Develop Reference

How do i cast a list<x> to List<y>

i have two classes as below i need to cast list<child> to list<BM>
public class Child
{
[JsonProperty("name")]
public string title { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public string url { get; set; }
public List<Child> children { get; set; }
}
public class BM
{
public string title { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public string url { get; set; }
public List<BM> children { get; set; }
}

You can't cast it. You can create new list with all items transformed from one class to another, but you can't cast the entire list at once.
You should probably create a method which will transform Child into BM instance:
public static BM ToBM(Child source)
{
return new BN() {
title = source.title,
type = source.type,
url = source.url,
children = source.children.Select(x => ToBM(x)).ToList()
};
}
and then use LINQ to transform entire list:
var BMs = source.Select(x => ToBM(x)).ToList();

use automapper's DLL. You can read more about automapper at http://automapper.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Lists%20and%20Arrays
List<BM> BMList=
Mapper.Map<List<Child>, List<BM>>(childList);
same question has been asked before
Automapper copy List to List

You can also use Custom Type Conversions if you want to cast between custom types like that:
Class2 class2Instance = (Class2)class1Instance;
So all you need is to define explicit or implicit conversion function in your child class.
// Add it into your Child class
public static explicit operator BM(Child obj)
{
BM output = new BM()
{
title = obj.title,
type = obj.type,
url = obj.url,
children = obj.children.Select(x => BM(x)).ToList()
};
return output;
}
and then:
var result = source.Select(x => (BM)x).ToList();

EF adding duplicate records into lookup/reference table

I have 3 tables,
1. AttributeTypes (Columns: AttributeId (PK), AttributeName, ..)
2. Location (Columns: locationId (PK), LocationName, ...)
3. LocationAttributeType (Columns: locationId (FK), AttributeId (FK))
Whenever I am trying to insert new location record along with its attribute type from GUI, it should create new record for Table- Location and LocationAttributeType. But EF trying to add new record in Table- AttributeTypes as well, which is just used as reference table and should not add new/duplicate records in it. How can I prevent that?
here is my code,
The model which GUI sends is,
public class LocationDataModel
{
[DataMember]
public int Id { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Code { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public List<AttributeTypeDataModel> AssignedAttributes = new List<AttributeTypeDataModel>();
}
public class AttributeTypeDataModel
{
protected AttributeTypeDataModel() {}
public AttributeTypeDataModel(int id) { this.Id = id; }
public AttributeTypeDataModel(int id, string name)
: this(id)
{
this.Name = name;
}
[DataMember]
public int Id { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Name { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public virtual ICollection<LocationDataModel> Locations { get; set; }
}
The Entities created by EF are,
public partial class Location
{
public Location()
{
this.AttributeTypes = new List<AttributeType>();
}
public Location(int campusId, string code)
: this()
{
CampusId = campusId; Code = code;
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public int CampusId { get; set; }
public string Code { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<AttributeType> AttributeTypes { get; set; }
}
public partial class AttributeType
{
public AttributeType()
{
this.Locations = new List<Location>();
}
public int AttributeTypeId { get; set; }
public string AttributeTypeName { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Location> Locations { get; set; }
}
I have below code to Add these new location to database,
private IEnumerable<TEntity> AddEntities<TModel, TEntity, TIdentityType>
(IEnumerable<TModel> models, Func<TModel, TIdentityType> primaryKey,
IGenericRepository<TEntity, TIdentityType> repository)
{
var results = new List<TEntity>();
foreach (var model in models)
{
var merged = _mapper.Map<TModel, TEntity>(model);
var entity = repository.Upsert(merged);
results.Add(entity);
}
repository.Save();
return results.AsEnumerable();
}
I am using following generic repository to do entity related operations
public TEntity Upsert(TEntity entity)
{
if (Equals(PrimaryKey.Invoke(entity), default(TId)))
{
// New entity
return Context.Set<TEntity>().Add(entity);
}
else
{
// Existing entity
Context.Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Modified;
return entity;
}
}
public void Save()
{
Context.SaveChanges();
}
Whats wrong I am doing here?

The DbSet<T>.Add() method attaches an entire object graph as added. You need to indicate to EF that the 'reference' entity is actually already present. There are two easy ways to do this:
Don't set the navigation property to an object. Instead, just set the corresponding foreign key property to the right value.
You need to ensure that you don't load multiple instances of the same entity into your object context. After creating the context, load the full list of AttributeType entities into the context and create a Dictionary<> to store them. When you want to add an attribute to a Location retrieve the appropriate attribute from the dictionary. Before calling SaveChanges() iterate through the dictionary and mark each AttributeType as unchanged. Something like this:
using (MyContext c = new MyContext())
{
c.AttributeTypes.Add(new AttributeType { AttributeTypeName = "Fish", AttributeTypeId = 1 });
c.AttributeTypes.Add(new AttributeType { AttributeTypeName = "Face", AttributeTypeId = 2 });
c.SaveChanges();
}
using (MyContext c = new MyContext())
{
Dictionary<int, AttributeType> dictionary = new Dictionary<int, AttributeType>();
foreach (var t in c.AttributeTypes)
{
dictionary[t.AttributeTypeId] = t;
}
Location l1 = new Location(1, "Location1") { AttributeTypes = { dictionary[1], dictionary[2] } };
Location l2 = new Location(2, "Location2") { AttributeTypes = { dictionary[1] } };
// Because the LocationType is already attached to the context, it doesn't get re-added.
c.Locations.Add(l1);
c.Locations.Add(l2);
c.SaveChanges();
}
In this specific case you are using a many-to-many relationship, with EF automatically handling the intermediate table. This means that you don't actually have the FK properties exposed in the model, and my first suggestion above won't work.
Therefore, you either need to use the second suggestion, which still ought to work, or you need to forgo the automatic handling of the intermediate table and instead create an entity for it. This would allow you to apply the first suggestion. You would have the following model:
public partial class Location
{
public Location()
{
this.AttributeTypes = new List<LocationAttribute>();
}
public Location(int campusId, string code)
: this()
{
CampusId = campusId; Code = code;
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public int CampusId { get; set; }
public string Code { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<LocationAttribute> AttributeTypes { get; set; }
}
public partial class LocationAttribute
{
[ForeignKey("LocationId")]
public Location Location { get; set; }
public int LocationId { get; set; }
public int AttributeTypeId { get; set; }
}
public partial class AttributeType
{
public int AttributeTypeId { get; set; }
public string AttributeTypeName { get; set; }
}
With this approach you do lose functionality since you can't navigate from a Location to an AttributeType without making an intermediate lookup. If you really want to do that, you need to control the entity state explicitly instead. (Doing that is not so straightforward when you want to use a generic repository, which is why I've focused on this approach instead.)

Thank you all for your suggestions.
I have to get rid of my generic repository here to save my context changes and do it manually as below,
private IEnumerable<int> AddLocationEntities(IEnumerable<LocationDataModel> locations)
{
var results = new List<int>();
foreach (LocationDataModel l in locations)
{
var entity = _mapper.Map<LocationDataModel, Location>(l);//you can map manually also
var AttributeCode = l.AssignedAttributes.FirstOrDefault().AttributeTypeId;
using (MyContext c = new MyContext())
{
var attr = c.AttributeTypes.Where(a => a.Id == AttributeTypeId ).ToList();
entity.AttributeTypes = attr;
c.Locations.Add(entity);
c.SaveChanges();
var locid = entity.Id;
results.Add(locid);
}
}
return results;
}

In the else statement of yourUpsert you should add
context.TEntity.Attach(entity);

transfer DTO to ViewModel

Here is my data transfer object
public class LoadSourceDetail
{
public string LoadSourceCode { get; set; }
public string LoadSourceDesc { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<ReportingEntityDetail> ReportingEntity { get; set; }
}
public class ReportingEntityDetail
{
public string ReportingEntityCode { get; set; }
public string ReportingEntityDesc { get; set; }
}
And here is my ViewModel
public class LoadSourceViewModel
{
#region Construction
public LoadSourceViewModel ()
{
}
public LoadSourceViewModel(LoadSourceDetail data)
{
if (data != null)
{
LoadSourceCode = data.LoadSourceCode;
LoadSourceDesc = data.LoadSourceDesc;
ReportingEntity = // <-- ? not sure how to do this
};
}
#endregion
public string LoadSourceCode { get; set; }
public string LoadSourceDesc { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<ReportingEntityViewModel> ReportingEntity { get; set; }
}
public class ReportingEntityViewModel
{
public string ReportingEntityCode { get; set; }
public string ReportingEntityDesc { get; set; }
}
}
I'm not sure how to transfer the data from the LoadSourceDetail ReportingEntity to the LoadSourceViewModel ReportingEntity. I'm trying to transfer data from one IEnumerable to another IEnumerable.

I would use AutoMapper to do this:
https://github.com/AutoMapper/AutoMapper
http://automapper.org/
You can easily map collections, see https://github.com/AutoMapper/AutoMapper/wiki/Lists-and-arrays
It would look something like this:
var viewLoadSources = Mapper.Map<IEnumerable<LoadSourceDetail>, IEnumerable<LoadSourceViewModel>>(loadSources);
If you are using this in an MVC project I usually have an AutoMapper config in the App_Start that sets the configuration i.e. fields that do not match etc.

Without AutoMapper you will have to map each property one by one ,
Something like this :
LoadSourceDetail obj = FillLoadSourceDetail ();// fill from source or somewhere
// check for null before
ReportingEntity = obj.ReportingEntity
.Select(x => new ReportingEntityViewModel()
{
ReportingEntityCode = x.ReportingEntityCode,
ReportingEntityDesc x.ReportingEntityDesc
})
.ToList(); // here is 'x' is of type ReportingEntityDetail

You could point it to the same IEnumerable:
ReportingEntity = data.ReportingEntity;
If you want to make a deep copy, you could use ToList(), or ToArray():
ReportingEntity = data.ReportingEntity.ToList();
That will materialize the IEnumerable and store a snapshot in your view model.

How to use the same foreach code for 2 collections?

I have 2 collections of 2 different types but have almost the same set of fields.
in one function, I need to iterate through one of the collections depending on one condition.
I want to write only one code block that will cover both cases.
Example:
I have the following code:
if (condition1)
{
foreach(var type1var in Type1Collection)
{
// Do some code here
type1var.Notes = "note";
type1var.Price = 1;
}
}
else
{
foreach(var type2var in Type2Collection)
{
// the same code logic is used here
type2var.Notes = "note";
type2var.Price = 1;
}
}
Now: I want to simplify this code to use the same logic only once ( as they are identical ), something like the following ( P.S : I know the following code is not correct, I am just explaining what I want to do ):
var typecollection = Condition1 ? Type1Collection : Type2Collection;
foreach(var typevar in TypeCollection)
{
// the same code logic is used here
typevar.Notes = "note";
typevar.Price = 1;
}
The definition of Type1 & Type2 is similar to the following code ( Actually they are Entity objects):
public class Type1 : EntityObject
{
public int Type1ID { get; set; }
public int Type1MasterID { get; set; }
public String Notes { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
public class Type2 : EntityObject
{
public int Type2ID { get; set; }
public int Type2MasterID { get; set; }
public String Notes { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
Update 1:
I have included some sample code I am using inside foreach block ( I am accessing a public properties of the 2 types).
Update 2:
I have included sample Type1 & Type2 definitions, as you can see I have 2 common Public Properties in both classes which I want to update in foreach block.
Update 3:
I am sorry for the confusion, Type1 & Type2 are derived from EntityObject ( They are both part of my entity model, and the Type1Collection & Type2Collection are actually EntityCollection of these 2 entities.

You could use dynamic. Note you will lose type safety.
var list1 = new List<bool>(){true,false};
var list2 = new List<int>(){1,2};
var typecollection = condition1 ? list1.Cast<dynamic>() : list2.Cast<dynamic>();
foreach (var value in typecollection)
{
//then you can call a method you know they both have
Debug.WriteLine(value.ToString());
}
Or if they share a common interface you can cast directly to that. You will maintain type safety
var list1 = new List<bool>(){true,false};
var list2 = new List<int>(){1,2};
var typecollection = condition1 ? list1.Cast<IConvertible>() : list2.Cast<IConvertible>();
foreach (IConvertible convertible in typecollection)
{
//we now know they have a common interface so we can call a common method
Debug.WriteLine(convertible.ToString());
}

Given Jon Skeet's hint of using LINQ's Concat method and the OP's statement that the classes involved are EntityObjects, here's another possible solution. This assumes that the EntityObject subclasses are defined as partial classes:
public partial class Type1 : EntityObject
{
public int Type1ID { get; set; }
public int Type1MasterID { get; set; }
public String Notes { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
public partial class Type2 : EntityObject
{
public int Type2ID { get; set; }
public int Type2MasterID { get; set; }
public String Notes { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
This allows the OP to declare an interface with the common properties, and have his EntityObject subclasses implement that interface:
public interface IMyType
{
String Notes { get; set; }
decimal Price { get; set; }
}
public partial class Type1 : IMyType {}
public partial class Type2 : IMyType {}
And the original code becomes:
var query = (
from type1var in type1Collection
where condition1
select (IMyType)type1var
).Concat(
from type2var in type2Collection
where !condition1
select (IMyType)type2var
);
foreach(var myType in query)
{
myType.Notes = "note";
myType.Price = 1;
}

You could create a base type for type1 and type2 that groups the common properties between the two classes:
class MyBaseType {
// Common properties
}
class Type1 : MyBaseType {
// Specific properties
}
class Type2 : MyBaseType {
// Specific properties
}
Then, you could do something like this:
IEnumerable<MyBaseType> collection;
if(condition1)
collection = type1Collection;
else
collection = type2Collection;
foreach(MyBaseType element in collection) {
// Common logic
}
EDIT:
As Simon points out in the comments, you should use an interface instead of a base type if it's enough (i.e you don't need a specific implementation for both types).

This is not a very nice way to do it, but it would atleast work.
var type1Collection = new Collection<Type1>();
var type2Collection = new Collection<Type2>();
var condition1 = new Random().Next(0, 2) != 0;
dynamic selectedCollection;
if (condition1)
selectedCollection = type1Collection;
else
selectedCollection = type2Collection;
foreach (var typeVar in selectedCollection)
{
typeVar.Notes = "note";
typeVar.Price = 1;
}

I'm surprised nobody else has suggested an extension method yet:
public interface IMyType
{
String Notes { get; set; }
decimal Price { get; set; }
}
public static class MyTypeExtensions
{
public static void MyLogic(this IMyType myType)
{
// whatever other logic is needed
myType.Notes = "notes";
myType.Price = 1;
}
}
Now, your original types just need to implement IMyType:
public class Type1 : IMyType
{
public int Type1ID { get; set; }
public int Type1MasterID { get; set; }
public String Notes { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
public class Type2 : IMyType
{
public int Type2ID { get; set; }
public int Type2MasterID { get; set; }
public String Notes { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
Then the original code becomes:
if (condition1)
{
foreach (var type1 in type1Collection)
{
type1.MyLogic();
}
}
else
{
foreach (var type2 in type2Collection)
{
type2.MyLogic();
}
}

You can do it with Predicate and Action stored in a Dictionary. I am suggesting Action here since the code snippet doesn't seems to return anything
public class IterationExample
{
private readonly Dictionary<bool, Action> dictionary;
public IterationExample()
{
dictionary = new Dictionary<bool, Action> { { true, CollectionOneIterator }, { false, CollectionTwoIterator } };
}
public void PublicMethod()
{
dictionary[condition]();
}
private void CollectionOneIterator()
{
foreach (var loopVariable in Type1Collection)
{
//Your code here
}
}
private void CollectionTwoIterator()
{
foreach (var loopVariable in Type2Collection)
{
//Your code here
}
}
}
With this way the readbility and testability of your code improves and also avoids long methods.
Edit:
public class Entity
{
public IList<string> Type1Collection { get; set; }
public IList<string> Type2Collection { get; set; }
}
public class ConsumingClass
{
public void Example()
{
var entity = new Entity();
entity.PublicMethod();
}
}
public static class IterationExample
{
private static readonly Dictionary<bool, Action<Entity>> dictionary;
static IterationExample()
{
dictionary = new Dictionary<bool, Action<Entity>> { { true, CollectionOneIterator }, { false, CollectionTwoIterator } };
}
public static void PublicMethod(this Entity entity)
{
dictionary[condition]();
}
private static void CollectionOneIterator(Entity entity)
{
foreach (var loopVariable in entity.Type1Collection)
{
//Your code here
}
}
private static void CollectionTwoIterator(Entity entity)
{
foreach (var loopVariable in entity.Type2Collection)
{
//Your code here
}
}
}

C# - copying property values from one instance to another, different classes

I have two C# classes that have many of the same properties (by name and type). I want to be able to copy all non-null values from an instance of Defect into an instance of DefectViewModel. I was hoping to do it with reflection, using GetType().GetProperties(). I tried the following:
var defect = new Defect();
var defectViewModel = new DefectViewModel();
PropertyInfo[] defectProperties = defect.GetType().GetProperties();
IEnumerable<string> viewModelPropertyNames =
defectViewModel.GetType().GetProperties().Select(property => property.Name);
IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> propertiesToCopy =
defectProperties.Where(defectProperty =>
viewModelPropertyNames.Contains(defectProperty.Name)
);
foreach (PropertyInfo defectProperty in propertiesToCopy)
{
var defectValue = defectProperty.GetValue(defect, null) as string;
if (null == defectValue)
{
continue;
}
// "System.Reflection.TargetException: Object does not match target type":
defectProperty.SetValue(viewModel, defectValue, null);
}
What would be the best way to do this? Should I maintain separate lists of Defect properties and DefectViewModel properties so that I can do viewModelProperty.SetValue(viewModel, defectValue, null)?
Edit: thanks to both Jordão's and Dave's answers, I chose AutoMapper. DefectViewModel is in a WPF application, so I added the following App constructor:
public App()
{
Mapper.CreateMap<Defect, DefectViewModel>()
.ForMember("PropertyOnlyInViewModel", options => options.Ignore())
.ForMember("AnotherPropertyOnlyInViewModel", options => options.Ignore())
.ForAllMembers(memberConfigExpr =>
memberConfigExpr.Condition(resContext =>
resContext.SourceType.Equals(typeof(string)) &&
!resContext.IsSourceValueNull
)
);
}
Then, instead of all that PropertyInfo business, I just have the following line:
var defect = new Defect();
var defectViewModel = new DefectViewModel();
Mapper.Map<Defect, DefectViewModel>(defect, defectViewModel);

Take a look at AutoMapper.

There are frameworks for this, the one I know of is Automapper:
http://automapper.codeplex.com/
http://www.lostechies.com/blogs/jimmy_bogard/archive/2009/01/22/automapper-the-object-object-mapper.aspx

Replace your erroneous line with this:
PropertyInfo targetProperty = defectViewModel.GetType().GetProperty(defectProperty.Name);
targetProperty.SetValue(viewModel, defectValue, null);
Your posted code is attempting to set a Defect-tied property on a DefectViewModel object.

In terms of organizing the code, if you don't want an external library like AutoMapper, you can use a mixin-like scheme to separate the code out like this:
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {
var d = new Defect() { Category = "bug", Status = "open" };
var m = new DefectViewModel();
m.CopyPropertiesFrom(d);
Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}", m.Category, m.Status);
}
}
// compositions
class Defect : MPropertyGettable {
public string Category { get; set; }
public string Status { get; set; }
// ...
}
class DefectViewModel : MPropertySettable {
public string Category { get; set; }
public string Status { get; set; }
// ...
}
// quasi-mixins
public interface MPropertyEnumerable { }
public static class PropertyEnumerable {
public static IEnumerable<string> GetProperties(this MPropertyEnumerable self) {
return self.GetType().GetProperties().Select(property => property.Name);
}
}
public interface MPropertyGettable : MPropertyEnumerable { }
public static class PropertyGettable {
public static object GetValue(this MPropertyGettable self, string name) {
return self.GetType().GetProperty(name).GetValue(self, null);
}
}
public interface MPropertySettable : MPropertyEnumerable { }
public static class PropertySettable {
public static void SetValue<T>(this MPropertySettable self, string name, T value) {
self.GetType().GetProperty(name).SetValue(self, value, null);
}
public static void CopyPropertiesFrom(this MPropertySettable self, MPropertyGettable other) {
self.GetProperties().Intersect(other.GetProperties()).ToList().ForEach(
property => self.SetValue(property, other.GetValue(property)));
}
}
This way, all the code to achieve the property-copying is separate from the classes that use it. You just need to reference the mixins in their interface list.
Note that this is not as robust or flexible as AutoMapper, because you might want to copy properties with different names or just some sub-set of the properties. Or it might downright fail if the properties don't provide the necessary getters or setters or their types differ. But, it still might be enough for your purposes.

This is cheap and easy. It makes use of System.Web.Script.Serialization and some extention methods for ease of use:
public static class JSONExts
{
public static string ToJSON(this object o)
{
var oSerializer = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
return oSerializer.Serialize(o);
}
public static List<T> FromJSONToListOf<T>(this string jsonString)
{
var oSerializer = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
return oSerializer.Deserialize<List<T>>(jsonString);
}
public static T FromJSONTo<T>(this string jsonString)
{
var oSerializer = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
return oSerializer.Deserialize<T>(jsonString);
}
public static T1 ConvertViaJSON<T1>(this object o)
{
return o.ToJSON().FromJSONTo<T1>();
}
}
Here's some similiar but different classes:
public class Member
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public bool IsCitizen { get; set; }
public DateTime? Birthday { get; set; }
public string PetName { get; set; }
public int PetAge { get; set; }
public bool IsUgly { get; set; }
}
public class MemberV2
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public bool IsCitizen { get; set; }
public DateTime? Birthday { get; set; }
public string ChildName { get; set; }
public int ChildAge { get; set; }
public bool IsCute { get; set; }
}
And here's the methods in action:
var memberClass1Obj = new Member {
Name = "Steve Smith",
Age = 25,
IsCitizen = true,
Birthday = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-30),
PetName = "Rosco",
PetAge = 4,
IsUgly = true,
};
string br = "<br /><br />";
Response.Write(memberClass1Obj.ToJSON() + br); // just to show the JSON
var memberClass2Obj = memberClass1Obj.ConvertViaJSON<MemberV2>();
Response.Write(memberClass2Obj.ToJSON()); // valid fields are filled

For one thing I would not place that code (somewhere) external but in the constructor of the ViewModel:
class DefectViewModel
{
public DefectViewModel(Defect source) { ... }
}
And if this is the only class (or one of a few) I would not automate it further but write out the property assignments. Automating it looks nice but there may be more exceptions and special cases than you expect.

Any chance you could have both classes implement an interface that defines the shared properties?