;
// print the dynamically added properties
// enumerating over it exposes the Properties and Values as a KeyValuePair
foreach (KeyValuePair<string, object> kvp in expObj){
Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1} : Type: {2}", kvp.Key, kvp.Value, kvp.Value.GetType());
}
The output would look like the following:
Name = James Kirk : Type: System.String
Number = 34 : Type:
System.Int32

you have to use reflection.... (code "borrowed" from this url)
using System.Reflection; // reflection namespace
// get all public static properties of MyClass type
PropertyInfo[] propertyInfos;
propertyInfos = typeof(MyClass).GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public |
BindingFlags.Static);
// sort properties by name
Array.Sort(propertyInfos,
delegate(PropertyInfo propertyInfo1, PropertyInfo propertyInfo2)
{ return propertyInfo1.Name.CompareTo(propertyInfo2.Name); });
// write property names
foreach (PropertyInfo propertyInfo in propertyInfos)
{
Console.WriteLine(propertyInfo.Name);
}

Use Reflection.Emit to create a generic method to fill an ExpandoObject.
OR use Expressions perhaps (I think this would only be possible in .NET 4 though).
Neither of these approaches uses reflection when invoking, only during setup of a delegate (which obviously needs to be cached).
Here is some Reflection.Emit code to fill a dictionary (I guess ExpandoObject is not far off);
static T CreateDelegate<T>(this DynamicMethod dm) where T : class
{
return dm.CreateDelegate(typeof(T)) as T;
}
static Dictionary<Type, Func<object, Dictionary<string, object>>> cache =
new Dictionary<Type, Func<object, Dictionary<string, object>>>();
static Dictionary<string, object> GetProperties(object o)
{
var t = o.GetType();
Func<object, Dictionary<string, object>> getter;
if (!cache.TryGetValue(t, out getter))
{
var rettype = typeof(Dictionary<string, object>);
var dm = new DynamicMethod(t.Name + ":GetProperties", rettype,
new Type[] { typeof(object) }, t);
var ilgen = dm.GetILGenerator();
var instance = ilgen.DeclareLocal(t);
var dict = ilgen.DeclareLocal(rettype);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldarg_0);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Castclass, t);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Stloc, instance);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Newobj, rettype.GetConstructor(Type.EmptyTypes));
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Stloc, dict);
var add = rettype.GetMethod("Add");
foreach (var prop in t.GetProperties(
BindingFlags.Instance |
BindingFlags.Public))
{
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, dict);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldstr, prop.Name);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, instance);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldfld, prop);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Castclass, typeof(object));
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Callvirt, add);
}
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, dict);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ret);
cache[t] = getter =
dm.CreateDelegate<Func<object, Dictionary<string, object>>>();
}
return getter(o);
}

How to Get the Value of a List Type Property using propertyInfo

private static void Getproperties(Object Model) {
Type objType = Model.GetType();
PropertyInfo[] properties = objType.GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties)
{
object propValue;
//Checking if property is indexed
if(property.GetIndexParameters().Length ==0)
propValue = property.GetValue(Model,null);
else
{
// want to retrieve collection stored in property index not passing 0 index returning element at 0 location ,how can i get whole list
propValue = property.GetValue(objectModel,new Object[]{0});
}
var elems = propValue as IList;
.... }
How can i get the Property Value of List Type, my property in the Model is a List Type for Example my Model contains a List Property
List<User>
wants to create a Filter and add to action on which i can check for potential Xss Attack ,whether model contains any such attack

You don't really need this overload with second parameter. What you really need is to cast object returned by .GetValue() method back to type List<T>. Example :
class MyClass
{
public List<int> MyProperty { get { return new List<int>() { 3, 4, 5, 6 }; } }
}
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
MyClass instance = new MyClass();
PropertyInfo info = instance.GetType().GetProperty("MyProperty");
List<int> another = info.GetValue(instance) as List<int>;
for (int i = 0; i < another.Count; i++)
{
Console.Write(another[i] + " ");
}
}
}
Output : 3 4 5 6

Check this one.
List<string> sbColors = new List<string>();
Type colorType = typeof(System.Drawing.Color);
PropertyInfo[] propInfoList = colorType.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly | BindingFlags.Public);
foreach (PropertyInfo c in propInfoList)
{
sbColors.Add(c.Name);
}

How to assign C# dynamic variable properties to another dynamic object?

I'm trying to write a function which creates an object of Type t and assign its properties.
internal static object CreateInstanceWithParam(Type t, dynamic d)
{
//dynamic obj = t.GetConstructor(new Type[] { d }).Invoke(new object[] { d });
dynamic obj = t.GetConstructor(new Type[] { }).Invoke(new object[] { });
foreach (var prop in d.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
//prop.Name,
//prop.GetValue(d, null);
// assign the properties and corresponding values to newly created object ???
}
return obj;
}
Then I should be able to use this for any kind of class types like
IUser user = (IUser)CreateInstanceWithParam(userType, new { UserID = 0, Name = "user abc", LoginCode = "abc", DefaultPassword = "xxxxxx" });
IUnit newUnit = (IUnit)CreateInstanceWithParam(unitType, new { ID = 3, Code = "In", Name = "Inch", Points = "72" })
How can I assign the property prop.Name to obj?

Assuming you're just trying to copy properties, you don't need dynamic at all:
internal static object CreateInstanceWithParam(Type type, object source)
{
object instance = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
foreach (var sourceProperty in d.GetType()
.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance |
BindingFlags.Public))
{
var targetProperty = type.GetProperty(sourceProperty.Name);
// TODO: Check that the property is writable, non-static etc
if (targetProperty != null)
{
object value = sourceProperty.GetValue(source);
targetProperty.SetValue(instance, value);
}
}
return instance;
}

Actually, using dynamic would probably be a bad thing here; the objects you are passing in are instances of anonymous types - no need for dynamic. In particular, dynamic member access is not the same as reflection, and you cannot guarantee that an object described as dynamic will return anything interesting from .GetType().GetProperties(); consider ExpandoObject, etc.
However, FastMember (available on NuGet) may be useful:
internal static object CreateInstanceWithParam(Type type, object template)
{
TypeAccessor target = TypeAccessor.Create(type),
source = TypeAccessor.Create(template.GetType());
if (!target.CreateNewSupported)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Cannot create new instance");
if (!source.GetMembersSupported)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Cannot enumerate members");
object obj = target.CreateNew();
foreach (var member in source.GetMembers())
{
target[obj, member.Name] = source[template, member.Name];
}
return obj;
}
In particular, this can use the dynamic API just as easily as the reflection API, and you never usually see the difference.

Loop through constant members of a class

I have a class with constant strings in it. I'd like to throw all of those strings into a drop down collection. What is the best way to do this? This is what I have now and in theory, I would think that it would be the best way to do this.
public class TestClass
{
private const string _testA = "Test A";
private const string _testB = "Test B";
public string TestA
{
get { return _testA; }
}
public string TestB
{
get { return _testB; }
}
}
public DropDownItemCollection TestCollection
{
DropDownItemCollection collection = new DropDownItemCollection();
TestClass class = new TestClass();
foreach (string testString in class)
{
DropDownItem item = new DropDownItem();
item.Description = testString;
item.Value = testString;
collection.Add(item);
}
return collection;
}
The problem is that this returns an error on the foreach: "...does not contain a public definition for GetEnumerator." I've tried to create a GetEnumerator but I've been unsuccessful and I haven't worked with GetEnumerator in the past.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

A little late but wouldn't this be a better solution?
http://weblogs.asp.net/whaggard/archive/2003/02/20/2708.aspx
private FieldInfo[] GetConstants(System.Type type)
{
ArrayList constants = new ArrayList();
FieldInfo[] fieldInfos = type.GetFields(
// Gets all public and static fields
BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static |
// This tells it to get the fields from all base types as well
BindingFlags.FlattenHierarchy);
// Go through the list and only pick out the constants
foreach(FieldInfo fi in fieldInfos)
// IsLiteral determines if its value is written at
// compile time and not changeable
// IsInitOnly determine if the field can be set
// in the body of the constructor
// for C# a field which is readonly keyword would have both true
// but a const field would have only IsLiteral equal to true
if(fi.IsLiteral && !fi.IsInitOnly)
constants.Add(fi);
// Return an array of FieldInfos
return (FieldInfo[])constants.ToArray(typeof(FieldInfo));
}
If you need the names you can do
fi.GetValue(null)
inside the loop.

I just had the same challenge; to get all constants of my class (not properties!). Based on the most popular answer (for properties) and John's answer (for constants) I wrote this. I tested it and it works well.
private List<string> lstOfConstants= new List<string>();
foreach (var constant in typeof(TestClass).GetFields())
{
if (constant.IsLiteral && !constant.IsInitOnly)
{
lstOfConstants.Add((string)constant.GetValue(null));
}
}

You could implement a method that yields the strings:
public Ienumerable<string> GetStrings(){
yield return TestA;
yield return TestB;
}
Else you should look into reflection to return the properties that are static and string and then get the values by calling them.
Regards GJ

You could use reflection to loop through all the properties:
public DropDownItemCollection TestCollection
{
var collection = new DropDownItemCollection();
var instance = new TestClass();
foreach (var prop in typeof(TestClass).GetProperties())
{
if (prop.CanRead)
{
var value = prop.GetValue(instance, null) as string;
var item = new DropDownItem();
item.Description = value;
item.Value = value;
collection.Add(item);
}
}
return collection;
}

You can use reflection to loop trought the class properties:
var instance = new TestClass();
foreach(PropertyInfo pi in typeof(TestClass))
{
var val = pi.GetValue(instance,null);
}

You need to use reflection to get name of each String from your custom type, and then also/optionally get the value of each one of those Strings...
Something like this:
TestClass theClass = new TestClass();
foreach (PropertyInfo property in theClass.GetType().GetProperties())
{
Console.WriteLine(property.Name);
Console.WriteLine(property.GetValue(theClass, null));
}

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