Pass Class Property as Generic Type - c#

I am attempting to implement a base class for FluentValidation that will quickly build a validator for classes. My base class functions attempt to take a class's property as a Generic type argument in order to apply rules. But as you'll see in the code its not quite syntactically (among other things) correct.
It probably much easier to explain in code:
public class BaseValidator<T> : AbstractValidator<T>
{
public void ruleForText<U>(string msg)
{
RuleFor(obj => obj.U).NotEmpty().WithMessage(msg);
RuleFor(obj => obj.U).Length(1, 100).WithMessage(msg);
RuleFor(obj => obj.U).Matches("[A-Z]*").WithMessage(msg);
}
public void ruleForEmail<U>(string msg)
{
RuleFor(obj => obj.U).NotEmpty().WithMessage(msg);
RuleFor(obj => obj.U).EmailAddress().WithMessage(msg);
}
}
public class Member {
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
}
public class Post{
public string Title { get; set; }
}
public class MemberValidator :BaseValidator<Member>
{
public MemberValidator()
{
// Not valid syntax to pass name or even Member.Name
// How can I pass Member.Name as the generic type?
ruleForText<Name>();
ruleForEmail<Email>();
}
}
public class PostValidator :BaseValidator<Post>
{
public MemberValidator()
{
ruleForText<Title>();
}
}

This might be what you are looking for. You need to pass in an expression with the function parameter being a string.
public class BaseValidator<T> : AbstractValidator<T>
{
public void RuleForText(Expression<Func<T, string>> expression, string msg)
{
RuleFor(expression).NotEmpty().WithMessage(msg);
RuleFor(expression).Length(1, 100).WithMessage(msg);
RuleFor(expression).Matches("[A-Z]*").WithMessage(msg);
}
public void RuleForEmail(Expression<Func<T, string>> expression, string msg)
{
RuleFor(expression).NotEmpty().WithMessage(msg);
RuleFor(expression).EmailAddress().WithMessage(msg);
}
}
public class MemberValidator : BaseValidator<Member>
{
public MemberValidator()
{
RuleForText(member => member.Name, "My Message");
RuleForEmail(member => member.Email, "My Message");
}
}
public class Member
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
}

Related

Using reflection to cast unknown object to generic class

I have a method which takes an object as a parameter. Within that method I walk through that objects properties with reflection. Some properties are of a generic class type. I like to read a property of that generic class property, but I cannot cast it to a generic class.
public abstract class BaseClass
{
public int Id { get; set; }
}
public abstract class GenericClass<T>: BaseClass
{
public string Description { get; set; }
}
public class DerivedClassA: GenericClass<DerivedClassA>
{
public string A { get; set; }
}
public class DerivedClassB: GenericClass<DerivedClassB>
{
public string B { get; set; }
}
public class ReflectingClass: BaseClass
{
public string Code { get; set; }
public DerivedClassA DerA { get; set; }
public DerivedClassB DerB { get; set; }
}
public static void Reflecting(object obj)
{
var t = GetType(obj)
foreach (var pi in t.GetProperties())
{
if (obj.GetType().BaseType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(GenericClass<>)
{
var genClassObjProperty = ((GenericClass<T>)obj).Description; // Error, cannot do this at all !!!
}
}
}
What I want is for the code to walk to the properties and whatever the derived class actually is get the Description property of the GenericClass it is derived from.
I am using a generic class, because elsewhere in the code I call methods by their derived class and get the proper class type without resorting to all kinds of cast and passing types. I.e:
DerivedClassA.DoSomething()
instead of
BaseClass.DoSomething<DerivedClassA>()
or
BaseClass.DoSomething(type derivedClassType)
Take a look at this:
public static void Reflecting(object obj)
{
foreach (var pi in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
if (pi.PropertyType.BaseType.IsGenericType
&& pi.PropertyType.BaseType.GetGenericTypeDefinition()
== typeof(GenericClass<>))
{
var propValue = pi.GetValue(obj);
if (propValue != null)
{
var description = propValue.GetType()
.GetProperty("Description").GetValue(propValue);
Console.WriteLine(description);
}
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
I think this is what you need.

Get existing instance of List<T>

I've inherited a bloated project that uses a huge class as an in-memory database:
public class Database
{
public class Parameter1
{
public string Code { get; set; }
public string Label { get; set; }
public List<Parameter1Value> paramValues;
}
public class Parameter2
{
public string Code { get; set; }
public string Label { get; set; }
public List<Parameter2Value> paramValues;
}
public class Parameter1Value
{
public string Value { get; set;}
public Parameter parameter { get; set;}
}
public class Parameter2Value
{
public int Value { get; set;}
public Parameter2 parameter { get; set;}
}
public List<Parameter1> parameter1List { get; set; }
public List<Parameter2> parameter2List { get; set; }
}
I am creating a generic method that creates instances of Parameter1 or Parameter2 (see below) and should add those to their respective lists, but I don't know how to use those types to get the parameter1List or parameter2List instances from my Database class. The Database class holds only one List<T> property for each defined type. Is this possible?
This is the generic method used to create instances:
public static Database Add<T>(this Database database, string code, string label) where T : new()
{
T itemToCreate = (T)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(T));
itemToCreate.Code = code;
itemToCreate.Label = label;
var listForItem = database.GetList<T>; // This is the missing functionality
listForItem.Add(itemToCreate);
return database;
}
Here is a solution using interfaces and generic constraints.
Create an interface to represent a generic parameter class and add members to the interface as required:
public interface IParameter { ... }
And an interface to represent a list of parameters:
public interface IParameterList<TParameter> where TParameter : IParameter
{
List<TParameter> ParameterList { get; set; }
}
Have the Database and Parameter classes implement these new interfaces:
public class Parameter1 : IParameter
public class Parameter2 : IParameter
public class Database : IParameterList<Parameter1>, IParameterList<Parameter2>
{
List<Parameter1> IParameterList<Parameter1>.ParameterList { get => parameter1List; set => parameter1List = value; }
List<Parameter2> IParameterList<Parameter2>.ParameterList { get => parameter2List; set => parameter2List = value; }
...
}
Add a where TParameter : IParameter constraint to your generic Parameter factory function, and have the factory function require an argument of type IParameterList<TParameter> which is an instance of the Database class. This satisfies the compiler that the Database class owns a list of TParameter. Now we just do db.ParameterList.Add(r) to add our new parameter to the correct list.
public static TParameter CreateParameter<TParameter>(IParameterList<TParameter> db) where TParameter : IParameter, new()
{
var r = new TParameter(); // This is the generic function you mentioned. Do stuff here to create your Parameter class.
db.ParameterList.Add(r); // Add the newly created parameter to the correct list
return r;
}
Code dump (full working version after I picked up your edit which added the generic factory function):
public class Parameter1 : IParameter
{
public string Code { get; set; }
public string Label { get; set; }
public List<Parameter1Value> paramValues;
}
public class Parameter2 : IParameter
{
public string Code { get; set; }
public string Label { get; set; }
public List<Parameter2Value> paramValues;
}
public class Parameter1Value
{
public string Value { get; set; }
public Parameter parameter { get; set; }
}
public class Parameter2Value
{
public int Value { get; set; }
public Parameter2 parameter { get; set; }
}
public class Database : IParameterList<Parameter1>, IParameterList<Parameter2>
{
// Note: Setters for the List properties probably not needed here or in IParameterList as with the following code we instantiate them at class construction time and, in this MCVE at least, there are no further assignments
public List<Parameter1> parameter1List { get; set; } = new List<Parameter1>();
public List<Parameter2> parameter2List { get; set; } = new List<Parameter2>();
List<Parameter1> IParameterList<Parameter1>.ParameterList { get => parameter1List; set => parameter1List = value; }
List<Parameter2> IParameterList<Parameter2>.ParameterList { get => parameter2List; set => parameter2List = value; }
public static TParameter Add<TParameter>(IParameterList<TParameter> db, string code, string label) where TParameter : IParameter, new()
{
var itemToCreate = new TParameter();
itemToCreate.Code = code;
itemToCreate.Label = label;
db.ParameterList.Add(itemToCreate); // Add the newly created parameter to the correct list
return itemToCreate;
}
}
public interface IParameter
{
string Code { get; set; }
string Label { get; set; }
}
public interface IParameterList<TParameter> where TParameter : IParameter
{
List<TParameter> ParameterList { get; set; }
}
// Testing:
void Main()
{
var db = new Database();
Database.Add<Parameter1>(db, "hello", "hello2");
Database.Add<Parameter1>(db, "hello", "hello2");
Database.Add<Parameter2>(db, "hello", "hello2");
Console.WriteLine($"P1 count (should be 2): {db.parameter1List.Count()}; P2 count (should be 1): {db.parameter2List.Count}");
}
Output:
P1 count (should be 2): 2; P2 count (should be 1): 1
Here is a solution which acquires the target list using generics and reflection:
public static List<T> GetList<T>(this Database dataBase) where T : new()
{
return dataBase.GetType()
.GetProperties()
.Where(x => x.PropertyType == typeof(List<T>))
.Select(x => (List<T>)x.GetValue(dataBase))
.FirstOrDefault();
}
Credit: Michael Randall in the comments

Generic Abstract Class

I have the following code which is fine...
namespace GenericAbstract
{
public interface INotifModel
{
string Data { get; set; }
}
public interface INotif<T> where T: INotifModel
{
T Model { get; set; }
}
public interface INotifProcessor<in T> where T : INotif<INotifModel>
{
void Yell(T notif);
}
public class HelloWorldModel : INotifModel
{
public string Data { get; set; }
public HelloWorldModel()
{
Data = "Hello world!";
}
}
public class HelloWorldNotif : INotif<HelloWorldModel>
{
public HelloWorldModel Model { get; set; }
public HelloWorldNotif()
{
Model = new HelloWorldModel();
}
}
public class HelloWorldProcessor<T> : INotifProcessor<T> where T : INotif<INotifModel>
{
public void Yell(T notif)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
}
As you can see there are 3 interfaces and each of those is implemented.
However, I would like the processor to be implemented like this:
public class HelloWorldProcessor : INotifProcessor<HelloWorldNotif<HelloWorldModel>>
{
public void Yell(HelloWorldNotif<HelloWorldModel> notif)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
But i get the following error:
The non-generic type 'HelloWorldNotif' cannot be used with type arguments
I want the HelloWorldProcessor to implement INotifProcessor only for HelloWorldNotif...
Can't figure out what I am doing wrong..
For this to work you first have to make INotif<T> co-variant. That means that the Model property has to be read only for the interface (it can still have a public set in an implementation). Then to fix your immediate error you don't put the <HelloWorldModel> after HelloWorldNotif because it's already a INotif<HelloWorldModel>
public interface INotifModel
{
string Data { get; set; }
}
public interface INotif<out T> where T : INotifModel
{
T Model { get; }
}
public interface INotifProcessor<in T> where T : INotif<INotifModel>
{
void Yell(T notif);
}
public class HelloWorldModel : INotifModel
{
public string Data { get; set; }
public HelloWorldModel()
{
Data = "Hello world!";
}
}
public class HelloWorldNotif : INotif<HelloWorldModel>
{
public HelloWorldModel Model { get; set; }
public HelloWorldNotif()
{
Model = new HelloWorldModel();
}
}
public class HelloWorldProcessor<T> : INotifProcessor<T> where T : INotif<INotifModel>
{
public void Yell(T notif)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
public class HelloWorldProcessor : INotifProcessor<HelloWorldNotif>
{
public void Yell(HelloWorldNotif notif)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
Then I guess your implementation would be something like
Console.WriteLine(notif.Model.Data);
As others have said and/or implied out you've already got HelloWorldNotif fully specified. So to translate this:
I want the HelloWorldProcessor to implement INotifProcessor only for
HelloWorldNotif
To C#, I think you mean:
public class HelloWorldProcessor : INotifProcessor<HelloWorldNotif>
{
public void Yell(HelloWorldNotif notif)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}

How to create fluent methods with 2 Generic Types?

I have the following classes (omitted properties for sake of simplicity):
public class Person {
public Address Address { get; set; }
public Hobby Hobby { get; set; }
}
public class Address {
public Country Country { get; set; }
}
public class Country { }
public class Hobby { }
And I created an IncludeMapper to be used, if possible, as follows:
IncludeMapper<Person> m = IncludeMapper
.For<Person>()
.Add(person => person.Address).And(address => address.Country)
.Add(person => person.Hobby);
Add will take the base type, e.g, Person.
And will take the type used in the previous Add or And.
public class IncludeMapper {
public static IncludeMapper<T> For<T>() {
return new IncludeMapper<T>();
}
}
public class IncludeMapper<T> {
public IncludeMapper<T> Add<K>(String expression, Expression<Func<T, K>> property) {
return this;
}
public IncludeMapper<K> And<K>(String expression, Expression<Func<T, K>> property) {
return this;
}
}
This won't work ... I think I need to return on the methods and I might need an extra class because the For is only for T?
Could someone help me out with this?

Self-Referential Property array

I want to be able to loop through a Class Property that references its own properties. Why you may ask? Because it's easier to manage later on if I want to add more properties to that Class.
Let me explain more:
public interface IElementBox
{
string Filename { get; }
string FileDefinition { get; set; }
void ExtractFromFile(string stringData);
}
public abstract class Element
{
public Element(string stringData)
{
this.DefFromFile(stringData);
}
public string Name { get; set; }
protected abstract void DefFromFile(string stringData);
}
public class Solid : Element
{
public Solid(string stringData) : base(stringData) { }
public string SolidSpecificProperty { get; set; }
protected override void DefFromFile(string stringData)
{
// Assign SolidSpecificProperty from string
}
}
public class Liquid : Element
{
public Liquid(string stringData) : base(stringData) { }
public string LiquidSpecificProperty { get; set; }
protected override void DefFromFile(string stringData)
{
// Assign LiquidSpecificProperty from string
}
}
public class Gas : Element
{
public Gas(string stringData) : base(stringData) { }
public string GasSpecificProperty { get; set; }
protected override void DefFromFile(string stringData)
{
// Assign GasSpecificProperty from string
}
}
public abstract class ElementBox<T> : IElementBox where T : Element
{
public List<T> Elements { get; set; }
public List<T> GetElementsFromName(string name)
{
return this.Elements.FindAll(x => x.Name == name);
}
public abstract string Filename { get; }
public string FileDefinition { get; set; }
public abstract void ExtractFromFile(string filename);
}
public class SolidBox : ElementBox<Solid>
{
public override string Filename
{
get { return "Solid.txt"; }
}
public override void ExtractFromFile(string stringData)
{
this.Elements.Add(new Solid(stringData));
}
}
public class LiquidBox : ElementBox<Liquid>
{
public override string Filename
{
get { return "Liquid.txt"; }
}
public override void ExtractFromFile(string stringData)
{
this.Elements.Add(new Liquid(stringData));
}
}
public class GasBox : ElementBox<Gas>
{
public override string Filename
{
get { return "Gas.txt"; }
}
public override void ExtractFromFile(string stringData)
{
this.Elements.Add(new Gas(stringData));
}
}
public static class DataDefinition
{
public static SolidBox SolidBox { get; set; }
public static LiquidBox LiquidBox { get; set; }
public static GasBox GasBox { get; set; }
public static IElementBox[] ElementBoxes = new IElementBox[] { DataDefinition.SolidBox, DataDefinition.LiquidBox, DataDefinition.GasBox };
}
public static class Loader
{
public static void LoadInfo()
{
for (int elementBoxNb = 0; elementBoxNb < DataDefinition.ElementBoxes.Length; elementBoxNb++)
{
string dataFilepath = DataDefinition.ElementBoxes[elementBoxNb].Filename;
System.IO.StreamReader sr = System.IO.File.OpenText(dataFilepath);
DataDefinition.ElementBoxes[elementBoxNb].ExtractFromFile(sr.ReadToEnd());
}
}
}
The whole purpose of this structure is to be able to define all the object properties in a text file. So that all the SolidBox.Elements objects are dynamically assigned from that text file definition.
My questions are as follow:
Will the property array in DataDefinition be referenced by value. Which would mean that all my data assignation would get absorbed in the void?
If yes (or no..), is their a better way of doing the whole thing / What would be the best way to do it?
I've been working on that data structure for a while now I'm getting proud of what I could achieve. I would be sad if all that was done for nothing. Although, if one if you can provide me with a better/optimal way of doing the whole thing, I will be grateful and throw my code in my archive folder.
Also, keep in mind that this is an example of the data structure. It does not reflect exactly what my code looks like and is made so to ease comprehension and reading.
Don't hesitate to ask questions if more information is needed.
Deserialization (reading objects in from a persistent medium) has been solved a zillion different ways. Try using Data Contracts, like this answer demonstrates. You just need to add a few attributes to your properties to indicate what you want serialized and then it does just about all of the work for you.
This won't do what you want. The array will contain references to the objects referenced by the properties at the time it is initialised, which in this case will be null. If you assign something to the SolidBox property the associated element of the array won't change, and vice-versa.

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