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Having trouble accessing properties on IronPython class from C#

I have some C# code that instantiates an IronPython class and runs some code from it. The IronPython class in question implements an interface that was defined in C#. It also defines some of its own properties.
I am having trouble accessing the properties that are defined by the class itself, and I was wondering if anyone knew how to do this?
Here is an example IronPython class:
import clr
clr.AddReference('System.Core')
from System import Tuple
class TestClass (ITestInterface):
ExamplePropertyOne = System.Tuple[System.String, System.String]("Hello", "World!")
def ExampleMethod(self, some_parameter):
...code...
I create a ScriptEngine object to use the IronPython class, like so:
Dictionary<string, object> options = new Dictionary<string, object>();
options["Debug"] = true;
var python_script_engine = Python.CreateEngine(options);
var python_script_scope = python_script_engine.CreateScope();
python_script_engine.ExecuteFile("my_python_class.py", python_script_scope);
//The class could have any name, so instead of requesting the class by name,
//I simply iterate through the items in the python file to find the items
//that implements the expected interface, like so:
var python_script_items = python_script_scope.GetItems();
python_script_items = python_script_items.Where(x => x.Value is IronPython.Runtime.Types.PythonType);
foreach (var item in python_script_items)
{
System.Type item_type = (Type)item.Value;
var implemented_interfaces = item_type.GetInterfaces();
if (implemented_interfaces != null && implemented_interfaces.Length > 0)
{
if (implemented_interfaces.ToList().Contains(typeof(ITestInterface)))
{
var class_to_instantiate = item.Value;
var class_instance = class_to_instantiate();
...code here to get properties of class...
}
}
}
Just as an FYI, in the foreach loop "item" is a KeyValuePair (a string is the key and a dynamic object is the value). After iterating over many items, the if-statements succeed when we reach the correct key-value pair at which the key is "TestClass" (I've stepped through the code to make sure the if-statement is succeeding at the proper item).
Unfortunately, although we enter the if-statements with "TestClass" as the item's key, when I instantiate the class I don't seem to be able to view the properties that are declared on TestClass. I can only see the methods that are implemented from ITestInterface.
I have tried the following, not knowing which would get me the correct result:
var list1 = Dynamic.GetMemberNames(class_instance); //Using Dinamitey
var list2 = python_script_engine.Operations.GetMemberNames(class_instance);
var fields = item_type.GetFields();
var properties = item_type.GetProperties();
var attributes = item_type.CustomAttributes;
var attributes2 = item_type.GetCustomAttributes(false);
var members = item_type.GetMembers();
var var_names = python_script_scope.GetVariableNames();
None of the above return the property "ExamplePropertyOne" in their results, which is a member of "TestClass". I can only see the implemented methods. And of course the python_script_scope.GetVariableNames only returns info from the scope outside of the instantiated class.
So, any advice? Why am I only able to see the interface members? How can I access the class's properties?
Thanks for any help!

Reflection and how to handle enums

I want to use something similar as:
object ob;
var props = ob.GetType().GetProperties();
List<Element> list = new List<Element>();
foreach (var prop in props)
{
if (prop.PropertyType == typeof(String))
list.Add(makeStringProperty(prop));
else if (prop.PropertyType == typeof(int))
list.Add(makeIntProperty(prop));
else
{
}
}
which adds something to the given list for every property in a given object. Now I want to add a clause for also adding enum-variables, including getting all its values by Enum.GetValues() f.e..
That would be easy for any one given enum, but I want this to be generic for every possible enum,
so for example if ob would have:
enum Weather {
sunny,
rainy,
cloudy
}
Weather weather = sunny;
enum Places {
beach,
mall,
home
}
Places place = beach;
I would be able to get both variables themselves AND all the values of both Enums.
Of course I can't directly check typeof(Enum) or anything.
Does someone have a clue?

else if(prop.PropertyType.IsEnum)
{
var values = Enum.GetValues(prop.PropertyType);
}

It's something like
typeof(Weather).GetFields()
or
ob.GetType().GetFields()
if you want to use reflection directly on an enum type. The members of an enum are a kind of static fields.
But you can also use
Enum.GetValues(ob.GetType())
In any case, if there's doubt, you should check if it is an enum or not first:
var typeOfOb = ob.GetType();
if (typeOfOb.IsEnum)
{
// use Enum.GetValues(typeOfOb) here
}
Note: System.Type is the class used for both a type determined compile-time, like typeof(Weather), and a type determined run-time, like ob.GetType(). So you can use both as an argument to the GetValues(System.Type) static method.

Efficient way of initializing a generic class' fields and/or properties

I am writing a ConfigParser class, which reads from a config file structured like this:
[Section]
option1 = foo
option2 = 12
option3 = ;
...
The information read is actually stored in a Dictionary<string, string>. What i'd like to achieve is the following:
struct ConfigStruct
{
public string option1;
public int option2;
public char option3 { get; set; }
// Any other _public_ fields or properties
}
ConfigParser Cp = new ConfigParser("path/to/config/file"); // Loads content
ConfigStruct Cs = Cp.CreateInstance<ConfigStruct>("Section");
Console.WriteLine(Cs.option1); // foo
Console.WriteLine(Cs.option2.ToString()); // 12
Console.WriteLine(Cs.option3.ToString()); // ;
The struct (or class, it doesn't matter) ConfigStruct, is application-specific, and the ConfigParser class should know nothing about it. Basically, I want to parse the value from a specific option, and store it into the field/property with the same name. Parsing should be done according to the field/property type.
I've developed a stub method for it:
public T CreateInstance<T>(string Section) where T : new()
{
// Gets options dictionary from loaded data
Dictionary<string, string> Options = this.Data[Section];
T Result = new T();
Type StructType = Result.GetType();
foreach (var Field in StructType.GetFields())
{
if (!Options.ContainsKey(Field.Name))
continue;
Object Value;
if (Field.FieldType == typeof(bool))
Value = Boolean.Parse(Options[Field.Name]);
else if (Field.FieldType == typeof(int))
Value = Int32.Parse(Options[Field.Name]);
else if (Field.FieldType == typeof(double))
Value = Double.Parse(Options[Field.Name]);
else if (Field.FieldType == typeof(string))
Value = Options[Field.Name];
else if (Field.FieldType == typeof(char))
Value = Options[Field.Name][0];
// Add any ifs if needed
else { /* Handle unsupported types */ }
Field.SetValue(Result, Value);
}
foreach (var Property in StructType.GetProperties())
{
// Do the same thing with public properties
}
return Result;
}
Do you think this is the right approach to the problem? Or should I move the responsability of initializing the struct to the application logic instead of the ConfigParser class? I know it's more efficient, but using reflection I write this method only once, and works for every struct.
Should I use reflection to invoke Parse() so that I can avoid all those ifs? Or you'd rather make those conversions type by type, to prevent unexpected behaviour?
Thanks for your time.

Assuming there is a specific reason why you are not using app.config/web.config or other built-in configuration files.
I think this comes down to what the rest of the application is doing, but personally I would do it this way. It allows you to get the return type cleanly and you are not passing an extra stuct down the stack that you don't need to be.
Reflection is a fantastic tool but has some overhead so if the list of types is finite then specifying them manually is more efficient, or alternately only reflecting the unknown types. Also I would change your if blocks to a switch statement, you will gain efficiencies if the IL complier can fully optimise the condition block.

I think there is a simpler solution. You could use a custom section handler to store your settings, custom section handlers are well described here: http://devlicio.us/blogs/derik_whittaker/archive/2006/11/13/app-config-and-custom-configuration-sections.aspx).

Get value of c# dynamic property via string

I'd like to access the value of a dynamic c# property with a string:
dynamic d = new { value1 = "some", value2 = "random", value3 = "value" };
How can I get the value of d.value2 ("random") if I only have "value2" as a string? In javascript, I could do d["value2"] to access the value ("random"), but I'm not sure how to do this with c# and reflection. The closest I've come is this:
d.GetType().GetProperty("value2") ... but I don't know how to get the actual value from that.
As always, thanks for your help!

Once you have your PropertyInfo (from GetProperty), you need to call GetValue and pass in the instance that you want to get the value from. In your case:
d.GetType().GetProperty("value2").GetValue(d, null);

public static object GetProperty(object target, string name)
{
var site = System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallSite<Func<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallSite, object, object>>.Create(Microsoft.CSharp.RuntimeBinder.Binder.GetMember(0, name, target.GetType(), new[]{Microsoft.CSharp.RuntimeBinder.CSharpArgumentInfo.Create(0,null)}));
return site.Target(site, target);
}
Add reference to Microsoft.CSharp. Works also for dynamic types and private properties and fields.
Edit: While this approach works, there is almost 20× faster method from the Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll assembly:
public static object GetProperty(object target, string name)
{
return Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Versioned.CallByName(target, name, CallType.Get);
}

Dynamitey is an open source .net std library, that let's you call it like the dynamic keyword, but using the a string for the property name rather than the compiler doing it for you, and it ends up being equal to reflection speedwise (which is not nearly as fast as using the dynamic keyword, but this is due to the extra overhead of caching dynamically, where the compiler caches statically).
Dynamic.InvokeGet(d,"value2");

The easiest method for obtaining both a setter and a getter for a property which works for any type including dynamic and ExpandoObject is to use FastMember which also happens to be the fastest method around (it uses Emit).
You can either get a TypeAccessor based on a given type or an ObjectAccessor based of an instance of a given type.
Example:
var staticData = new Test { Id = 1, Name = "France" };
var objAccessor = ObjectAccessor.Create(staticData);
objAccessor["Id"].Should().Be(1);
objAccessor["Name"].Should().Be("France");
var anonymous = new { Id = 2, Name = "Hilton" };
objAccessor = ObjectAccessor.Create(anonymous);
objAccessor["Id"].Should().Be(2);
objAccessor["Name"].Should().Be("Hilton");
dynamic expando = new ExpandoObject();
expando.Id = 3;
expando.Name = "Monica";
objAccessor = ObjectAccessor.Create(expando);
objAccessor["Id"].Should().Be(3);
objAccessor["Name"].Should().Be("Monica");
var typeAccessor = TypeAccessor.Create(staticData.GetType());
typeAccessor[staticData, "Id"].Should().Be(1);
typeAccessor[staticData, "Name"].Should().Be("France");
typeAccessor = TypeAccessor.Create(anonymous.GetType());
typeAccessor[anonymous, "Id"].Should().Be(2);
typeAccessor[anonymous, "Name"].Should().Be("Hilton");
typeAccessor = TypeAccessor.Create(expando.GetType());
((int)typeAccessor[expando, "Id"]).Should().Be(3);
((string)typeAccessor[expando, "Name"]).Should().Be("Monica");

Much of the time when you ask for a dynamic object, you get an ExpandoObject (not in the question's anonymous-but-statically-typed example above, but you mention JavaScript and my chosen JSON parser JsonFx, for one, generates ExpandoObjects).
If your dynamic is in fact an ExpandoObject, you can avoid reflection by casting it to IDictionary, as described at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/system.dynamic.expandoobject.aspx.
Once you've cast to IDictionary, you have access to useful methods like .Item and .ContainsKey

The GetProperty/GetValue does not work for Json data, it always generate a null exception, however, you may try this approach:
Serialize your object using JsonConvert:
var z = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Convert.ToString(request));
Then access it directly casting it back to string:
var pn = (string)z["DynamicFieldName"];
It may work straight applying the Convert.ToString(request)["DynamicFieldName"], however I haven't tested.

d.GetType().GetProperty("value2")
returns a PropertyInfo object.
So then do
propertyInfo.GetValue(d)

To get properties from dynamic doc
when .GetType() returns null, try this:
var keyValuePairs = ((System.Collections.Generic.IDictionary<string, object>)doc);
var val = keyValuePairs["propertyName"].ToObject<YourModel>;

This is the way i ve got the value of a property value of a dinamic:
public dynamic Post(dynamic value)
{
try
{
if (value != null)
{
var valorCampos = "";
foreach (Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JProperty item in value)
{
if (item.Name == "valorCampo")//property name
valorCampos = item.Value.ToString();
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
}

Some of the solutions were not working with a valuekind object that I obtained from a json string, maybe because I did not have a concrete type in my code that was similar to the object that I would obtain from the json string, so how I went about it was
JsonElement myObject = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonElement>(jsonStringRepresentationOfMyObject);
/*In this case I know that there is a property with
the name Code, otherwise use TryGetProperty. This will
still return a JsonElement*/
JsonElement propertyCode = myObject.GetProperty("Code");
/*Now with the JsonElement that represents the property,
you can use several methods to retrieve the actual value,
in this case I know that the value in the property is a string,
so I use the GetString method on the object. If I knew the value
was a double, then I would use the GetDouble() method on the object*/
string code = propertyCode.GetString();
That worked for me

In .Net core 3.1 you can try like this
d?.value2 , d?.value3

Similar to the accepted answer, you can also try GetField instead of GetProperty.
d.GetType().GetField("value2").GetValue(d);
Depending on how the actual Type was implemented, this may work when GetProperty() doesn't and can even be faster.

In case you have a dynamic variable such as a DapperRow for example you can first build up an ExpandoObject, then cast the Expando into an IDictionary<string, object>. From then on, getting a value via the name of a property is possible.
Helper method ToExpandoObject:
public static ExpandoObject ToExpandoObject(object value)
{
IDictionary<string, object> dapperRowProperties = value as IDictionary<string, object>;
IDictionary<string, object> expando = new ExpandoObject();
if (dapperRowProperties == null)
{
return expando as ExpandoObject;
}
foreach (KeyValuePair<string, object> property in dapperRowProperties)
{
if (!expando.ContainsKey(property.Key))
{
expando.Add(property.Key, property.Value);
}
else
{
//prefix the colliding key with a random guid suffixed
expando.Add(property.Key + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"), property.Value);
}
}
return expando as ExpandoObject;
}
Sample usage, I have marked in bold the casting which gives us access in the example, I have marked the important bits with the ** letters:
using (var transactionScope = new TransactionScope(TransactionScopeAsyncFlowOption.Enabled))
{
foreach (var dynamicParametersForItem in dynamicParametersForItems)
{
var idsAfterInsertion = (await connection.QueryAsync<object>(sql, dynamicParametersForItem)).ToList();
if (idsAfterInsertion != null && idsAfterInsertion.Any())
{
**var idAfterInsertionDict = (IDictionary<string, object>) ToExpandoObject(idsAfterInsertion.First());**
string firstColumnKey = columnKeys.Select(c => c.Key).First();
**object idAfterInsertionValue = idAfterInsertionDict[firstColumnKey];**
addedIds.Add(idAfterInsertionValue); //we do not support compound keys, only items with one key column. Perhaps later versions will return multiple ids per inserted row for compound keys, this must be tested.
}
}
}
In my example, I look up a property value inside a dynamic object DapperRow and first convert the Dapper row into an ExpandoObject and cast it into a dictionary property bag as shown and mentioned in other answers here.
My sample code is the InsertMany method for Dapper extension I am working on, I wanted to grab hold of the multiple ids here after the batch insert.

Use dynamic with Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject:
// Get JSON string of object
var obj = new { value1 = "some", value2 = "random", value3 = "value" };
var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
// Use dynamic with JsonConvert.DeserializeObject
dynamic d = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(jsonString);
// output = "some"
Console.WriteLine(d["value1"]);
Sample:
https://dotnetfiddle.net/XGBLU1

Cache Reflection Results (Class Properties)

considering that fairly static data should not be re-evaluated but cached instead, I wondered if it is possible to use Reflection to obtain class properties once, and then cache them so that I could dynamically evaluate object properties and read/assign values, but not have the Reflection overhead every time I do that. Is this possible (Sample code?) ?
To clarify a bit, lets say I have this class:
public class Cloud
{
Boolean IsWhite;
}
and I'm trying to now make a method that allows me to do something like this (pseudocode):
Update(myCloudInstance, new {IsWhite, true});
Update should now check with the cache first if it knows already the properties of Cloud (typeof(myCloudInstance)), and then use cached information to assign the property "IsWhite" the value "true" instead of doing Reflection again.
Any ideas on how to do this?

It's not clear exactly what you're doing, but caching can certainly make a difference with reflection.
In particular, if you're invoking methods (or property getters/setters) and can do so in a type-safe way as far as the calling code is concerned, it can make a huge difference if you convert the MethodInfo into a strongly-typed delegate once and then reuse that.
If you could give us a complete example of what you're trying to do, that would help us to come up with more specific ideas or even code. If you're just going to cache a PropertyInfo that may not have as much (or any) effect - it's possible that the normal Type.GetProperty (etc) methods are already pretty fast. As ever with performance questions, the key is to measure what you're actually doing. Make a change and measure again, etc.

The cost of reflection does not need to be as big as you think. In addition to delegates (that Jon discusses) you can also use things like HyperDescriptor to minimise the cost of reflection without changing the code much - it simply becomes PropertyDescriptor instead:
PropertyDescriptorCollection props = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(myCloudInstance);
// ideally cache props, but not essential
then
object val = props["IsWhite"].GetValue(myCloudInstance);
or if you use it lots, consider storing the PropertyDescriptor somewhere, too.
However... like Jon, I'm really not 100% sure what you're trying to do!

I created a hashtable to cache the reflection results. First time, it's neccessary to make a call to GetProperties and store the results into the hastable. Next times, first check the hashtable for the List of PropertyInfo objects. If exists, use it. If not, invoke GetProperties.
I use this to map a datareader to a List of Entities.
My implementation is based on: A Defense on Reflection in .Net, by Nick Harrison (http://www.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/a-defense-of-reflection-in-.net/).
So, there it is:
public class MapeadorDataReaderListaObjetos
{
private Hashtable properties;
private Hashtable Properties
{
get
{
if (properties == null)
properties = new Hashtable();
return properties;
}
set { properties = value; }
}
private void LoadProperties(object targetObject, Type targetType)
{
var flags = BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly| BindingFlags.Instance| BindingFlags.Public;
if (properties == null)
{
List<PropertyInfo> propertyList = new List<PropertyInfo>();
PropertyInfo[] objectProperties = targetType.GetProperties(flags);
foreach (PropertyInfo currentProperty in objectProperties)
{
propertyList.Add(currentProperty);
}
properties = new Hashtable();
properties[targetType.FullName] = propertyList;
}
if (properties[targetType.FullName] == null)
{
List<PropertyInfo> propertyList = new List<PropertyInfo>();
PropertyInfo[] objectProperties = targetType.GetProperties(flags);
foreach (PropertyInfo currentProperty in objectProperties)
{
propertyList.Add(currentProperty);
}
properties[targetType.FullName] = propertyList;
}
}
public void MapearDataReaderListaObjetos <T> (IDataReader dr, List<T> lista) where T: new()
{
Type businessEntityType = typeof(T);
List<T> entitys = new List<T>();
T miObjeto = new T();
LoadProperties(miObjeto, businessEntityType);
List<PropertyInfo> sourcePoperties = Properties[businessEntityType.FullName] as List<PropertyInfo>;
while (dr.Read())
{
T newObject = new T();
for (int index = 0; index < dr.FieldCount; index++)
{
for (int _indice = 0; _indice < sourcePoperties.Count; _indice++)
{
if (sourcePoperties[_indice].Name.ToUpper() == dr.GetName(index).ToUpper());
{
string _tipoProp = sourcePoperties[_indice].PropertyType.ToString();
PropertyInfo info = sourcePoperties[_indice] as PropertyInfo;
if ((info != null) && info.CanWrite)
{
info.SetValue(newObject, dr.GetValue(index), null);
}
}
}
}
entitys.Add(newObject);
}
dr.Close();
lista = entitys;
}
}
Then, I call it from my DataAcces Layer, like this:
public List <Entities.ENFactura> ListaxIdFactura (SqlTransaction Tr, Entities.ENFactura oBEFactura)
{
SqlConnection Cn = new SqlConnection();
Cn = _Connection.ConexionSEG();
List<Entities.ENFactura> loBEFactura = new List<Entities.ENFactura>();
using (Cn)
{
Cn.Open();
SqlDataReader drd = (odaSQL.fSelDrd(Cn, Tr, "Pa_CC_Factura_Listar_x_IdProveedor", oBEFactura));
if (drd != null)
{
if (drd.HasRows)
{
mapeador.MapearDataReaderListaObjetos <ENFactura>(drd, loBEFactura);
}
}
}
return (loBEFactura);
}
So, this way, the DAL gets a datareader, map it to a list of business entities, and return it to the Business Logic Layer.
This class (MapeadorDataReaderListaObjetos) has some issues still, particularly at:
info.SetValue(newObject, _valor, null);
newObject and _valor must be the same type or you'll get an exception (conversion from System.Int64 to System.Int32, in case your entity property is Int32 and its corresponding field at the database table is bigint, for example).
Also, if an entity property is another entity, this will not work, because datareaders do not return entity objects.
Obviously, this can be improved.
Regarding reflection and delegates, i found this article: Reflection - Slow or Fast? Demonstration with Solutions, by Abhishek Sur, at
http://www.abhisheksur.com/2010/11/reflection-slow-or-faster-demonstration.html
Another good article is: Dodge Common Performance Pitfalls to Craft Speedy Applications, by Joel Pobar, at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163759.aspx.
Hope this helps.

I think the best way to do it is to get the getter or setter method, convert it to a delegate, and work with the delegate, there is no faster way:
PropertyInfo propertyInfoProperty1 = type.GetType().GetProperty("Property1");
Func<TYPE, string> get_Property1 = (Func<TYPE, string>)Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(Func<TYPE, string>), propertyInfoProperty1.GetGetMethod());
Then call the getter method:
string value = get_Property1(type);
You can cache the delegates.

Dynamic assembly should help with the concern about reflection performance. Somebody has implemented property assessors using dynamic assembly here.