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C# - Generic custom List.Add method to add checks before adding?

I am wondering if something like this is possible. I am looking to create a method that can be called instead of List.Add. The method would check any/all string properties and make sure they don't exceed their specific given max lengths, and if so truncate to proper size. I would ideally like it to be generic so that it will not only work for ObjectA, but also ObjectB, ObjectC, etc.
I am open to any and all suggestions. I know it seems like a weird thing to do, but I have a lot of different objects I am working with and potentially millions of those object instances in totality across all my lists. I mainly just need a way to ensure that any objects with properties exceeding their max string limit are truncated and logged via the Worker class in a timely way. Thanks!
public class ObjectA {
public Guid aID {get; set;}
[MaxLength(128)]
public string aName {get; set;}
[MaxLegnth(30)]
public string aType {get; set;}
}
--
public class Worker {
private void Work() {
List<ObjectA> listOfA = new List<ObjectA>();
listOfA.CustomAddMethod(new ObjectA(new Guid, "Something", "Unknown"));
}
// ??????
private CustomAddMethod(T object) {
foreach property {
if (isStringProperty && isGreaterThanMaxLength) {
// truncate to proper size
// log for truncation message
}
// Then add to list
}
}
}

You can create an extension method.
Here is a code snip. You can improve the performance by implementing a cache, for example, using a dictionary to store the properties and the MaxLengthAttribute based on object's type.
public static class ListExtensions
{
public static void CustomAdd<T>(this List<T> list, T item, Action<string> logger = null)
{
var propertyInfos = typeof(T)
.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public)
.Where(propertyInfo => propertyInfo.PropertyType == typeof(string))
.ToList();
foreach (var propInfo in propertyInfos)
{
var maxLengthAttr = propInfo
.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(MaxLengthAttribute))
.Cast<MaxLengthAttribute>()
.FirstOrDefault();
if (maxLengthAttr is null)
continue;
var currentString = (string)propInfo.GetValue(item);
if (!maxLengthAttr.IsValid(currentString))
{
var newValue = currentString.Substring(0, maxLengthAttr.Length);
logger?.Invoke(
$"Resolving error: {maxLengthAttr.FormatErrorMessage(propInfo.Name)}\n" +
$"Old Value: {currentString}\n" +
$"New Value: {newValue}"
);
propInfo.SetValue(item, newValue);
}
}
list.Add(item);
}
}
Example of usage (code removed for brevity):
public class Person
{
[MaxLength(4)]
public string Name { get; set; }
}
...
var personList = new List<Person>();
personList.CustomAdd(
new Person {Name = "John Doe"},
message => Debug.WriteLine(message)
);
...
As result the Jhon Doe string will be trimmed to Jhon

Subclass Reflection type error

I'm currently having some issues with a method I made. I use reflection to run through my class and get all it's properties. I use this to cast my models to DTO and vice-versa.
The problem I am encountering is that, whenever my class has another class as an attribute, I get an error.
Object of type 'UserTypeProxy' cannot be converted to type 'MyNamespace.DTO.UserTypeDto'.
This is my code:
public static T Cast<T>(object myobj)
{
Type _objectType = myobj.GetType();
Type target = typeof(T);
var x = Activator.CreateInstance(target, false);
var z = from source in _objectType.GetMembers().ToList()
where source.MemberType == MemberTypes.Property
select source;
var d = from source in target.GetMembers().ToList()
where source.MemberType == MemberTypes.Property
select source;
List<MemberInfo> members = d.Where(memberInfo => d.Select(c => c.Name)
.ToList().Contains(memberInfo.Name)).ToList();
PropertyInfo propertyInfo;
object value;
foreach (var memberInfo in members)
{
propertyInfo = typeof(T).GetProperty(memberInfo.Name);
var propy = myobj.GetType().GetProperty(memberInfo.Name);
value = propy.GetValue(myobj, null);
propertyInfo.SetValue(x, value, null); //<-- this is the line that gives the error
}
return (T)x;
}

As a previous commenter states, this is not the kind of code you should be writing/maintaining yourself. Frameworks like AutoMapper were built specifically to solve the problem you are attacking - converting model objects to DTOs. The right long-term choice would be to start leveraging such a framework instead of reinventing the wheel.
In the meanwhile the following code is a short-term solution for your issue. Keep in mind that while this may solve the specific case you mention in your question, object mapping has many corner cases and eventually you will run into another. I would recommend only using this as a temporary fix until you migrate to using AutoMapper or a similar framework.
Based on your description and your code, here is an example which models your failure:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var user = new UserModel
{
Name = "User McUserson",
Age = 30,
Buddy = new UserModel
{
Name = "Buddy McFriendly",
Age = 28
}
};
// This fails saying that UserModel cannot be converted to UserDto
var userDto = Cast<UserDto>(user);
}
class UserModel
{
public String Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public UserModel Buddy { get; set; }
}
class UserDto
{
public String Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public UserDto Buddy { get; set; }
}
The problem is that the Buddy property, unlike all the others, has a different type in the model and DTO classes. A UserModel is simply not assignable to a UserDto. The only exception to this is if the value is null.
For properties which are class types, instead of setting the target equal to the source you need to map the source type to the target type: UserModel -> UserDto. This can be done with a recursive call.
Before I show you the code which solves this issue, let's talk about naming for a minute. Calling your function Cast() is very misleading. The operation we are really doing here is taking some source object and mapping its property values onto some target object of a specific type (with possible recursive mappings for properties which are class types).
Given this terminology, here is some updated code which solves this specific issue:
public static T MapProperties<T>(object source)
{
return (T)MapProperties(source, typeof(T));
}
public static object MapProperties(object source, Type targetType)
{
object target = Activator.CreateInstance(targetType, nonPublic: false);
Type sourceType = source.GetType();
var sourcePropertyLookup = sourceType.GetProperties().ToDictionary(p => p.Name);
var targetPropertyLookup = targetType.GetProperties().ToDictionary(p => p.Name);
var commonProperties = targetPropertyLookup.Keys.Intersect(sourcePropertyLookup.Keys);
foreach (var commonProp in commonProperties)
{
PropertyInfo sourceProp = sourcePropertyLookup[commonProp];
PropertyInfo targetProp = targetPropertyLookup[commonProp];
object sourcePropValue = sourceProp.GetValue(source);
if(sourcePropValue == null || targetProp.PropertyType.IsAssignableFrom(sourceProp.PropertyType))
{
targetProp.SetValue(target, sourceProp.GetValue(source));
}
else
{
object mappedValue = MapProperties(sourceProp.GetValue(source), targetProp.PropertyType);
targetProp.SetValue(target, mappedValue);
}
}
return target;
}
You can use this in the same way you've used your previous code:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var user = new UserModel
{
Name = "User McUserson",
Age = 30,
Buddy = new UserModel
{
Name = "Buddy McFriendly",
Age = 28
}
};
// This works!
var userDto = MapProperties<UserDto>(user);
}
Aside from some optimizations the key differences from your code is in the if-else block. There we check if we can assign the source value to the target directly, in which case we do what your code was doing so far. Otherwise it assumes we need to recursively map the value over. This new section is what solves the issue of converting a source property of a model class type to a target property of a DTO class type.

Setting C# property value when you know its class name (not property name)

I have a class as follows:
public class DummyReturnDto
{
public Set1ReturnDto Foo { get; set; }
public Set2ReturnDto Bar { get; set; }
public DummyReturnDto()
{
Set1 = new Set1ReturnDto();
Set2 = new Set2ReturnDto();
}
}
where all the properties are guaranteed to have classes as their types and will be unique. I would like to use reflection to set the value for the property given a particular type. So for Set1ReturnDto:
var propertyInfo = obj.GetType().GetProperty(Set1ReturnDto, ??????);
propertyInfo.SetValue(obj, value, null);
and then for Set2ReturnDto
var propertyInfo = obj.GetType().GetProperty(Set2ReturnDto, ??????);
propertyInfo.SetValue(obj, value, null);
EDIT:
This is part of the needed knowledge to implement requirements for Generic approach to dealing with multiple result sets from EF stored procedure

This will do it:
var propertyInfo = typeof(DummyReturnDto).GetProperties()
.Single(p => p.PropertyType == typeof(Set1ReturnDto));

Serializing with ProtoBuf.NET without tagging members

I've read somewhere a comment by the author of ProtoBuf.NET that:
There are options to automatically infer the numbers, but that is brittle and not recommended. Only use this if you know you never need to add more members (it orders them alphabetically, so adding a new AardvarkCount will break everything).
This is exactly that sort of situation I am interested in :)
I have something that is akin to a map-reduce scenario where I want to serialize results generated on remote machines using protocol buffers (e.g. the "map" side of map-reduce) and later read them and combine those results for further processing (e.g. the "reduce" side).
I don't want to start an attribute decoration marathon over every possible class I have that might get serialized during this process, and I do find the protocol buffers to be very alluring as I can create result with Mono and consume them effortlessly on MS.NET and vice-versa...
The apparent downsides of not pre-tagging the members doesn't bother me as exactly the same software revision does generation/consumptionn, so I don't need do worry about new members popping up in the code and messing my whole scheme...
So in short, my question is:
How do I do it (Serialize with ProtoBuf.NET without tagging/building Meta classes on my own)?
Is there any hole in my scheme that I've glaringly missed?

If you can live with a single attribute, then the trick is:
[ProtoContract(ImplicitFields = ImplicitFields.AllPublic)]
public class WithImplicitFields
{
public int X { get; set; }
public string Y { get; set; }
}
there are 2 options here; AllPublic works like XmlSerializer - public properties and fields are serialized (using the alphabetic order to choose tag numbers); AllFields works a bit like BinaryFormatter - the fields are serialized (again, alphabetic).
I can't remember if this is yet available on the v2 API; I know it is on my list of things to ensure work! But if you want it in v2 without any attributes, I'm sure I can add an Add(ImplicitFields) overload.
As long as the 2 ends are never out of step, this is fine. If you store the data, or don't version the two ends "in step", then there could be problems. See also the intellisense comments on the enum (which pretty much repeats the warning that you are already aware of).

I had the same problem and that how I've resolved it with TypeModel. It's based on properties ordered by their name (however it doesn't check on property setter/getter existence or serialize-ability of a given type):
[TestFixture]
public class InferredProtoPoc
{
[Test]
public void UsageTest()
{
var model = TypeModel.Create();
// Dynamically create the model for MyPoco
AddProperties(model, typeof(MyPoco));
// Display the Generated Schema of MyPoco
Console.WriteLine(model.GetSchema(typeof(MyPoco)));
var instance = new MyPoco
{
IntegerProperty = 42,
StringProperty = "Foobar",
Containers = new List<EmbeddedPoco>
{
new EmbeddedPoco { Id = 12, Name = "MyFirstOne" },
new EmbeddedPoco { Id = 13, Name = "EmbeddedAgain" }
}
};
var ms = new MemoryStream();
model.Serialize(ms, instance);
ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
var res = (MyPoco) model.Deserialize(ms, null, typeof(MyPoco));
Assert.IsNotNull(res);
Assert.AreEqual(42, res.IntegerProperty);
Assert.AreEqual("Foobar", res.StringProperty);
var list = res.Containers;
Assert.IsNotNull(list);
Assert.AreEqual(2, list.Count);
Assert.IsTrue(list.Any(x => x.Id == 12));
Assert.IsTrue(list.Where(x => x.Id == 12).Any(x => x.Name == "MyFirstOne"));
Assert.IsTrue(list.Any(x => x.Id == 13));
Assert.IsTrue(list.Where(x => x.Id == 13).Any(x => x.Name == "EmbeddedAgain"));
}
private static void AddProperties(RuntimeTypeModel model, Type type)
{
var metaType = model.Add(type, true);
foreach (var property in type.GetProperties().OrderBy(x => x.Name))
{
metaType.Add(property.Name);
var propertyType = property.PropertyType;
if (!IsBuiltinType(propertyType) &&
!model.IsDefined(propertyType) &&
propertyType.GetProperties().Length > 0)
{
AddProperties(model, propertyType);
}
}
}
private static bool IsBuiltinType(Type type)
{
return type.IsValueType || type == typeof (string);
}
}
public class MyPoco
{
public int IntegerProperty { get; set; }
public string StringProperty { get; set; }
public List<EmbeddedPoco> Containers { get; set; }
}
public class EmbeddedPoco
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public String Name { get; set; }
}
And that's what you get from running it.
message EmbeddedPoco {
optional int32 Id = 1;
optional string Name = 2;
}
message MyPoco {
repeated EmbeddedPoco Containers = 1;
optional int32 IntegerProperty = 2;
optional string StringProperty = 3;
}
For performance, you could opt to compile the TypeModel, and/or store the generated proto for future uses. Beware however that hidden dependency on Protocol Buffer could be dangerous in the long run if the poco (Plain old container object) evolves.

Accessing C# property name or attributes

I would like to automatically generate SQL statements from a class instance. The method should look like Update(object[] Properties, object PrimaryKeyProperty). The method is part of an instance (class, base method - generic for any child). Array of properties is an array of class properties, that will be used in update statement. Property names are equal to table field names.
The problem is that I can't get property names.
Is there any option to get a property name inside class instance?
sample:
public class MyClass {
public int iMyProperty { get; set; }
public string cMyProperty2 { get; set; }
{
main() {
MyClass _main = new MyClass();
_main.iMyProperty.*PropertyName* // should return string "iMyProperty"
{
I am aware of PropertyInfo, but I don't know hot to get the ID of a property from GetProperties() array.
Any suggestion?

Just wrote an implementation of this for a presentation on lambdas for our usergroup last Tuesday.
You can do
MembersOf<Animal>.GetName(x => x.Status)
Or
var a = new Animal()
a.MemberName(x => x.Status)
the code:
public static class MembersOf<T> {
public static string GetName<R>(Expression<Func<T,R>> expr) {
var node = expr.Body as MemberExpression;
if (object.ReferenceEquals(null, node))
throw new InvalidOperationException("Expression must be of member access");
return node.Member.Name;
}
}
Link to the presentation and code samples.
Also in SVN (more likely to be updated): http://gim-projects.googlecode.com/svn/presentations/CantDanceTheLambda

I found a perfect solution in This Post
public static string GetPropertyName<T>(Expression<Func<T>> propertyExpression)
{
return (propertyExpression.Body as MemberExpression).Member.Name;
}
And then for the usage :
var propertyName = GetPropertyName(
() => myObject.AProperty); // returns "AProperty"
Works like a charm

You can do something like this:
Type t = someInstance.getType();
foreach (MemberInfo mi in t.GetMembers())
{
if (mi.MemberType == MemberTypes.Property)
{
Console.WriteLine(mi.Name);
}
}
to get all the property names for instance's type.

You can get the name (I assume that's what you meant by ID) of a property using PropertyInfo.Name. Just loop through the PropertyInfo[] returned from typeof(className).GetProperties()
foreach (PropertyInfo info in typeof(MyClass).GetProperties())
{
string name = info.Name;
// use name here
}

Since you already have an explicit handle to the specific property you want, you know the name - can you just type it?

Not 100% sure if this will get you what you're looking for, this will fetch all properties with [Column] attribute inside your class:
In the datacontext I have:
public ReadOnlyCollection<MetaDataMember> ColumnNames<TEntity>( )
{
return this.Mapping.MappingSource.GetModel(typeof(DataContext)).GetMetaType(typeof(TEntity)).DataMembers;
}
Fetching the table column-names that are properties inside the class:
MyDataContext db = GetDataContext();
var allColumnPropertyNames = db.ColumnNames<Animal>().Where(n => n.Member.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(System.Data.Linq.Mapping.ColumnAttribute), false).FirstOrDefault() != null).Select(n => n.Name);

Let's say (from the first sample, method update of a class MyClass):
public class MyClass {
public int iMyStatusProperty { get; set; }
public int iMyKey { get; set; }
public int UpdateStatusProperty(int iValue){
this.iMyStatusProperty = iValue;
return _Update( new[iMyStatusProperty ], iMyKey); // this should generate SQL: "UPDATE MyClass set iMyStatusProperty = {iMyStatusProperty} where iMyKey = {iMyKey}"
}
{iMyStatusProperty} and {iMyKey} are property values of a class instance.
So, the problem is how to get property name (reflection) from a property without using names of properties as strings (to avoid field name typos).