Develop Reference

Is there a way to build a new object feeding it properties step by step in a loop in C#? [duplicate]

Is there a way in C# where I can use reflection to set an object property?
Ex:
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
obj.Name = "Value";
I want to set obj.Name with reflection. Something like:
Reflection.SetProperty(obj, "Name") = "Value";
Is there a way of doing this?

Yes, you can use Type.InvokeMember():
using System.Reflection;
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
obj.GetType().InvokeMember("Name",
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.SetProperty,
Type.DefaultBinder, obj, "Value");
This will throw an exception if obj doesn't have a property called Name, or it can't be set.
Another approach is to get the metadata for the property, and then set it. This will allow you to check for the existence of the property, and verify that it can be set:
using System.Reflection;
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
PropertyInfo prop = obj.GetType().GetProperty("Name", BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
if(null != prop && prop.CanWrite)
{
prop.SetValue(obj, "Value", null);
}

You can also do:
Type type = target.GetType();
PropertyInfo prop = type.GetProperty("propertyName");
prop.SetValue (target, propertyValue, null);
where target is the object that will have its property set.

Reflection, basically, i.e.
myObject.GetType().GetProperty(property).SetValue(myObject, "Bob", null);
or there are libraries to help both in terms of convenience and performance; for example with FastMember:
var wrapped = ObjectAccessor.Create(obj);
wrapped[property] = "Bob";
(which also has the advantage of not needing to know in advance whether it is a field vs a property)

Or you could wrap Marc's one liner inside your own extension class:
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object obj, string propName, object value)
{
obj.GetType().GetProperty(propName).SetValue(obj, value, null);
}
}
and call it like this:
myObject.SetPropertyValue("myProperty", "myValue");
For good measure, let's add a method to get a property value:
public static object GetPropertyValue(this object obj, string propName)
{
return obj.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue (obj, null);
}

Use somethings like this :
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object p_object, string p_propertyName, object value)
{
PropertyInfo property = p_object.GetType().GetProperty(p_propertyName);
property.SetValue(p_object, Convert.ChangeType(value, property.PropertyType), null);
}
}
or
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object p_object, string p_propertyName, object value)
{
PropertyInfo property = p_object.GetType().GetProperty(p_propertyName);
Type t = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(property.PropertyType) ?? property.PropertyType;
object safeValue = (value == null) ? null : Convert.ChangeType(value, t);
property.SetValue(p_object, safeValue, null);
}
}

Yes, using System.Reflection:
using System.Reflection;
...
string prop = "name";
PropertyInfo pi = myObject.GetType().GetProperty(prop);
pi.SetValue(myObject, "Bob", null);

You can also access fields using a simillar manner:
var obj=new MyObject();
FieldInfo fi = obj.GetType().
GetField("Name", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
fi.SetValue(obj,value)
With reflection everything can be an open book:) In my example we are binding to a private instance level field.

You can try this out when you want to mass-assign properties of an Object from another Object using Property names:
public static void Assign(this object destination, object source)
{
if (destination is IEnumerable && source is IEnumerable)
{
var dest_enumerator = (destination as IEnumerable).GetEnumerator();
var src_enumerator = (source as IEnumerable).GetEnumerator();
while (dest_enumerator.MoveNext() && src_enumerator.MoveNext())
dest_enumerator.Current.Assign(src_enumerator.Current);
}
else
{
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;
}
}
}
}

I have just published a Nuget package that allows setting up not only the first level Properties but also nested properties in the given object in any depth.
Here is the package
Sets the value of a property of an object by its path from the root.
The object can be a complex object and the property can be multi level deep nested property or it can be a property directly under the root. ObjectWriter will find the property using the property path parameter and update its value. Property path is the appended names of the properties visited from root to the end node property which we want to set, delimited by the delimiter string parameter.
Usage:
For setting up the properties directly under the object root:
Ie. LineItem class has an int property called ItemId
LineItem lineItem = new LineItem();
ObjectWriter.Set(lineItem, "ItemId", 13, delimiter: null);
For setting up nested property multiple levels below the object root:
Ie. Invite class has a property called State, which has a property called Invite (of Invite type), which has a property called Recipient, which has a property called Id.
To make things even more complex, the State property is not a reference type, it is a struct.
Here is how you can set the Id property (to string value of “outlook”) at the bottom of the object tree in a single line.
Invite invite = new Invite();
ObjectWriter.Set(invite, "State_Invite_Recipient_Id", "outlook", delimiter: "_");

Based on MarcGravell's suggestion, I have constructed the following static method.The method generically assigns all matching properties from source object to target using FastMember
public static void DynamicPropertySet(object source, object target)
{
//SOURCE
var src_accessor = TypeAccessor.Create(source.GetType());
if (src_accessor == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var src_members = src_accessor.GetMembers();
if (src_members == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not fetch members!");
}
var src_class_members = src_members.Where(x => x.Type.IsClass && !x.Type.IsPrimitive);
var src_class_propNames = src_class_members.Select(x => x.Name);
var src_propNames = src_members.Except(src_class_members).Select(x => x.Name);
//TARGET
var trg_accessor = TypeAccessor.Create(target.GetType());
if (trg_accessor == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var trg_members = trg_accessor.GetMembers();
if (trg_members == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var trg_class_members = trg_members.Where(x => x.Type.IsClass && !x.Type.IsPrimitive);
var trg_class_propNames = trg_class_members.Select(x => x.Name);
var trg_propNames = trg_members.Except(trg_class_members).Select(x => x.Name);
var class_propNames = trg_class_propNames.Intersect(src_class_propNames);
var propNames = trg_propNames.Intersect(src_propNames);
foreach (var propName in propNames)
{
trg_accessor[target, propName] = src_accessor[source, propName];
}
foreach (var member in class_propNames)
{
var src = src_accessor[source, member];
var trg = trg_accessor[target, member];
if (src != null && trg != null)
{
DynamicPropertySet(src, trg);
}
}
}

How to access property of object with a variable name [duplicate]

I am trying implement the Data transformation using Reflection1 example in my code.
The GetSourceValue function has a switch comparing various types, but I want to remove these types and properties and have GetSourceValue get the value of the property using only a single string as the parameter. I want to pass a class and property in the string and resolve the value of the property.
Is this possible?
1 Web Archive version of original blog post

public static object GetPropValue(object src, string propName)
{
return src.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue(src, null);
}
Of course, you will want to add validation and whatnot, but that is the gist of it.

How about something like this:
public static Object GetPropValue(this Object obj, String name) {
foreach (String part in name.Split('.')) {
if (obj == null) { return null; }
Type type = obj.GetType();
PropertyInfo info = type.GetProperty(part);
if (info == null) { return null; }
obj = info.GetValue(obj, null);
}
return obj;
}
public static T GetPropValue<T>(this Object obj, String name) {
Object retval = GetPropValue(obj, name);
if (retval == null) { return default(T); }
// throws InvalidCastException if types are incompatible
return (T) retval;
}
This will allow you to descend into properties using a single string, like this:
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
int min = GetPropValue<int>(now, "TimeOfDay.Minutes");
int hrs = now.GetPropValue<int>("TimeOfDay.Hours");
You can either use these methods as static methods or extensions.

Add to any Class:
public class Foo
{
public object this[string propertyName]
{
get { return this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(this, null); }
set { this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).SetValue(this, value, null); }
}
public string Bar { get; set; }
}
Then, you can use as:
Foo f = new Foo();
// Set
f["Bar"] = "asdf";
// Get
string s = (string)f["Bar"];

What about using the CallByName of the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace (Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)? It uses reflection to get properties, fields, and methods of normal objects, COM objects, and even dynamic objects.
using Microsoft.VisualBasic;
using Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices;
and then
Versioned.CallByName(this, "method/function/prop name", CallType.Get).ToString();

Great answer by jheddings. I would like to improve it by allowing referencing of aggregated arrays or collections of objects, so that propertyName could be property1.property2[X].property3:
public static object GetPropertyValue(object srcobj, string propertyName)
{
if (srcobj == null)
return null;
object obj = srcobj;
// Split property name to parts (propertyName could be hierarchical, like obj.subobj.subobj.property
string[] propertyNameParts = propertyName.Split('.');
foreach (string propertyNamePart in propertyNameParts)
{
if (obj == null) return null;
// propertyNamePart could contain reference to specific
// element (by index) inside a collection
if (!propertyNamePart.Contains("["))
{
PropertyInfo pi = obj.GetType().GetProperty(propertyNamePart);
if (pi == null) return null;
obj = pi.GetValue(obj, null);
}
else
{ // propertyNamePart is areference to specific element
// (by index) inside a collection
// like AggregatedCollection[123]
// get collection name and element index
int indexStart = propertyNamePart.IndexOf("[")+1;
string collectionPropertyName = propertyNamePart.Substring(0, indexStart-1);
int collectionElementIndex = Int32.Parse(propertyNamePart.Substring(indexStart, propertyNamePart.Length-indexStart-1));
// get collection object
PropertyInfo pi = obj.GetType().GetProperty(collectionPropertyName);
if (pi == null) return null;
object unknownCollection = pi.GetValue(obj, null);
// try to process the collection as array
if (unknownCollection.GetType().IsArray)
{
object[] collectionAsArray = unknownCollection as object[];
obj = collectionAsArray[collectionElementIndex];
}
else
{
// try to process the collection as IList
System.Collections.IList collectionAsList = unknownCollection as System.Collections.IList;
if (collectionAsList != null)
{
obj = collectionAsList[collectionElementIndex];
}
else
{
// ??? Unsupported collection type
}
}
}
}
return obj;
}

If I use the code from Ed S. I get
'ReflectionExtensions.GetProperty(Type, string)' is inaccessible due to its protection level
It seems that GetProperty() is not available in Xamarin.Forms. TargetFrameworkProfile is Profile7 in my Portable Class Library (.NET Framework 4.5, Windows 8, ASP.NET Core 1.0, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.iOS Classic).
Now I found a working solution:
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
public static object GetPropValue(object source, string propertyName)
{
var property = source.GetType().GetRuntimeProperties().FirstOrDefault(p => string.Equals(p.Name, propertyName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
return property?.GetValue(source);
}
Source

About the nested properties discussion, you can avoid all the reflection stuff if you use the DataBinder.Eval Method (Object, String) as below:
var value = DataBinder.Eval(DateTime.Now, "TimeOfDay.Hours");
Of course, you'll need to add a reference to the System.Web assembly, but this probably isn't a big deal.

The method to call has changed in .NET Standard (as of 1.6). Also we can use C# 6's null conditional operator.
using System.Reflection;
public static object GetPropValue(object src, string propName)
{
return src.GetType().GetRuntimeProperty(propName)?.GetValue(src);
}

The below method works perfect for me:
class MyClass {
public string prop1 { set; get; }
public object this[string propertyName]
{
get { return this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(this, null); }
set { this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).SetValue(this, value, null); }
}
}
To get the property value:
MyClass t1 = new MyClass();
...
string value = t1["prop1"].ToString();
To set the property value:
t1["prop1"] = value;

public static List<KeyValuePair<string, string>> GetProperties(object item) //where T : class
{
var result = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>();
if (item != null)
{
var type = item.GetType();
var properties = type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
foreach (var pi in properties)
{
var selfValue = type.GetProperty(pi.Name).GetValue(item, null);
if (selfValue != null)
{
result.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>(pi.Name, selfValue.ToString()));
}
else
{
result.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>(pi.Name, null));
}
}
}
return result;
}
This is a way to get all properties with their values in a List.

Using PropertyInfo of the System.Reflection namespace. Reflection compiles just fine no matter what property we try to access. The error will come up during run-time.
public static object GetObjProperty(object obj, string property)
{
Type t = obj.GetType();
PropertyInfo p = t.GetProperty("Location");
Point location = (Point)p.GetValue(obj, null);
return location;
}
It works fine to get the Location property of an object
Label1.Text = GetObjProperty(button1, "Location").ToString();
We'll get the Location : {X=71,Y=27}
We can also return location.X or location.Y on the same way.

public class YourClass
{
//Add below line in your class
public object this[string propertyName] => GetType().GetProperty(propertyName)?.GetValue(this, null);
public string SampleProperty { get; set; }
}
//And you can get value of any property like this.
var value = YourClass["SampleProperty"];

The following code is a Recursive method for displaying the entire hierarchy of all of the Property Names and Values contained in an object's instance. This method uses a simplified version of AlexD's GetPropertyValue() answer above in this thread. Thanks to this discussion thread, I was able to figure out how to do this!
For example, I use this method to show an explosion or dump of all of the properties in a WebService response by calling the method as follows:
PropertyValues_byRecursion("Response", response, false);
public static object GetPropertyValue(object srcObj, string propertyName)
{
if (srcObj == null)
{
return null;
}
PropertyInfo pi = srcObj.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName.Replace("[]", ""));
if (pi == null)
{
return null;
}
return pi.GetValue(srcObj);
}
public static void PropertyValues_byRecursion(string parentPath, object parentObj, bool showNullValues)
{
/// Processes all of the objects contained in the parent object.
/// If an object has a Property Value, then the value is written to the Console
/// Else if the object is a container, then this method is called recursively
/// using the current path and current object as parameters
// Note: If you do not want to see null values, set showNullValues = false
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in parentObj.GetType().GetTypeInfo().GetProperties())
{
// Build the current object property's namespace path.
// Recursion extends this to be the property's full namespace path.
string currentPath = parentPath + "." + pi.Name;
// Get the selected property's value as an object
object myPropertyValue = GetPropertyValue(parentObj, pi.Name);
if (myPropertyValue == null)
{
// Instance of Property does not exist
if (showNullValues)
{
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + " = null");
// Note: If you are replacing these Console.Write... methods callback methods,
// consider passing DBNull.Value instead of null in any method object parameters.
}
}
else if (myPropertyValue.GetType().IsArray)
{
// myPropertyValue is an object instance of an Array of business objects.
// Initialize an array index variable so we can show NamespacePath[idx] in the results.
int idx = 0;
foreach (object business in (Array)myPropertyValue)
{
if (business == null)
{
// Instance of Property does not exist
// Not sure if this is possible in this context.
if (showNullValues)
{
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "]" + " = null");
}
}
else if (business.GetType().IsArray)
{
// myPropertyValue[idx] is another Array!
// Let recursion process it.
PropertyValues_byRecursion(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "]", business, showNullValues);
}
else if (business.GetType().IsSealed)
{
// Display the Full Property Path and its Value
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "] = " + business.ToString());
}
else
{
// Unsealed Type Properties can contain child objects.
// Recurse into my property value object to process its properties and child objects.
PropertyValues_byRecursion(currentPath + "[" + idx.ToString() + "]", business, showNullValues);
}
idx++;
}
}
else if (myPropertyValue.GetType().IsSealed)
{
// myPropertyValue is a simple value
Console.WriteLine(currentPath + " = " + myPropertyValue.ToString());
}
else
{
// Unsealed Type Properties can contain child objects.
// Recurse into my property value object to process its properties and child objects.
PropertyValues_byRecursion(currentPath, myPropertyValue, showNullValues);
}
}
}

public static TValue GetFieldValue<TValue>(this object instance, string name)
{
var type = instance.GetType();
var field = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Instance).FirstOrDefault(e => typeof(TValue).IsAssignableFrom(e.FieldType) && e.Name == name);
return (TValue)field?.GetValue(instance);
}
public static TValue GetPropertyValue<TValue>(this object instance, string name)
{
var type = instance.GetType();
var field = type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Instance).FirstOrDefault(e => typeof(TValue).IsAssignableFrom(e.PropertyType) && e.Name == name);
return (TValue)field?.GetValue(instance);
}

Dim NewHandle As YourType = CType(Microsoft.VisualBasic.CallByName(ObjectThatContainsYourVariable, "YourVariableName", CallType), YourType)

Here is another way to find a nested property that doesn't require the string to tell you the nesting path. Credit to Ed S. for the single property method.
public static T FindNestedPropertyValue<T, N>(N model, string propName) {
T retVal = default(T);
bool found = false;
PropertyInfo[] properties = typeof(N).GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties) {
var currentProperty = property.GetValue(model, null);
if (!found) {
try {
retVal = GetPropValue<T>(currentProperty, propName);
found = true;
} catch { }
}
}
if (!found) {
throw new Exception("Unable to find property: " + propName);
}
return retVal;
}
public static T GetPropValue<T>(object srcObject, string propName) {
return (T)srcObject.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue(srcObject, null);
}

You never mention what object you are inspecting, and since you are rejecting ones that reference a given object, I will assume you mean a static one.
using System.Reflection;
public object GetPropValue(string prop)
{
int splitPoint = prop.LastIndexOf('.');
Type type = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetType(prop.Substring(0, splitPoint));
object obj = null;
return type.GetProperty(prop.Substring(splitPoint + 1)).GetValue(obj, null);
}
Note that I marked the object that is being inspected with the local variable obj. null means static, otherwise set it to what you want. Also note that the GetEntryAssembly() is one of a few available methods to get the "running" assembly, you may want to play around with it if you are having a hard time loading the type.

Have a look at the Heleonix.Reflection library. You can get/set/invoke members by paths, or create a getter/setter (lambda compiled into a delegate) which is faster than reflection. For example:
var success = Reflector.Get(DateTime.Now, null, "Date.Year", out int value);
Or create a getter once and cache for reuse (this is more performant but might throw NullReferenceException if an intermediate member is null):
var getter = Reflector.CreateGetter<DateTime, int>("Date.Year", typeof(DateTime));
getter(DateTime.Now);
Or if you want to create a List<Action<object, object>> of different getters, just specify base types for compiled delegates (type conversions will be added into compiled lambdas):
var getter = Reflector.CreateGetter<object, object>("Date.Year", typeof(DateTime));
getter(DateTime.Now);

Although the original question was about how to get the value of the property using only a single string as the parameter, it makes a lot of sense here to use an Expression rather than simply a string to ensure that the caller never uses a hard coded property name. Here is a one line version with usage:
public static class Utils
...
public static TVal GetPropertyValue<T, TVal>(T t, Expression<Func<T, TVal>> x)
=> (TVal)((x.Body as MemberExpression)?.Member as PropertyInfo)!.GetValue(t);
...
var val = Utils.GetPropertyValue(foo, p => p.Bar);
Here is a slightly better version in terms of readability a error handling:
public static TVal GetPropertyValue<T, TVal>(T t, Expression<Func<T, TVal>> x)
{
var m = (x.Body as MemberExpression)?.Member;
var p = m as PropertyInfo;
if (null == p)
throw new ArgumentException($"Unknown property: {typeof(T).Name}.{(m?.Name??"???")}");
return (TVal)p.GetValue(t);
}
In short you pass in a lambda expression reading a property. The body of the lambda - the part on the right of the fat arrow - is a member expression from which you can get the member name and which you can cast to a PropertyInfo, provided the member is actually a Property and not, for instance, a method.
In the short version, the null forgiving operator - the ! in the expression - tells the compiler that the PropertyInfo will not be null. This is a big lie and you will get a NullReferenceException at runtime. The longer version gives you the name of the property if it manages to get it.
PS: Thanks to Oleg G. for the initial version of this code :)

shorter way ....
var a = new Test { Id = 1 , Name = "A" , date = DateTime.Now};
var b = new Test { Id = 1 , Name = "AXXX", date = DateTime.Now };
var compare = string.Join("",a.GetType().GetProperties().Select(x => x.GetValue(a)).ToArray())==
string.Join("",b.GetType().GetProperties().Select(x => x.GetValue(b)).ToArray());

jheddings and AlexD both wrote excellent answers on how to resolve property strings. I'd like to throw mine in the mix, since I wrote a dedicated library exactly for that purpose.
Pather.CSharp's main class is Resolver. Per default it can resolve properties, array and dictionary entries.
So, for example, if you have an object like this
var o = new { Property1 = new { Property2 = "value" } };
and want to get Property2, you can do it like this:
IResolver resolver = new Resolver();
var path = "Property1.Property2";
object result = r.Resolve(o, path);
//=> "value"
This is the most basic example of the paths it can resolve. If you want to see what else it can, or how you can extend it, just head to its Github page.

Here's what I got based on other answers. A little overkill on getting so specific with the error handling.
public static T GetPropertyValue<T>(object sourceInstance, string targetPropertyName, bool throwExceptionIfNotExists = false)
{
string errorMsg = null;
try
{
if (sourceInstance == null || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(targetPropertyName))
{
errorMsg = $"Source object is null or property name is null or whitespace. '{targetPropertyName}'";
Log.Warn(errorMsg);
if (throwExceptionIfNotExists)
throw new ArgumentException(errorMsg);
else
return default(T);
}
Type returnType = typeof(T);
Type sourceType = sourceInstance.GetType();
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = sourceType.GetProperty(targetPropertyName, returnType);
if (propertyInfo == null)
{
errorMsg = $"Property name '{targetPropertyName}' of type '{returnType}' not found for source object of type '{sourceType}'";
Log.Warn(errorMsg);
if (throwExceptionIfNotExists)
throw new ArgumentException(errorMsg);
else
return default(T);
}
return (T)propertyInfo.GetValue(sourceInstance, null);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
errorMsg = $"Problem getting property name '{targetPropertyName}' from source instance.";
Log.Error(errorMsg, ex);
if (throwExceptionIfNotExists)
throw;
}
return default(T);
}

Here is my solution. It works also with COM objects and allows to access collection/array items from COM objects.
public static object GetPropValue(this object obj, string name)
{
foreach (string part in name.Split('.'))
{
if (obj == null) { return null; }
Type type = obj.GetType();
if (type.Name == "__ComObject")
{
if (part.Contains('['))
{
string partWithoundIndex = part;
int index = ParseIndexFromPropertyName(ref partWithoundIndex);
obj = Versioned.CallByName(obj, partWithoundIndex, CallType.Get, index);
}
else
{
obj = Versioned.CallByName(obj, part, CallType.Get);
}
}
else
{
PropertyInfo info = type.GetProperty(part);
if (info == null) { return null; }
obj = info.GetValue(obj, null);
}
}
return obj;
}
private static int ParseIndexFromPropertyName(ref string name)
{
int index = -1;
int s = name.IndexOf('[') + 1;
int e = name.IndexOf(']');
if (e < s)
{
throw new ArgumentException();
}
string tmp = name.Substring(s, e - s);
index = Convert.ToInt32(tmp);
name = name.Substring(0, s - 1);
return index;
}

Whenever you want to loop over all properties in on an object and then use each value of the property must use this piece of code:
foreach (var property in request.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var valueOfProperty = property.GetValue(properties, null);
}

C# - How to change value for property using reflection? [duplicate]

Is there a way in C# where I can use reflection to set an object property?
Ex:
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
obj.Name = "Value";
I want to set obj.Name with reflection. Something like:
Reflection.SetProperty(obj, "Name") = "Value";
Is there a way of doing this?

Yes, you can use Type.InvokeMember():
using System.Reflection;
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
obj.GetType().InvokeMember("Name",
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.SetProperty,
Type.DefaultBinder, obj, "Value");
This will throw an exception if obj doesn't have a property called Name, or it can't be set.
Another approach is to get the metadata for the property, and then set it. This will allow you to check for the existence of the property, and verify that it can be set:
using System.Reflection;
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
PropertyInfo prop = obj.GetType().GetProperty("Name", BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
if(null != prop && prop.CanWrite)
{
prop.SetValue(obj, "Value", null);
}

You can also do:
Type type = target.GetType();
PropertyInfo prop = type.GetProperty("propertyName");
prop.SetValue (target, propertyValue, null);
where target is the object that will have its property set.

Reflection, basically, i.e.
myObject.GetType().GetProperty(property).SetValue(myObject, "Bob", null);
or there are libraries to help both in terms of convenience and performance; for example with FastMember:
var wrapped = ObjectAccessor.Create(obj);
wrapped[property] = "Bob";
(which also has the advantage of not needing to know in advance whether it is a field vs a property)

Or you could wrap Marc's one liner inside your own extension class:
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object obj, string propName, object value)
{
obj.GetType().GetProperty(propName).SetValue(obj, value, null);
}
}
and call it like this:
myObject.SetPropertyValue("myProperty", "myValue");
For good measure, let's add a method to get a property value:
public static object GetPropertyValue(this object obj, string propName)
{
return obj.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue (obj, null);
}

Use somethings like this :
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object p_object, string p_propertyName, object value)
{
PropertyInfo property = p_object.GetType().GetProperty(p_propertyName);
property.SetValue(p_object, Convert.ChangeType(value, property.PropertyType), null);
}
}
or
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object p_object, string p_propertyName, object value)
{
PropertyInfo property = p_object.GetType().GetProperty(p_propertyName);
Type t = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(property.PropertyType) ?? property.PropertyType;
object safeValue = (value == null) ? null : Convert.ChangeType(value, t);
property.SetValue(p_object, safeValue, null);
}
}

Yes, using System.Reflection:
using System.Reflection;
...
string prop = "name";
PropertyInfo pi = myObject.GetType().GetProperty(prop);
pi.SetValue(myObject, "Bob", null);

You can also access fields using a simillar manner:
var obj=new MyObject();
FieldInfo fi = obj.GetType().
GetField("Name", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
fi.SetValue(obj,value)
With reflection everything can be an open book:) In my example we are binding to a private instance level field.

You can try this out when you want to mass-assign properties of an Object from another Object using Property names:
public static void Assign(this object destination, object source)
{
if (destination is IEnumerable && source is IEnumerable)
{
var dest_enumerator = (destination as IEnumerable).GetEnumerator();
var src_enumerator = (source as IEnumerable).GetEnumerator();
while (dest_enumerator.MoveNext() && src_enumerator.MoveNext())
dest_enumerator.Current.Assign(src_enumerator.Current);
}
else
{
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;
}
}
}
}

I have just published a Nuget package that allows setting up not only the first level Properties but also nested properties in the given object in any depth.
Here is the package
Sets the value of a property of an object by its path from the root.
The object can be a complex object and the property can be multi level deep nested property or it can be a property directly under the root. ObjectWriter will find the property using the property path parameter and update its value. Property path is the appended names of the properties visited from root to the end node property which we want to set, delimited by the delimiter string parameter.
Usage:
For setting up the properties directly under the object root:
Ie. LineItem class has an int property called ItemId
LineItem lineItem = new LineItem();
ObjectWriter.Set(lineItem, "ItemId", 13, delimiter: null);
For setting up nested property multiple levels below the object root:
Ie. Invite class has a property called State, which has a property called Invite (of Invite type), which has a property called Recipient, which has a property called Id.
To make things even more complex, the State property is not a reference type, it is a struct.
Here is how you can set the Id property (to string value of “outlook”) at the bottom of the object tree in a single line.
Invite invite = new Invite();
ObjectWriter.Set(invite, "State_Invite_Recipient_Id", "outlook", delimiter: "_");

Based on MarcGravell's suggestion, I have constructed the following static method.The method generically assigns all matching properties from source object to target using FastMember
public static void DynamicPropertySet(object source, object target)
{
//SOURCE
var src_accessor = TypeAccessor.Create(source.GetType());
if (src_accessor == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var src_members = src_accessor.GetMembers();
if (src_members == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not fetch members!");
}
var src_class_members = src_members.Where(x => x.Type.IsClass && !x.Type.IsPrimitive);
var src_class_propNames = src_class_members.Select(x => x.Name);
var src_propNames = src_members.Except(src_class_members).Select(x => x.Name);
//TARGET
var trg_accessor = TypeAccessor.Create(target.GetType());
if (trg_accessor == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var trg_members = trg_accessor.GetMembers();
if (trg_members == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var trg_class_members = trg_members.Where(x => x.Type.IsClass && !x.Type.IsPrimitive);
var trg_class_propNames = trg_class_members.Select(x => x.Name);
var trg_propNames = trg_members.Except(trg_class_members).Select(x => x.Name);
var class_propNames = trg_class_propNames.Intersect(src_class_propNames);
var propNames = trg_propNames.Intersect(src_propNames);
foreach (var propName in propNames)
{
trg_accessor[target, propName] = src_accessor[source, propName];
}
foreach (var member in class_propNames)
{
var src = src_accessor[source, member];
var trg = trg_accessor[target, member];
if (src != null && trg != null)
{
DynamicPropertySet(src, trg);
}
}
}

how can I get properties of a model with for loop [duplicate]

From the world of PHP I have decided to give C# a go. I've had a search but can't seem to find the answer of how to do the equivalent to this.
$object = new Object();
$vars = get_class_vars(get_class($object));
foreach($vars as $var)
{
doSomething($object->$var);
}
I basically have a List of an object. The object could be one of three different types and will have a set of public properties. I want to be able to get a list of the properties for the object, loop over them and then write them out to a file.
I'm thinking this has something to do with c# reflection but it's all new to me.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This should do it:
Type myType = myObject.GetType();
IList<PropertyInfo> props = new List<PropertyInfo>(myType.GetProperties());
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
object propValue = prop.GetValue(myObject, null);
// Do something with propValue
}

void Test(){
var obj = new{a="aaa", b="bbb"};
var val_a = obj.GetValObjDy("a"); //="aaa"
var val_b = obj.GetValObjDy("b"); //="bbb"
}
//create in a static class
static public object GetValObjDy(this object obj, string propertyName)
{
return obj.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(obj, null);
}

Yes, Reflection would be the way to go. First, you would get the Type that represents the type (at runtime) of the instance in the list. You can do this by calling the GetType method on Object. Because it is on the Object class, it's callable by every object in .NET, as all types derive from Object (well, technically, not everything, but that's not important here).
Once you have the Type instance, you can call the GetProperties method to get the PropertyInfo instances which represent the run-time informationa about the properties on the Type.
Note, you can use the overloads of GetProperties to help classify which properties you retrieve.
From there, you would just write the information out to a file.
Your code above, translated, would be:
// The instance, it can be of any type.
object o = <some object>;
// Get the type.
Type type = o.GetType();
// Get all public instance properties.
// Use the override if you want to classify
// which properties to return.
foreach (PropertyInfo info in type.GetProperties())
{
// Do something with the property info.
DoSomething(info);
}
Note that if you want method information or field information, you would have to call the one of the overloads of the GetMethods or GetFields methods respectively.
Also note, it's one thing to list out the members to a file, but you shouldn't use this information to drive logic based on property sets.
Assuming you have control over the implementations of the types, you should derive from a common base class or implement a common interface and make the calls on those (you can use the as or is operator to help determine which base class/interface you are working with at runtime).
However, if you don't control these type definitions and have to drive logic based on pattern matching, then that's fine.

well, in C# it's similar.
Here's one of the simplest examples (only for public properties):
var someObject = new { .../*properties*/... };
var propertyInfos = someObject.GetType().GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo pInfo in propertyInfos)
{
string propertyName = pInfo.Name; //gets the name of the property
doSomething(pInfo.GetValue(someObject,null));
}

One line solution using Linq...
var obj = new {Property1 = 1, Property2 = 2};
var property1 = obj.GetType().GetProperties().First(o => o.Name == "Property1").GetValue(obj , null);

To get specific property value from property name
public class Bike{
public string Name {get;set;}
}
Bike b = new Bike {Name = "MyBike"};
to access property value of Name from string name of property
public object GetPropertyValue(string propertyName)
{
//returns value of property Name
return this.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName).GetValue(this, null);
}

You can use GetType - GetProperties - Linq Foreach:
obj.GetType().GetProperties().ToList().ForEach(p =>{
//p is each PropertyInfo
DoSomething(p);
});

Here's something I use to transform an IEnumerable<T> into a DataTable that contains columns representing T's properties, with one row for each item in the IEnumerable:
public static DataTable ToDataTable<T>(IEnumerable<T> items)
{
var table = CreateDataTableForPropertiesOfType<T>();
PropertyInfo[] piT = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (var item in items)
{
var dr = table.NewRow();
for (int property = 0; property < table.Columns.Count; property++)
{
if (piT[property].CanRead)
{
var value = piT[property].GetValue(item, null);
if (piT[property].PropertyType.IsGenericType)
{
if (value == null)
{
dr[property] = DBNull.Value;
}
else
{
dr[property] = piT[property].GetValue(item, null);
}
}
else
{
dr[property] = piT[property].GetValue(item, null);
}
}
}
table.Rows.Add(dr);
}
return table;
}
public static DataTable CreateDataTableForPropertiesOfType<T>()
{
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
PropertyInfo[] piT = typeof(T).GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in piT)
{
Type propertyType = null;
if (pi.PropertyType.IsGenericType)
{
propertyType = pi.PropertyType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
}
else
{
propertyType = pi.PropertyType;
}
DataColumn dc = new DataColumn(pi.Name, propertyType);
if (pi.CanRead)
{
dt.Columns.Add(dc);
}
}
return dt;
}
This is "somewhat" overcomplicated, but it's actually quite good for seeing what the outcome is, as you can give it a List<T> of, for example:
public class Car
{
string Make { get; set; }
int YearOfManufacture {get; set; }
}
And you'll be returned a DataTable with the structure:
Make (string)
YearOfManufacture (int)
With one row per item in your List<Car>

This example trims all the string properties of an object.
public static void TrimModelProperties(Type type, object obj)
{
var propertyInfoArray = type.GetProperties(
BindingFlags.Public |
BindingFlags.Instance);
foreach (var propertyInfo in propertyInfoArray)
{
var propValue = propertyInfo.GetValue(obj, null);
if (propValue == null)
continue;
if (propValue.GetType().Name == "String")
propertyInfo.SetValue(
obj,
((string)propValue).Trim(),
null);
}
}

I haven't found this to work on, say Application objects. I have however had success with
var serializer = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
string rval = serializer.Serialize(myAppObj);

You can try this:
string[] arr = ((IEnumerable)obj).Cast<object>()
.Select(x => x.ToString())
.ToArray();
Once every array implements IEnumerable interface

public Dictionary<string, string> ToDictionary(object obj)
{
Dictionary<string, string> dictionary = new Dictionary<string, string>();
Type objectType = obj.GetType();
IList<PropertyInfo> props = new List<PropertyInfo>(objectType.GetProperties());
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
object propValue = prop.GetValue(obj, null);
dictionary.Add(prop.Name, propValue.ToString());
}
return dictionary;
}

/// get set value field in object to object new (two object field like )
public static void SetValueObjectToObject (object sourceObj , object resultObj)
{
IList<PropertyInfo> props = new List<PropertyInfo>(sourceObj.GetType().GetProperties());
foreach (PropertyInfo prop in props)
{
try
{
//get value in sourceObj
object propValue = prop.GetValue(sourceObj, null);
//set value in resultObj
PropertyInfo propResult = resultObj.GetType().GetProperty(prop.Name, BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
if (propResult != null && propResult.CanWrite)
{
propResult.SetValue(resultObj, propValue, null);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// do something with Ex
}
}
}

Set object property using reflection

Is there a way in C# where I can use reflection to set an object property?
Ex:
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
obj.Name = "Value";
I want to set obj.Name with reflection. Something like:
Reflection.SetProperty(obj, "Name") = "Value";
Is there a way of doing this?

Yes, you can use Type.InvokeMember():
using System.Reflection;
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
obj.GetType().InvokeMember("Name",
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.SetProperty,
Type.DefaultBinder, obj, "Value");
This will throw an exception if obj doesn't have a property called Name, or it can't be set.
Another approach is to get the metadata for the property, and then set it. This will allow you to check for the existence of the property, and verify that it can be set:
using System.Reflection;
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
PropertyInfo prop = obj.GetType().GetProperty("Name", BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
if(null != prop && prop.CanWrite)
{
prop.SetValue(obj, "Value", null);
}

You can also do:
Type type = target.GetType();
PropertyInfo prop = type.GetProperty("propertyName");
prop.SetValue (target, propertyValue, null);
where target is the object that will have its property set.

Reflection, basically, i.e.
myObject.GetType().GetProperty(property).SetValue(myObject, "Bob", null);
or there are libraries to help both in terms of convenience and performance; for example with FastMember:
var wrapped = ObjectAccessor.Create(obj);
wrapped[property] = "Bob";
(which also has the advantage of not needing to know in advance whether it is a field vs a property)

Or you could wrap Marc's one liner inside your own extension class:
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object obj, string propName, object value)
{
obj.GetType().GetProperty(propName).SetValue(obj, value, null);
}
}
and call it like this:
myObject.SetPropertyValue("myProperty", "myValue");
For good measure, let's add a method to get a property value:
public static object GetPropertyValue(this object obj, string propName)
{
return obj.GetType().GetProperty(propName).GetValue (obj, null);
}

Use somethings like this :
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object p_object, string p_propertyName, object value)
{
PropertyInfo property = p_object.GetType().GetProperty(p_propertyName);
property.SetValue(p_object, Convert.ChangeType(value, property.PropertyType), null);
}
}
or
public static class PropertyExtension{
public static void SetPropertyValue(this object p_object, string p_propertyName, object value)
{
PropertyInfo property = p_object.GetType().GetProperty(p_propertyName);
Type t = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(property.PropertyType) ?? property.PropertyType;
object safeValue = (value == null) ? null : Convert.ChangeType(value, t);
property.SetValue(p_object, safeValue, null);
}
}

Yes, using System.Reflection:
using System.Reflection;
...
string prop = "name";
PropertyInfo pi = myObject.GetType().GetProperty(prop);
pi.SetValue(myObject, "Bob", null);

You can also access fields using a simillar manner:
var obj=new MyObject();
FieldInfo fi = obj.GetType().
GetField("Name", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
fi.SetValue(obj,value)
With reflection everything can be an open book:) In my example we are binding to a private instance level field.

You can try this out when you want to mass-assign properties of an Object from another Object using Property names:
public static void Assign(this object destination, object source)
{
if (destination is IEnumerable && source is IEnumerable)
{
var dest_enumerator = (destination as IEnumerable).GetEnumerator();
var src_enumerator = (source as IEnumerable).GetEnumerator();
while (dest_enumerator.MoveNext() && src_enumerator.MoveNext())
dest_enumerator.Current.Assign(src_enumerator.Current);
}
else
{
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;
}
}
}
}

I have just published a Nuget package that allows setting up not only the first level Properties but also nested properties in the given object in any depth.
Here is the package
Sets the value of a property of an object by its path from the root.
The object can be a complex object and the property can be multi level deep nested property or it can be a property directly under the root. ObjectWriter will find the property using the property path parameter and update its value. Property path is the appended names of the properties visited from root to the end node property which we want to set, delimited by the delimiter string parameter.
Usage:
For setting up the properties directly under the object root:
Ie. LineItem class has an int property called ItemId
LineItem lineItem = new LineItem();
ObjectWriter.Set(lineItem, "ItemId", 13, delimiter: null);
For setting up nested property multiple levels below the object root:
Ie. Invite class has a property called State, which has a property called Invite (of Invite type), which has a property called Recipient, which has a property called Id.
To make things even more complex, the State property is not a reference type, it is a struct.
Here is how you can set the Id property (to string value of “outlook”) at the bottom of the object tree in a single line.
Invite invite = new Invite();
ObjectWriter.Set(invite, "State_Invite_Recipient_Id", "outlook", delimiter: "_");

Based on MarcGravell's suggestion, I have constructed the following static method.The method generically assigns all matching properties from source object to target using FastMember
public static void DynamicPropertySet(object source, object target)
{
//SOURCE
var src_accessor = TypeAccessor.Create(source.GetType());
if (src_accessor == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var src_members = src_accessor.GetMembers();
if (src_members == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not fetch members!");
}
var src_class_members = src_members.Where(x => x.Type.IsClass && !x.Type.IsPrimitive);
var src_class_propNames = src_class_members.Select(x => x.Name);
var src_propNames = src_members.Except(src_class_members).Select(x => x.Name);
//TARGET
var trg_accessor = TypeAccessor.Create(target.GetType());
if (trg_accessor == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var trg_members = trg_accessor.GetMembers();
if (trg_members == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Could not create accessor!");
}
var trg_class_members = trg_members.Where(x => x.Type.IsClass && !x.Type.IsPrimitive);
var trg_class_propNames = trg_class_members.Select(x => x.Name);
var trg_propNames = trg_members.Except(trg_class_members).Select(x => x.Name);
var class_propNames = trg_class_propNames.Intersect(src_class_propNames);
var propNames = trg_propNames.Intersect(src_propNames);
foreach (var propName in propNames)
{
trg_accessor[target, propName] = src_accessor[source, propName];
}
foreach (var member in class_propNames)
{
var src = src_accessor[source, member];
var trg = trg_accessor[target, member];
if (src != null && trg != null)
{
DynamicPropertySet(src, trg);
}
}
}