C# Assign an object from class B to class A - c#

I have Two Classes.
Class A:
public class A {
prop string p1 { get; set; }
prop string p2 { get; set; }
prop string p3 { get; set; }
}
Class B:
public class B {
prop string p1 { get; set; }
prop string p3 { get; set; }
}
Now assume we have an object from class B and we want to assign it to object from class A.
B b_obj = new B(){
p1 = "something",
p2 = "something else"
}
A a_obj = new A(){
p1 = b_obj.p1,
p3 = b_obj.p3,
}
I think the above solution is not best way.
What is best practice to assign b_obj to another object from class A?
Tip : All property in class B has a similar property in class A

You can always implement an implicit or explicit cast operator:
public class B
{
public static explicit operator A(B b)
{
return new A() {
p1 = b_obj.p1,
p3 = b_obj.p3,
}
}
//...
}
And now, you can simply write any time you need an A from a B:
var a = (A)b;
If you don't have access to either A or B then you could implement an extension method:
public static A ToA(this B b)
{
return ...
}
And the use would be similar:
var a = b.ToA();

You can use automapper
http://automapper.org/
Then you can use it like this:
AutoMapper.Mapper.CreateMap<A, B>();
var a = ...
var model = AutoMapper.Mapper.Map<B>(a);

You can use AutoMapper (see denisv's answer) which provides mappings between classes based on name. You can then customize your mappings if you want to.
You can also write some extension methods:
public static class Extensions
{
public A ToA(this B b)
{
return new A()
{
p1 = b_obj.p1,
p3 = b_obj.p3,
};
}
}

First of all initialize B class and set values. Then create such a class:
public static void CopyPropertyValues(object source, object destination)
{
var destProperties = destination.GetType().GetProperties();
foreach (var sourceProperty in source.GetType().GetProperties())
{
foreach (var destProperty in destProperties)
{
if (destProperty.Name == sourceProperty.Name &&
destProperty.PropertyType.IsAssignableFrom(sourceProperty.PropertyType))
{
destProperty.SetValue(destination, sourceProperty.GetValue(
source, new object[] { }), new object[] { });
break;
}
}
}
}
and pass A and B class to this class as Parameter

Related

Dynamic cast in c# in runtime

I have 2 classes as you can see :
static void Main(string[] args)
{
object m = (??????)"salam";
}
public class A
{
public string name { set; get; }
public static implicit operator A(string _name)
{
A aa = new A();
aa.name = _name;
return aa;
}
}
public class B
{
public string family { set; get; }
public static implicit operator B(string _family)
{
B bb = new B();
bb.family = _family;
return bb;
}
}
I need to cast my string in runtime in this line :
object m = (??????)"salam";
Is there any solution to pass my class name as a string to cast my value .for example in runtime I need to cast "salam" to A or maybe B
The static cast is working good like this
object m = (A)salam";
object m = (B)"salam";
But I need to cast my string in runtime
Type x=null;
If(condition)
x can be type of A
else
x can be type of B
object m = (x)"salam";
You need to use Interfaces for such a need. The following code shows how to do so.
To simulate your situtation, I wrote a method to return either A or B based on time.
Here the list contains a bunch of objects which may be of Type A or B, depending on the second of execution. In the real-world scenario, you would get your types in various other ways.
public class StackOverflowQuestion
{
public static void Run()
{
List<IBase> list = new List<IBase>();
string types = "";
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
var randomType = GiveMeARandomIBaseType();
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(750);
IBase hello = randomType.Convert("salam");
list.Add(hello);
types += hello.GetType().Name + ",";
}
types = types.Trim(',');
//sample result : B,B,A,B,A,A,B,A,B,B
}
static IBase GiveMeARandomIBaseType() {
if (DateTime.Now.Second % 2 == 0)
return new A();
else
return new B();
}
}
public interface IBase {
public IBase Convert(string s);
}
public static class MyExtensions {
public static T Convert<T>(this string str, IBase b) where T : IBase {
try
{
return (T)b.Convert(str);
}
catch (Exception)
{
return default;
}
}
}
public class A : IBase
{
public IBase Convert(string s) {
return (A)s;
}
public string name { set; get; }
public static implicit operator A(string _name)
{
A aa = new A();
aa.name = _name;
return aa;
}
}
public class B : IBase
{
public IBase Convert(string s)
{
return (B)s;
}
public string family { set; get; }
public static implicit operator B(string _family)
{
B bb = new B();
bb.family = _family;
return bb;
}
}
I had a similar problem and after all the study and time, I was able to approach the desired result in the following way.
I used an internal method to access (the inside of) the class and this method returns the cast desired result.
Step 1: in class
public class A
{
public string Name { set; get; }
public static implicit operator A(string name)
{
return new A
{
Name = name
};
}
public A GetCasting(object a)
{
A i = (A)a;
return i;
}
}
public class B
{
public string Family { set; get; }
public static implicit operator B(string family)
{
return new B
{
Family = family
};
}
public B GetCasting(object b)
{
B i = (B)b;
return i;
}
}
Step 2: in controller or code
var className = "A";
var classMethod = "GetCasting";
var classType = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes().Where(t => t.IsClass && t.Name == className).FirstOrDefault();
var classInstance = Activator.CreateInstance(classType);
var castMethod = classType.GetMethod(classMethod);
var yourObject = "salam";
var objectData = new object[] { yourObject };
var resultObject = castMethod.Invoke(classInstance, objectData);

Convert object by reflection

I want to convert an object A to object B. The classes A and B have the same properties, just the names are changed.
I use this method:
/// <summary>
internal static T objectMapper<T>(object objectSource, T objectTarget)
{
dynamic o = objectSource;
Type typeA = objectSource.GetType();
Type typeB = objectTarget.GetType();
IList<PropertyInfo> propsA = new List<PropertyInfo>(typeA.GetProperties());
IList<PropertyInfo> propsB = new List<PropertyInfo>(typeB.GetProperties());
dynamic s;
ArrayList listArray = new ArrayList();
foreach (var prop in propsA)
{
s = objectSource.GetType().GetProperty(prop.Name).GetValue(objectSource, null);
listArray.Add(s);
}
int i = 0;
foreach (var prop in propsB)
{
prop.SetValue(objectTarget, listArray[i], null);
i++;
}
return objectTarget;
}
How can I edit properties of objectB in the foreach loop? I want to use a generic method for different objects.
This solution provides both your reflection-way and an alternative way by defining and implementing a copy method CopyFrom. To reduce code you could make the interface a base-class so you don't need to implement CopyFrom in the sub-classes....
public interface MyInterface
{
int Prop1 { get; set; }
string Prop2 { get; set; }
void CopyFrom(MyInterface obj);
}
public class A: MyInterface
{
public int Prop1 { get; set; }
public string Prop2 { get; set; }
public void CopyFrom(MyInterface obj)
{
this.Prop1 = obj.Prop1;
this.Prop2 = obj.Prop2;
}
}
public class B: MyInterface
{
public int Prop1 { get; set; }
public string Prop2 { get; set; }
public void CopyFrom(MyInterface obj)
{
this.Prop1 = obj.Prop1;
this.Prop2 = obj.Prop2;
}
}
public static class CopyUtils
{
public static void Copy(MyInterface src, MyInterface dst)
{
var props = typeof(MyInterface).GetProperties();
foreach(var prop in props)
{
prop.SetValue(dst, prop.GetValue(src, null), null);
}
}
}
I feel there might be a deeper architecture issue here. I'm failing to imagine why would you want to "copy" the values of the properties from one object of a class to another of a different class with the same property names.
If you're trying to "shape" the object maybe just passing an interface will do the work
Anyhow, see if this helps:
public static class ObjectMorpher
{
public class InvalidMorphException : Exception
{
}
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class IgnoredOnMorphAttribute : Attribute
{
}
public static TargetType Morph<TargetType>(this object source, TargetType dest, Func<string, string> propertyMatcher = null, bool failOnNoMatch = false)
where TargetType : class
{
if (source == null || dest == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
foreach (var sourceProp in source.GetType().GetProperties().Where(x => x.GetCustomAttributes<IgnoredOnMorphAttribute>().Any() == false))
{
var destProp = typeof(TargetType).GetProperties().Where(x => x.Name == ((propertyMatcher == null) ? sourceProp.Name : propertyMatcher(sourceProp.Name))).FirstOrDefault();
//check property exists
if (destProp == null)
{
if (failOnNoMatch)
throw new InvalidMorphException();
else
continue;
}
//check value type is assignable
if (!destProp.GetType().IsAssignableFrom(sourceProp.GetType()))
{
if (failOnNoMatch)
throw new InvalidMorphException();
else
continue;
}
destProp.SetValue(dest, sourceProp.GetValue(source));
}
return dest;
}
}
Usage example:
var A = new ClassA();
var B = new ClassB();
B = A.Morph(B);
Optionally you can set a property match for the case when properties doesn't have the exact same name.
Also notice the use of the IgnoredOnMorph attribute to mark properties as not morph-able (like calculated properties)
You might find automapper of use here (see https://github.com/AutoMapper/AutoMapper/wiki/Getting-started).
You would need to create a line for each object mapping in a startup file to set it up but if the properties are the same this would be as simple as:
mapper.CreateMap<ClassA, ClassB>().ReverseMap();
And then a single line to resolve the mapping when needed
mapper.Map(objectOfClassA, new ClassB());

Design pattern to map derived types to list of new type

I have a list of derived types I want to map to a list of another type. Each derived type maps differently to the new type.
Is there any pattern to do this without casting each types and that keeps the logic of the mapping outside of the type (in a factory).
Here's an example, I'd like to find an alternative to GetFlatSwitch, something like GetFlat :
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
List<Base> list = new List<Base>() { new DerivedA() { A = "A" }, new DerivedB() { B = "B" }};
List<Flat> flatList = list.Select(x => Factory.GetFlat(x)).ToList(); // not working
List<Flat> switchFlatList = list.Select(x => Factory.GetFlatSwitch(x)).ToList(); // works, but casting each element
}
static class Factory
{
public static Flat GetFlat(Base baseObj)
{
return new Flat();
}
public static Flat GetFlat(DerivedA a)
{
return new Flat() { A = a.A };
}
public static Flat GetFlat(DerivedB b)
{
return new Flat() { B = b.B };
}
public static Flat GetFlatSwitch(Base baseObj)
{
switch (baseObj.MyType)
{
case MyTypeEnum.A:
DerivedA a = baseObj as DerivedA;
return new Flat() { A = a.A };
case MyTypeEnum.B:
DerivedB b = baseObj as DerivedB;
return new Flat() { B = b.B };
default:
return new Flat();
}
}
}
enum MyTypeEnum
{
A, B
}
abstract class Base
{
public abstract MyTypeEnum MyType { get; }
}
class DerivedA : Base
{
public override MyTypeEnum MyType
{
get
{
return MyTypeEnum.A;
}
}
public string A { get; set; }
}
class DerivedB : Base
{
public override MyTypeEnum MyType
{
get
{
return MyTypeEnum.B;
}
}
public string B { get; set; }
}
class Flat
{
public string A { get; set; }
public string B { get; set; }
}
}
Rather than a design pattern, it seems like you need something like AutoMapper:
AutoMapper is a simple little library built to solve a deceptively
complex problem - getting rid of code that mapped one object to
another. This type of code is rather dreary and boring to write, so
why not invent a tool to do it for us?
Using that library you configure type-to-type mappings so you can call a method to map a type to other type (for example mapper.Map<A, B>(a, b)).

Copy some properties into new constructor

I have a big class with a lot of properties (BigClass). I need to make a new class (SmallClass) with only some of those properties. This SmallClass must use all the overlapping properties from BigClass. What is the easiest way to do this without having to manually assign all the properties in the constructor of SmallClass like I do below:
class BigClass
{
public int A { get; }
public int B { get; }
public int C { get; }
public int D { get; }
public int E { get; }
public BigClass(int a, int b, int c, int d, int e)
{
A = a;
B = b;
C = c;
D = d;
E = e;
}
}
class SmallClass
{
public int A { get; }
public int B { get; }
public int C { get; }
public SmallClass(BigClass bigClass)
{
// I don't want to do all this manually:
A = bigClass.A;
B = bigClass.B;
C = bigClass.C;
}
}
Create a helper class:
public class Helper
{
public static void CopyItem<T>(BigClass source, T target)
{
// Need a way to rename the backing-field name to the property Name ("<A>k__BackingField" => "A")
Func<string, string> renameBackingField = key => new string(key.Skip(1).Take(key.IndexOf('>') - 1).ToArray());
// Get public source properties (change BindingFlags if you need to copy private memebers as well)
var sourceProperties = source.GetType().GetProperties().ToDictionary(item => item.Name);
// Get "missing" property setter's backing field
var targetFields = typeof(T).GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.SetField).ToDictionary(item => renameBackingField(item.Name));
// Copy properties where target name matches the source property name
foreach(var sourceProperty in sourceProperties)
{
if (targetFields.ContainsKey(sourceProperty.Key) == false)
continue; // No match. skip
var sourceValue = sourceProperty.Value.GetValue(source);
targetFields[sourceProperty.Key].SetValue(target, sourceValue);
}
}
}
Then in your SmallClass constructor:
public SmallClass(BigClass bigClass)
{
Helper.CopyItem(bigClass, this);
}
This should work even if you only have property getters.
You can make CopyItem to work with all types by changing its declaration;
public static void CopyItem<U, T>(U source, T target)

How can I set a default value inside of a class as a property of another class?

I need to set a property inside of a class from another class that defines the first class as a property. I want to default a value inside the child class. An example of this would be:
public enum NamingConvention
{
Name1 = 1,
Name2
}
public class Class1
{
public Class1()
{
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public NamingConvention Naming{ get; set; }
}
public class Class2
{
public Class2()
{
}
public List<Class1> Name1s { get; set; }
}
public class Class3
{
public Class2()
{
}
public List<Class1> Name2s { get; set; }
}
I want to be able to put an attribute or something over the Class1 property inside of Class2 and Class3 so that in Class2, the Naming Property gets set to Name1 and and for Class3, it would be automatically set to Name2.
Hope that makes sense. I tried to make this as simple an example as possible. Any ideas out there? I am trying to avoid abstract classes because my real entities are tied to nHibernate and don't want to change the model at this time.
This can be accomplished with the use of the DefaultValueAttribute, a custom TypeConverter and Reflection. It seems unlikely this will perform better than what you are currently doing, but I'll leave that for you to evaluate.
Apply the TypeConverter attribute to Class 1
[TypeConverter(typeof(Class1Converter))]
public class Class1
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public NamingConvention Naming { get; set; }
}
public enum NamingConvention
{
Name1 = 1,
Name2,
Name3,
Name4
}
Define the Class1Converter. Note this simple converter only sets the value of the NamingConvention parameter.
public class Class1Converter: TypeConverter
{
public override bool CanConvertFrom(ITypeDescriptorContext context,
Type sourceType)
{
if (sourceType == typeof(string))
{
return true;
}
return base.CanConvertFrom(context, sourceType);
}
public override bool CanConvertTo(ITypeDescriptorContext context,
Type destinationType)
{
if(destinationType == typeof(Class1))
{
return true;
}
return base.CanConvertTo(context, destinationType);
}
public override object ConvertFrom(ITypeDescriptorContext context,
System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture,
object value)
{
var stringValue = value as string;
if(stringValue != null)
{
return new Class1
{
Naming = (NamingConvention)Enum.Parse(typeof(NamingConvention), stringValue)
};
}
return base.ConvertFrom(context, culture, value);
}
}
For convenience I am declaring this in an Extension Method, it could easily be set up as part of the classes with defaults...
public static class DefaultExtension
{
public static IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> GetProperties<T>(this Type type)
{
return type.GetProperties().Where(p => p.PropertyType == typeof (T));
}
public static void SetDefaults<T>(this T toDefault)
{
foreach (PropertyInfo p in toDefault.GetType().GetProperties())
{
foreach (var dv in p.GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<DefaultValueAttribute>())
{
p.SetValue(toDefault, dv.Value, null);
}
}
}
}
Finally you declare place DefaultValue attributes on your properties. I am calling SetDefaults() from the constructors here for convenience again, in your case you would still need to call it after the instances are loaded from NHibernate.
public class Class2
{
public int X { get; set; }
[DefaultValue(typeof(Class1), "Name2")]
public Class1 Name2Class { get; set; }
public Class2()
{
this.SetDefaults();
}
}
public class Class3
{
public int Y { get; set; }
[DefaultValue(typeof(Class1), "Name3")]
public Class1 Name3Class { get; set; }
public Class3()
{
this.SetDefaults();
}
}
Unit test demonstrating validity...
[Test]
public void TestDefaultValueAttribute()
{
//Class2 have Name2 as the default value for the Naming property
var c2 = new Class2();
Assert.That(c2,Is.Not.Null);
Assert.That(c2.Name2Class, Is.Not.Null);
Assert.That(c2.Name2Class.Naming, Is.EqualTo(NamingConvention.Name2));
//Class3 have Name3 as the default value for the Naming Property
var c3 = new Class3();
Assert.That(c3, Is.Not.Null);
Assert.That(c3.Name3Class, Is.Not.Null);
Assert.That(c3.Name3Class.Naming, Is.EqualTo(NamingConvention.Name3));
//wipes out other properties of the Class1 attribute.
// to demonstrate, set properties to something other than the default then call
// SetDefaults again.
c3.Name3Class.Naming = NamingConvention.Name1;
c3.Name3Class.Id = 10;
c3.SetDefaults();
Assert.That(c3.Name3Class.Id, Is.EqualTo(0));
Assert.That(c3.Name3Class.Naming, Is.EqualTo(NamingConvention.Name3));
}
You will notice that this wipes out the Id property of Class1 If this is not desired, you could come up with a more targeted version of SetDefaults that only overwrote specific properties of Class1. At this point I don't know if I would really continue using DefaultValue, as use case deviates from the original and using this in combination with the above method would produce unexpected results. I would probably write a custom 'DefaultNaminingConventionAttribute for this purpose.
public static void SetDefaultNamingConvention<T>(this T toDefault)
{
foreach (PropertyInfo p in toDefault.GetType().GetProperties<Class1>())
{
foreach (var dv in p.GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<DefaultValueAttribute>())
{
var pValue = p.GetValue(toDefault, null) as Class1;
if (pValue != null)
{
pValue.Naming = ((Class1)dv.Value).Naming;
}
else
{
p.SetValue(toDefault, dv.Value, null);
}
}
}
}
[Test]
public void SetDefaultNamingConventionDefaultShouldOnlyDefaultNamingProperty()
{
var c3 = new Class3();
c3.Name3Class.Naming = NamingConvention.Name1;
c3.Name3Class.Id = 20;
c3.SetDefaultNamingConvention();
Assert.That(c3.Name3Class.Id, Is.EqualTo(20));
Assert.That(c3.Name3Class.Naming, Is.EqualTo(NamingConvention.Name3));
}
EDIT: Updated to deal with setting defaults for list members
With this new SetListDefaults extension method, we now can apply the default to members of List<Class1>. Here I would almost definitely no longer use DefaultValue, but would define a custom attribute for use with collections. This is beyond the scope of the question though.
public static class DefaultExtension
{
public static IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> GetProperties<T>(this Type type)
{
return type.GetProperties().Where(p => p.PropertyType == typeof (T));
}
public static void SetListDefaults<T>(this T toDefault)
{
foreach (PropertyInfo p in toDefault.GetType().GetProperties<List<Class1>>())
{
foreach (var dv in p.GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<DefaultValueAttribute>())
{
var pValue = p.GetValue(toDefault, null) as List<Class1>;
if (pValue != null)
{
foreach (var class1 in pValue)
{
class1.Naming = ((Class1) dv.Value).Naming;
}
}
}
}
}
}
Now provided a class with a List property...
public class Class4
{
public int Z { get; set; }
[DefaultValue(typeof (Class1), "Name4")]
public List<Class1> Name4Classes { get; set; }
}
And a unit test to verify only the Naming Property of each item in the list is modified.
[Test]
public void SetListDefaultsShouldResetNamingConventionOfEachListMember()
{
var c4 = new Class4
{
Z = 100,
Name4Classes = new List<Class1>
{
new Class1 {Id = 1, Naming = NamingConvention.Name1},
new Class1 {Id = 2, Naming = NamingConvention.Name2},
new Class1 {Id = 3, Naming = NamingConvention.Name3}
}
};
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes, Is.Not.Empty);
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes.Count, Is.EqualTo(3));
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes.Any(c => c.Id == 0), Is.False);
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes.Any(c => c.Naming == NamingConvention.Name4), Is.False);
c4.SetListDefaults();
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes, Is.Not.Empty);
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes.Count, Is.EqualTo(3));
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes.Any(c=> c.Id == 0), Is.False);
Assert.That(c4.Name4Classes.All(c=> c.Naming == NamingConvention.Name4), Is.True);
}
I would use the constructors.
In Class2's constructor:
public Class2()
{
Name1Class = new Class1()
Name1Class.Naming = NamingConvention.Name1
}
In Class3's Constructor:
public Class3()
{
Name2Class = new Class1()
Name2Class.Naming = NamingConvention.Name2
}
If you want to get fancy you could put a parameter on the constructor in Class1 to allow you to set Naming when the object is created.

Categories

Resources