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assert that all fields in 2 objects are the same c#

I am doing unit testing, and basically want to check that the data that 2 objects hold is the same
Assert.AreEqual(object1, object2);
Assert.IsTrue(object1.Equals(object2)); //this of course doesn't work
I am searching for the C# equivalent of assertJ
Assert.That(object1).isEqualToComparingFieldByField(object2)

You could either use records (c# 9 +) or you have to override the Equals method (if you have access and you can change the objects that you're working with).
Records example:
var point = new Point(3, 4);
var point2 = new Point(3, 4);
var test = point.Equals(point2); //this is true
public record Point(int X, int Y);
with classes:
public class Point
{
public int X { get; }
public int Y { get; }
public override bool Equals(object? obj)
{
if (obj == null)
return false;
return obj is Point point && (point.X == X && point.Y == Y);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return HashCode.Combine(X, Y);
}
}
if you are not allowed to touch the implementation, then you could use serialization and compare the strings:
var obj1Str = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(object1);
var obj2Str = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(object2);
Assert.Equal(obj1Str, obj2Str);
using Newtonsoft.Json nuget

C# classes are reference equality, which means that variables are the same using the standard Equals and == if they point to the same object, you could override that behaivour, but it may break something now or in the future.
Or, you could switch to using a construct that's value equality by default, which structs as well as record classes are. If you can't (or don't want to) do that you can implement a value equals "helper" method yourself. I would not recommend overriding the Equals method or the == operator, as that can (and most likely will) lead to errors in the future instead I recommend you write your own ValueEquals method or extension method, something along the lines of
class Foo
{
public int Count {get; set;}
public string Message {get; set;}
}
public static bool ValueEquals(this Foo self, Foo other)
{
return self.Count == other.Count && self.Message == other.Message;
}
public void MyTest()
{
// Arrange and Act
...
// Assert
Assert.IsTrue(myFoo1.ValueEquals(myFoo2));
}
Depending on whether or not you can/ want to add a ValueEquals to your Foo class you can decide on doing it with an extension method or a normal method.
You could also implement a IEqualityComparer<T> like
public class FooValueEqualityComparer : IEqualityComparer<Foo>
{
public bool Equals(Foo foo1, Foo foo2)
{
return foo1.Count == foo2.Count &&
foo1.Message == foo2.Message;
}
public int GetHashCode(Foo foo)
{
return foo.GetHashCode();
}
}
// Use it
public void MyTest()
{
// Arrange and Act
...
// Assert
Assert.IsTrue(new FooEqualityComparer().Equals(myFoo1, myFoo2));
}
Or, you could write a generic ValueEquals that works for all^* classes using Reflection:
public static class ValueEqualityComparer
{
public static bool ValueEquals<T>(this T self, T other) where T : class
{
var type = self.GetType();
if (type == typeof(string))
return self.Equals(other);
var properties = type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
foreach (var property in properties)
{
var selfValue = property.GetValue(self);
var otherValue = property.GetValue(other);
// String is special, it's not primitive but is value equality like primitives
if (property.PropertyType.IsPrimitive || property.PropertyType == typeof(string))
{
if (!selfValue.Equals(otherValue))
return false;
}
// If the property is a List value equals each member
// Maybe find another type that allows indexing and is less restrictive
else if (typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(property.PropertyType))
{
var selfList = ((IEnumerable)property.GetValue(self)).Cast<object>();
var otherList = ((IEnumerable)property.GetValue(other)).Cast<object>();
try
{
// Using EquiZip from MoreLinq: https://github.com/morelinq/MoreLINQ/blob/master/MoreLinq/EquiZip.cs
foreach (var element in selfList.EquiZip(otherList, (selfItem, otherItem) => new { selfItem, otherItem }))
{
if (!ValueEquals(element.selfItem, element.otherItem))
return false;
}
}
catch (InvalidOperationException)
{
// MoreLINQ throws a InvalidOperationException if our two enumerables aren't the same length
return false;
}
}
else
{
if (!ValueEquals(selfValue, otherValue))
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
}
This implementation is by no means perfect, and should honestly only be used for UnitTests and also should be thoroughly tested itself. You can see my tests as a dotnetfiddle here
Or you could do it "dirty" and serialize the objects to a string and compare those values.

What's the best way to compare all properties of two objects? [duplicate]

I have two complex objects like Object1 and Object2. They have around 5 levels of child objects.
I need the fastest method to say if they are same or not.
How could this be done in C# 4.0?

Implement IEquatable<T> (typically in conjunction with overriding the inherited Object.Equals and Object.GetHashCode methods) on all your custom types. In the case of composite types, invoke the contained types’ Equals method within the containing types. For contained collections, use the SequenceEqual extension method, which internally calls IEquatable<T>.Equals or Object.Equals on each element. This approach will obviously require you to extend your types’ definitions, but its results are faster than any generic solutions involving serialization.
Edit: Here is a contrived example with three levels of nesting.
For value types, you can typically just call their Equals method. Even if the fields or properties were never explicitly assigned, they would still have a default value.
For reference types, you should first call ReferenceEquals, which checks for reference equality – this would serve as an efficiency boost when you happen to be referencing the same object. It would also handle cases where both references are null. If that check fails, confirm that your instance's field or property is not null (to avoid NullReferenceException) and call its Equals method. Since our members are properly typed, the IEquatable<T>.Equals method gets called directly, bypassing the overridden Object.Equals method (whose execution would be marginally slower due to the type cast).
When you override Object.Equals, you’re also expected to override Object.GetHashCode; I didn’t do so below for the sake of conciseness.
public class Person : IEquatable<Person>
{
public int Age { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public Address Address { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as Person);
}
public bool Equals(Person other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return this.Age.Equals(other.Age) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.FirstName, other.FirstName) ||
this.FirstName != null &&
this.FirstName.Equals(other.FirstName)
) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.Address, other.Address) ||
this.Address != null &&
this.Address.Equals(other.Address)
);
}
}
public class Address : IEquatable<Address>
{
public int HouseNo { get; set; }
public string Street { get; set; }
public City City { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as Address);
}
public bool Equals(Address other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return this.HouseNo.Equals(other.HouseNo) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.Street, other.Street) ||
this.Street != null &&
this.Street.Equals(other.Street)
) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.City, other.City) ||
this.City != null &&
this.City.Equals(other.City)
);
}
}
public class City : IEquatable<City>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as City);
}
public bool Equals(City other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return
object.ReferenceEquals(this.Name, other.Name) ||
this.Name != null &&
this.Name.Equals(other.Name);
}
}
Update: This answer was written several years ago. Since then, I've started to lean away from implementing IEquality<T> for mutable types for such scenarios. There are two notions of equality: identity and equivalence. At a memory representation level, these are popularly distinguished as “reference equality” and “value equality” (see Equality Comparisons). However, the same distinction can also apply at a domain level. Suppose that your Person class has a PersonId property, unique per distinct real-world person. Should two objects with the same PersonId but different Age values be considered equal or different? The answer above assumes that one is after equivalence. However, there are many usages of the IEquality<T> interface, such as collections, that assume that such implementations provide for identity. For example, if you're populating a HashSet<T>, you would typically expect a TryGetValue(T,T) call to return existing elements that share merely the identity of your argument, not necessarily equivalent elements whose contents are completely the same. This notion is enforced by the notes on GetHashCode:
In general, for mutable reference types, you should override GetHashCode() only if:
You can compute the hash code from fields that are not mutable; or
You can ensure that the hash code of a mutable object does not change while the object is contained in a collection that relies on its hash code.

Serialize both objects and compare the resulting strings

You can use extension method, recursion to resolve this problem:
public static bool DeepCompare(this object obj, object another)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(obj, another)) return true;
if ((obj == null) || (another == null)) return false;
//Compare two object's class, return false if they are difference
if (obj.GetType() != another.GetType()) return false;
var result = true;
//Get all properties of obj
//And compare each other
foreach (var property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var objValue = property.GetValue(obj);
var anotherValue = property.GetValue(another);
if (!objValue.Equals(anotherValue)) result = false;
}
return result;
}
public static bool CompareEx(this object obj, object another)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(obj, another)) return true;
if ((obj == null) || (another == null)) return false;
if (obj.GetType() != another.GetType()) return false;
//properties: int, double, DateTime, etc, not class
if (!obj.GetType().IsClass) return obj.Equals(another);
var result = true;
foreach (var property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var objValue = property.GetValue(obj);
var anotherValue = property.GetValue(another);
//Recursion
if (!objValue.DeepCompare(anotherValue)) result = false;
}
return result;
}
or compare by using Json (if object is very complex)
You can use Newtonsoft.Json:
public static bool JsonCompare(this object obj, object another)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(obj, another)) return true;
if ((obj == null) || (another == null)) return false;
if (obj.GetType() != another.GetType()) return false;
var objJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
var anotherJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(another);
return objJson == anotherJson;
}

If you don't want to implement IEquatable, you can always use Reflection to compare all the properties:
- if they're value type, just compare them
-if they are reference type, call the function recursively to compare its "inner" properties.
I'm not thinking about performace, but about simplicity. It depends, however on the exact design of your objects. It could get complicated depending on your objects shape (for example if there are cyclic dependencies between properties). There are, however, several solutions out there that you can use, like this one:
Compare .NET objects
Another option is to serialize the object as text, for example using JSON.NET, and comparing the serialization result. (JSON.NET can handle Cyclic dependencies between properties).
I don't know if by fastest you mean the fastest way to implement it or a code that runs fast. You should not optimize before knowing if you need to. Premature optimization is the root of all evil

Serialize both objects and compare the resulting strings by #JoelFan
So to do this, create a static class like so and use Extensions to extend ALL objects (so you can pass anytype of object, collection, etc into the method)
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.Text;
public static class MySerializer
{
public static string Serialize(this object obj)
{
var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(obj.GetType());
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
serializer.WriteObject(ms, obj);
return Encoding.Default.GetString(ms.ToArray());
}
}
}
Once you reference this static class in any other file, you can do this:
Person p = new Person { Firstname = "Jason", LastName = "Argonauts" };
Person p2 = new Person { Firstname = "Jason", LastName = "Argonaut" };
//assuming you have already created a class person!
string personString = p.Serialize();
string person2String = p2.Serialize();
Now you can simply use .Equals to compare them.
I use this for checking if objects are in collections too. It works really well.

If you have a requirement where you want the class which is immutable. I mean that none of the properties can be modified once it's been created. In that case, C# 9 have a feature which is called a record.
You can easily compare records by values and types is they are equal.
public record Person
{
public string LastName { get; }
public string FirstName { get; }
public Person(string first, string last) => (FirstName, LastName) = (first, last);
}
var person1 = new Person("Bill", "Wagner");
var person2 = new Person("Bill", "Wagner");
Console.WriteLine(person1 == person2); // true

You can now use json.net. Just go on Nuget and install it.
And you can do something like this:
public bool Equals(SamplesItem sampleToCompare)
{
string myself = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(this);
string other = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(sampleToCompare);
return myself == other;
}
You could perhaps make a extension method for object if you wanted to get fancier. Please note this only compares the public properties. And if you wanted to ignore a public property when you do the comparison you could use the [JsonIgnore] attribute.

Serialize both objects, then calculate Hash Code, then compare.

I'll assume you are not referring to literally the same objects
Object1 == Object2
You might be thinking about doing a memory comparison between the two
memcmp(Object1, Object2, sizeof(Object.GetType())
But that's not even real code in c# :). Because all of your data is probably created on the heap, the memory is not contiguous and you can't just compare the equality of two objects in an agnostic manner. You're going to have to compare each value, one at a time, in a custom way.
Consider adding the IEquatable<T> interface to your class, and define a custom Equals method for your type. Then, in that method, manual test each value. Add IEquatable<T> again on enclosed types if you can and repeat the process.
class Foo : IEquatable<Foo>
{
public bool Equals(Foo other)
{
/* check all the values */
return false;
}
}

Based off a few answers already given here I decided to mostly back JoelFan's answer. I love extension methods and these have been working great for me when none of the other solutions would using them to compare my complex classes.
Extension Methods
using System.IO;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
static class ObjectHelpers
{
public static string SerializeObject<T>(this T toSerialize)
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(toSerialize.GetType());
using (StringWriter textWriter = new StringWriter())
{
xmlSerializer.Serialize(textWriter, toSerialize);
return textWriter.ToString();
}
}
public static bool EqualTo(this object obj, object toCompare)
{
if (obj.SerializeObject() == toCompare.SerializeObject())
return true;
else
return false;
}
public static bool IsBlank<T>(this T obj) where T: new()
{
T blank = new T();
T newObj = ((T)obj);
if (newObj.SerializeObject() == blank.SerializeObject())
return true;
else
return false;
}
}
Usage Examples
if (record.IsBlank())
throw new Exception("Record found is blank.");
if (record.EqualTo(new record()))
throw new Exception("Record found is blank.");

I would say that:
Object1.Equals(Object2)
would be what you're looking for. That's if you're looking to see if the objects are the same, which is what you seem to be asking.
If you want to check to see if all the child objects are the same, run them through a loop with the Equals() method.

I found this below function for comparing objects.
static bool Compare<T>(T Object1, T object2)
{
//Get the type of the object
Type type = typeof(T);
//return false if any of the object is false
if (object.Equals(Object1, default(T)) || object.Equals(object2, default(T)))
return false;
//Loop through each properties inside class and get values for the property from both the objects and compare
foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in type.GetProperties())
{
if (property.Name != "ExtensionData")
{
string Object1Value = string.Empty;
string Object2Value = string.Empty;
if (type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(Object1, null) != null)
Object1Value = type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(Object1, null).ToString();
if (type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(object2, null) != null)
Object2Value = type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(object2, null).ToString();
if (Object1Value.Trim() != Object2Value.Trim())
{
return false;
}
}
}
return true;
}
I am using it and it is working fine for me.

Thanks to the example of Jonathan. I expanded it for all cases (arrays, lists, dictionaries, primitive types).
This is a comparison without serialization and does not require the implementation of any interfaces for compared objects.
/// <summary>Returns description of difference or empty value if equal</summary>
public static string Compare(object obj1, object obj2, string path = "")
{
string path1 = string.IsNullOrEmpty(path) ? "" : path + ": ";
if (obj1 == null && obj2 != null)
return path1 + "null != not null";
else if (obj2 == null && obj1 != null)
return path1 + "not null != null";
else if (obj1 == null && obj2 == null)
return null;
if (!obj1.GetType().Equals(obj2.GetType()))
return "different types: " + obj1.GetType() + " and " + obj2.GetType();
Type type = obj1.GetType();
if (path == "")
path = type.Name;
if (type.IsPrimitive || typeof(string).Equals(type))
{
if (!obj1.Equals(obj2))
return path1 + "'" + obj1 + "' != '" + obj2 + "'";
return null;
}
if (type.IsArray)
{
Array first = obj1 as Array;
Array second = obj2 as Array;
if (first.Length != second.Length)
return path1 + "array size differs (" + first.Length + " vs " + second.Length + ")";
var en = first.GetEnumerator();
int i = 0;
while (en.MoveNext())
{
string res = Compare(en.Current, second.GetValue(i), path);
if (res != null)
return res + " (Index " + i + ")";
i++;
}
}
else if (typeof(System.Collections.IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(type))
{
System.Collections.IEnumerable first = obj1 as System.Collections.IEnumerable;
System.Collections.IEnumerable second = obj2 as System.Collections.IEnumerable;
var en = first.GetEnumerator();
var en2 = second.GetEnumerator();
int i = 0;
while (en.MoveNext())
{
if (!en2.MoveNext())
return path + ": enumerable size differs";
string res = Compare(en.Current, en2.Current, path);
if (res != null)
return res + " (Index " + i + ")";
i++;
}
}
else
{
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
try
{
var val = pi.GetValue(obj1);
var tval = pi.GetValue(obj2);
if (path.EndsWith("." + pi.Name))
return null;
var pathNew = (path.Length == 0 ? "" : path + ".") + pi.Name;
string res = Compare(val, tval, pathNew);
if (res != null)
return res;
}
catch (TargetParameterCountException)
{
//index property
}
}
foreach (FieldInfo fi in type.GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
var val = fi.GetValue(obj1);
var tval = fi.GetValue(obj2);
if (path.EndsWith("." + fi.Name))
return null;
var pathNew = (path.Length == 0 ? "" : path + ".") + fi.Name;
string res = Compare(val, tval, pathNew);
if (res != null)
return res;
}
}
return null;
}
For easy copying of the code created repository

public class GetObjectsComparison
{
public object FirstObject, SecondObject;
public BindingFlags BindingFlagsConditions= BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static;
}
public struct SetObjectsComparison
{
public FieldInfo SecondObjectFieldInfo;
public dynamic FirstObjectFieldInfoValue, SecondObjectFieldInfoValue;
public bool ErrorFound;
public GetObjectsComparison GetObjectsComparison;
}
private static bool ObjectsComparison(GetObjectsComparison GetObjectsComparison)
{
GetObjectsComparison FunctionGet = GetObjectsComparison;
SetObjectsComparison FunctionSet = new SetObjectsComparison();
if (FunctionSet.ErrorFound==false)
foreach (FieldInfo FirstObjectFieldInfo in FunctionGet.FirstObject.GetType().GetFields(FunctionGet.BindingFlagsConditions))
{
FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfo =
FunctionGet.SecondObject.GetType().GetField(FirstObjectFieldInfo.Name, FunctionGet.BindingFlagsConditions);
FunctionSet.FirstObjectFieldInfoValue = FirstObjectFieldInfo.GetValue(FunctionGet.FirstObject);
FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfoValue = FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfo.GetValue(FunctionGet.SecondObject);
if (FirstObjectFieldInfo.FieldType.IsNested)
{
FunctionSet.GetObjectsComparison =
new GetObjectsComparison()
{
FirstObject = FunctionSet.FirstObjectFieldInfoValue
,
SecondObject = FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfoValue
};
if (!ObjectsComparison(FunctionSet.GetObjectsComparison))
{
FunctionSet.ErrorFound = true;
break;
}
}
else if (FunctionSet.FirstObjectFieldInfoValue != FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfoValue)
{
FunctionSet.ErrorFound = true;
break;
}
}
return !FunctionSet.ErrorFound;
}

Generic Extension Method
public static class GenericExtensions
{
public static bool DeepCompare<T>(this T objA, T objB)
{
if (typeof(T).IsValueType)
return objA.Equals(objB);
if (ReferenceEquals(objA, objB))
return true;
if ((objA == null) || (objB == null))
return false;
if (typeof(T) is IEnumerable)
{
var enumerableA = (IEnumerable<T>) objA;
var enumerableB = (IEnumerable<T>) objB;
if (enumerableA.Count() != enumerableB.Count())
return false;
using (var enumeratorA = enumerableA.GetEnumerator())
using (var enumeratorB = enumerableB.GetEnumerator())
{
while (true)
{
bool moveNextA = enumeratorA.MoveNext();
bool moveNextB = enumeratorB.MoveNext();
if (!moveNextA || !moveNextB)
break;
var currentA = enumeratorA.Current;
var currentB = enumeratorB.Current;
if (!currentA.DeepCompare<T>(currentB))
return false;
}
return true;
}
}
foreach (var property in objA.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var valueA = property.GetValue(objA);
var valueB = property.GetValue(objB);
if (!valueA.DeepCompare(valueB))
return false;
}
return true;
}
}

One way to do this would be to override Equals() on each type involved. For example, your top level object would override Equals() to call the Equals() method of all 5 child objects. Those objects should all override Equals() as well, assuming they are custom objects, and so on until the entire hierarchy could be compared by just performing an equality check on the top level objects.

Use IEquatable<T> Interface which has a method Equals.

To return each property updated:
public IEnumerable<string> GetPropsUpdated(T oldModel, T newModel)
{
var diff = new List<string>();
foreach (var prop in oldModel.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var oldValue = prop.GetValue(oldModel);
var newValue = prop.GetValue(newModel);
if (oldValue == null && newValue == null)
continue;
if (oldValue == null && newValue != null
|| oldValue != null && newValue == null)
{
diff.Add(prop.Name);
continue;
}
var oldPropHashed = oldValue.GetHashCode();
var newPropHashed = newValue.GetHashCode();
if (!oldPropHashed.Equals(newPropHashed))
diff.Add(prop.Name);
}
return diff;
}

c# List contain Item

I have a class named accessoire :
class accessoire
{
public int value1 { get; set; }
public string Value2 { get; set; }
}
then i have a List of that product
List<accessoire> accessoires
And i have an UI where the user pick the product he wants from a DataGridview and when he selected it launch an event that add this item to the list :
private void ProductBrowser_OnItemAdded(Accessoire item)
{
if (Cart.Contains(item))
{
MessageBox.Show("Produit deja ajoutée au panier ! ");
}
else
{
Cart.Add(item);
ProductView.Rows.Add(item.Ref, item.Name, Function.CatName(item.Cat), item.SellPrice, "1", Convert.ToDouble(item.SellPrice) * Convert.ToDouble(item.QtetoSell));
TotalPriceSet();
MessageBox.Show("Produit Ajouté !");
}
}
this doesnt work , but when i change it to :
private void ProductBrowser_OnItemAdded(Accessoire item)
{
var InList = Cart.Find(product => product.Ref == item.Ref);
if (Cart.Contains(InList))
{
MessageBox.Show("Product already in list ! ");
}
else
{
Cart.Add(item);
ProductView.Rows.Add(item.Ref, item.Name, Function.CatName(item.Cat), item.SellPrice, "1", Convert.ToDouble(item.SellPrice) * Convert.ToDouble(item.QtetoSell));
TotalPriceSet();
MessageBox.Show("product added !");
}
}
it works , but i'am still wondering why the first code doesnt work it keep adding that item to the list ? in other way how does the method .Contains()works ? what does it check to know if the item is or the list on not ?

The reason it doesn't find the object in the list is because it is a reference comparison, comparing the instances of the object, not the values. You can have two instances of your class with the same values in their properties, but if you compare them, they are not equal:
accessoire item1 = new accessoire();
item1.value1 = 1;
item1.value2 = "one";
accessoire item2 = new accessoire();
item2.value1 = 1;
item2.value2 = "one";
if(item1 == item2) MessageBox.Show("Same");
else MessageBox.Show("Different");
When you select the item from the list to compare with, you are pulling the specific instance, which does exist in the list.

You need to implement the Equals method of accessoire to properly compare all properties/fields in it. The default implementation of Equals uses ReferenceEquals, which only works if the two instances are in fact the same.

if (Cart.Contains(item))
is matching by equality.
If object.Equals(T) is not satisified, it will fail. That means the smallest change, even whitespace in a string, will return false. You'll also get a false result if you have two instances of the same class. Contains must refer to exactly item.
var InList = Cart.Find(product => product.Ref == item.Ref) is a match by property. This means that other properties of the product/item can all be different, as long as .Ref matches. I presume Ref is a primary key, which is why you're not getting problems in your result where Find() returns the wrong item.
You can get around the difference by overriding Equals for Cart, but I don't recommend it. It can make debugging hell later.

Just implement the equals method
// override object.Equals
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
//
// See the full list of guidelines at
// http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=85237
// and also the guidance for operator== at
// http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=85238
//
if (obj == null || GetType() != obj.GetType())
{
return false;
}
var data = (accessoire)obj;
return this.Ref.Equals(data.Ref);
}
// override object.GetHashCode
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return this.Ref.GetHashCode()
}

You were doing reference compare and the references don't match in your first example, but do in your second. You probably want to do equality comparison. Are the values of both objects the same.
Below is your class implemented with the various methods used for equality comparing. You would just need to modify them to suit your purposes.
// IEquatable<T> provides typed equality comparing
class accessoire : IEquatable<accessoire>
{
public int Value1 { get; set; }
public string Value2 { get; set; }
// you can override Equals.
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as accessoire);
}
// this comes from IEquatable<T>
public bool Equals(accessoire other)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(null, other))
{
return false;
}
// return the comparison that makes them equal.
return
this.Value1.Equals(this.Value1) &&
this.Value2.Equals(this.Value2);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
unchecked
{
int hash = 37;
hash *= 23 + this.Value1.GetHashCode();
hash *= 23 + this.Value2.GetHashCode();
return hash;
}
}
// allows you to check equality with the == operator
public static bool operator ==(accessoire left, accessoire right)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(left, right))
{
return true;
}
if ((oject)left == null || (object)right == null)
{
return false;
}
return left.Equals(right);
}
public static bool operator !=(accessoire left, accessoire right)
{
return !left.Equals(right);
}
}

Equating derived classes based on their base's Equals()

I have two classes which both derive from the same parent:
public class People{
public string BetterFoot;
public override bool Equals(object obj){
if (obj == null || this.GetType() != obj.GetType())
return false;
People o = (People)obj;
return (this.BetterFoot == o.BetterFoot);
}
public class LeftiesOrRighties: People{
public string BetterHand;
public override bool Equals(object obj){
if (obj == null || this.GetType() != obj.GetType())
return false;
LeftiesOrRighties o = (LeftiesOrRighties)obj;
return (this.BetterFoot == o.BetterFoot) &&
(this.BetterHand == o.BetterHand)
}
}
public class Ambidextrous: People{
public string FavoriteHand;
}
(There are GetHashCodes in there, too, but I know that they work.)
I'd like to compare collections of them, based on their root Equals():
ThoseOneHanded = new List<LeftiesOrRighties>(){new LeftiesOrRighties(){BetterFoot = "L"}};
ThoseTwoHanded = new List<Ambidextrous>(){new Ambidextrous(){BetterFoot = "L"}};
//using NUnit
Assert.That ((People)ThoseOneHanded[0], Is.EqualTo((People)ThoseTwoHanded[0])));
Unfortunately, this returns false.
Why? Shouldn't the casting make them (for all intents and purposes, if not exactly) the same type, and thus use the base methods? And if not, how do I truly cast the underlying type back to People?

Cast doesn't change the object itself, so the result of GetType will always be the same and so your this.GetType() != obj.GetType() will be true and so the function will return false.
The following logic could potentially gain the behaviour you want (and you don't need to cast to People)
public class People
{
public string BetterFoot;
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
var o = obj as People;
if (o == null) return false;
return (this.BetterFoot = o.BetterFoot);
}
public class LeftiesOrRighties: People
{
public string BetterHand;
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
var o = obj as LeftiesOrRighties;
if ( o == null) return base.Equals(obj);
return (this.BetterFoot = o.BetterFoot) && (this.BetterHand = o.BetterHand)
}
}
public class Ambidextrous: People
{
public string FavoriteHand;
}

As Bob Vale pointed out, the cast does not change type.
The standard solution used across the .NET Framework is to use custom object implementing IEqualityComparer or its generic variant. Then your compare/find method takes 2 objects/collections and uses comparer to perform the custom comparison.
I.e. many LINQ methods take custom compare to find/filter objects like
Enumerable.Distinct
public static IEnumerable<TSource> Distinct<TSource>(
this IEnumerable<TSource> source,
IEqualityComparer<TSource> comparer
)
Sample comparer:
class Last3BitsComparer : IEqualityComparer<int>
{
public bool Equals(int b1, int b2)
{
return (b1 & 3) == (b2 & 3);
}
public int GetHashCode(int bx)
{
return bx & 3;
}
}

Best way to compare two complex objects

I have two complex objects like Object1 and Object2. They have around 5 levels of child objects.
I need the fastest method to say if they are same or not.
How could this be done in C# 4.0?

Implement IEquatable<T> (typically in conjunction with overriding the inherited Object.Equals and Object.GetHashCode methods) on all your custom types. In the case of composite types, invoke the contained types’ Equals method within the containing types. For contained collections, use the SequenceEqual extension method, which internally calls IEquatable<T>.Equals or Object.Equals on each element. This approach will obviously require you to extend your types’ definitions, but its results are faster than any generic solutions involving serialization.
Edit: Here is a contrived example with three levels of nesting.
For value types, you can typically just call their Equals method. Even if the fields or properties were never explicitly assigned, they would still have a default value.
For reference types, you should first call ReferenceEquals, which checks for reference equality – this would serve as an efficiency boost when you happen to be referencing the same object. It would also handle cases where both references are null. If that check fails, confirm that your instance's field or property is not null (to avoid NullReferenceException) and call its Equals method. Since our members are properly typed, the IEquatable<T>.Equals method gets called directly, bypassing the overridden Object.Equals method (whose execution would be marginally slower due to the type cast).
When you override Object.Equals, you’re also expected to override Object.GetHashCode; I didn’t do so below for the sake of conciseness.
public class Person : IEquatable<Person>
{
public int Age { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public Address Address { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as Person);
}
public bool Equals(Person other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return this.Age.Equals(other.Age) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.FirstName, other.FirstName) ||
this.FirstName != null &&
this.FirstName.Equals(other.FirstName)
) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.Address, other.Address) ||
this.Address != null &&
this.Address.Equals(other.Address)
);
}
}
public class Address : IEquatable<Address>
{
public int HouseNo { get; set; }
public string Street { get; set; }
public City City { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as Address);
}
public bool Equals(Address other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return this.HouseNo.Equals(other.HouseNo) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.Street, other.Street) ||
this.Street != null &&
this.Street.Equals(other.Street)
) &&
(
object.ReferenceEquals(this.City, other.City) ||
this.City != null &&
this.City.Equals(other.City)
);
}
}
public class City : IEquatable<City>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as City);
}
public bool Equals(City other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return
object.ReferenceEquals(this.Name, other.Name) ||
this.Name != null &&
this.Name.Equals(other.Name);
}
}
Update: This answer was written several years ago. Since then, I've started to lean away from implementing IEquality<T> for mutable types for such scenarios. There are two notions of equality: identity and equivalence. At a memory representation level, these are popularly distinguished as “reference equality” and “value equality” (see Equality Comparisons). However, the same distinction can also apply at a domain level. Suppose that your Person class has a PersonId property, unique per distinct real-world person. Should two objects with the same PersonId but different Age values be considered equal or different? The answer above assumes that one is after equivalence. However, there are many usages of the IEquality<T> interface, such as collections, that assume that such implementations provide for identity. For example, if you're populating a HashSet<T>, you would typically expect a TryGetValue(T,T) call to return existing elements that share merely the identity of your argument, not necessarily equivalent elements whose contents are completely the same. This notion is enforced by the notes on GetHashCode:
In general, for mutable reference types, you should override GetHashCode() only if:
You can compute the hash code from fields that are not mutable; or
You can ensure that the hash code of a mutable object does not change while the object is contained in a collection that relies on its hash code.

Serialize both objects and compare the resulting strings

You can use extension method, recursion to resolve this problem:
public static bool DeepCompare(this object obj, object another)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(obj, another)) return true;
if ((obj == null) || (another == null)) return false;
//Compare two object's class, return false if they are difference
if (obj.GetType() != another.GetType()) return false;
var result = true;
//Get all properties of obj
//And compare each other
foreach (var property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var objValue = property.GetValue(obj);
var anotherValue = property.GetValue(another);
if (!objValue.Equals(anotherValue)) result = false;
}
return result;
}
public static bool CompareEx(this object obj, object another)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(obj, another)) return true;
if ((obj == null) || (another == null)) return false;
if (obj.GetType() != another.GetType()) return false;
//properties: int, double, DateTime, etc, not class
if (!obj.GetType().IsClass) return obj.Equals(another);
var result = true;
foreach (var property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var objValue = property.GetValue(obj);
var anotherValue = property.GetValue(another);
//Recursion
if (!objValue.DeepCompare(anotherValue)) result = false;
}
return result;
}
or compare by using Json (if object is very complex)
You can use Newtonsoft.Json:
public static bool JsonCompare(this object obj, object another)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(obj, another)) return true;
if ((obj == null) || (another == null)) return false;
if (obj.GetType() != another.GetType()) return false;
var objJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
var anotherJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(another);
return objJson == anotherJson;
}

If you don't want to implement IEquatable, you can always use Reflection to compare all the properties:
- if they're value type, just compare them
-if they are reference type, call the function recursively to compare its "inner" properties.
I'm not thinking about performace, but about simplicity. It depends, however on the exact design of your objects. It could get complicated depending on your objects shape (for example if there are cyclic dependencies between properties). There are, however, several solutions out there that you can use, like this one:
Compare .NET objects
Another option is to serialize the object as text, for example using JSON.NET, and comparing the serialization result. (JSON.NET can handle Cyclic dependencies between properties).
I don't know if by fastest you mean the fastest way to implement it or a code that runs fast. You should not optimize before knowing if you need to. Premature optimization is the root of all evil

Serialize both objects and compare the resulting strings by #JoelFan
So to do this, create a static class like so and use Extensions to extend ALL objects (so you can pass anytype of object, collection, etc into the method)
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.Text;
public static class MySerializer
{
public static string Serialize(this object obj)
{
var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(obj.GetType());
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
serializer.WriteObject(ms, obj);
return Encoding.Default.GetString(ms.ToArray());
}
}
}
Once you reference this static class in any other file, you can do this:
Person p = new Person { Firstname = "Jason", LastName = "Argonauts" };
Person p2 = new Person { Firstname = "Jason", LastName = "Argonaut" };
//assuming you have already created a class person!
string personString = p.Serialize();
string person2String = p2.Serialize();
Now you can simply use .Equals to compare them.
I use this for checking if objects are in collections too. It works really well.

If you have a requirement where you want the class which is immutable. I mean that none of the properties can be modified once it's been created. In that case, C# 9 have a feature which is called a record.
You can easily compare records by values and types is they are equal.
public record Person
{
public string LastName { get; }
public string FirstName { get; }
public Person(string first, string last) => (FirstName, LastName) = (first, last);
}
var person1 = new Person("Bill", "Wagner");
var person2 = new Person("Bill", "Wagner");
Console.WriteLine(person1 == person2); // true

You can now use json.net. Just go on Nuget and install it.
And you can do something like this:
public bool Equals(SamplesItem sampleToCompare)
{
string myself = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(this);
string other = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(sampleToCompare);
return myself == other;
}
You could perhaps make a extension method for object if you wanted to get fancier. Please note this only compares the public properties. And if you wanted to ignore a public property when you do the comparison you could use the [JsonIgnore] attribute.

Serialize both objects, then calculate Hash Code, then compare.

I'll assume you are not referring to literally the same objects
Object1 == Object2
You might be thinking about doing a memory comparison between the two
memcmp(Object1, Object2, sizeof(Object.GetType())
But that's not even real code in c# :). Because all of your data is probably created on the heap, the memory is not contiguous and you can't just compare the equality of two objects in an agnostic manner. You're going to have to compare each value, one at a time, in a custom way.
Consider adding the IEquatable<T> interface to your class, and define a custom Equals method for your type. Then, in that method, manual test each value. Add IEquatable<T> again on enclosed types if you can and repeat the process.
class Foo : IEquatable<Foo>
{
public bool Equals(Foo other)
{
/* check all the values */
return false;
}
}

Based off a few answers already given here I decided to mostly back JoelFan's answer. I love extension methods and these have been working great for me when none of the other solutions would using them to compare my complex classes.
Extension Methods
using System.IO;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
static class ObjectHelpers
{
public static string SerializeObject<T>(this T toSerialize)
{
XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(toSerialize.GetType());
using (StringWriter textWriter = new StringWriter())
{
xmlSerializer.Serialize(textWriter, toSerialize);
return textWriter.ToString();
}
}
public static bool EqualTo(this object obj, object toCompare)
{
if (obj.SerializeObject() == toCompare.SerializeObject())
return true;
else
return false;
}
public static bool IsBlank<T>(this T obj) where T: new()
{
T blank = new T();
T newObj = ((T)obj);
if (newObj.SerializeObject() == blank.SerializeObject())
return true;
else
return false;
}
}
Usage Examples
if (record.IsBlank())
throw new Exception("Record found is blank.");
if (record.EqualTo(new record()))
throw new Exception("Record found is blank.");

I would say that:
Object1.Equals(Object2)
would be what you're looking for. That's if you're looking to see if the objects are the same, which is what you seem to be asking.
If you want to check to see if all the child objects are the same, run them through a loop with the Equals() method.

I found this below function for comparing objects.
static bool Compare<T>(T Object1, T object2)
{
//Get the type of the object
Type type = typeof(T);
//return false if any of the object is false
if (object.Equals(Object1, default(T)) || object.Equals(object2, default(T)))
return false;
//Loop through each properties inside class and get values for the property from both the objects and compare
foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in type.GetProperties())
{
if (property.Name != "ExtensionData")
{
string Object1Value = string.Empty;
string Object2Value = string.Empty;
if (type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(Object1, null) != null)
Object1Value = type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(Object1, null).ToString();
if (type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(object2, null) != null)
Object2Value = type.GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(object2, null).ToString();
if (Object1Value.Trim() != Object2Value.Trim())
{
return false;
}
}
}
return true;
}
I am using it and it is working fine for me.

Thanks to the example of Jonathan. I expanded it for all cases (arrays, lists, dictionaries, primitive types).
This is a comparison without serialization and does not require the implementation of any interfaces for compared objects.
/// <summary>Returns description of difference or empty value if equal</summary>
public static string Compare(object obj1, object obj2, string path = "")
{
string path1 = string.IsNullOrEmpty(path) ? "" : path + ": ";
if (obj1 == null && obj2 != null)
return path1 + "null != not null";
else if (obj2 == null && obj1 != null)
return path1 + "not null != null";
else if (obj1 == null && obj2 == null)
return null;
if (!obj1.GetType().Equals(obj2.GetType()))
return "different types: " + obj1.GetType() + " and " + obj2.GetType();
Type type = obj1.GetType();
if (path == "")
path = type.Name;
if (type.IsPrimitive || typeof(string).Equals(type))
{
if (!obj1.Equals(obj2))
return path1 + "'" + obj1 + "' != '" + obj2 + "'";
return null;
}
if (type.IsArray)
{
Array first = obj1 as Array;
Array second = obj2 as Array;
if (first.Length != second.Length)
return path1 + "array size differs (" + first.Length + " vs " + second.Length + ")";
var en = first.GetEnumerator();
int i = 0;
while (en.MoveNext())
{
string res = Compare(en.Current, second.GetValue(i), path);
if (res != null)
return res + " (Index " + i + ")";
i++;
}
}
else if (typeof(System.Collections.IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(type))
{
System.Collections.IEnumerable first = obj1 as System.Collections.IEnumerable;
System.Collections.IEnumerable second = obj2 as System.Collections.IEnumerable;
var en = first.GetEnumerator();
var en2 = second.GetEnumerator();
int i = 0;
while (en.MoveNext())
{
if (!en2.MoveNext())
return path + ": enumerable size differs";
string res = Compare(en.Current, en2.Current, path);
if (res != null)
return res + " (Index " + i + ")";
i++;
}
}
else
{
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in type.GetProperties(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
try
{
var val = pi.GetValue(obj1);
var tval = pi.GetValue(obj2);
if (path.EndsWith("." + pi.Name))
return null;
var pathNew = (path.Length == 0 ? "" : path + ".") + pi.Name;
string res = Compare(val, tval, pathNew);
if (res != null)
return res;
}
catch (TargetParameterCountException)
{
//index property
}
}
foreach (FieldInfo fi in type.GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public))
{
var val = fi.GetValue(obj1);
var tval = fi.GetValue(obj2);
if (path.EndsWith("." + fi.Name))
return null;
var pathNew = (path.Length == 0 ? "" : path + ".") + fi.Name;
string res = Compare(val, tval, pathNew);
if (res != null)
return res;
}
}
return null;
}
For easy copying of the code created repository

public class GetObjectsComparison
{
public object FirstObject, SecondObject;
public BindingFlags BindingFlagsConditions= BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static;
}
public struct SetObjectsComparison
{
public FieldInfo SecondObjectFieldInfo;
public dynamic FirstObjectFieldInfoValue, SecondObjectFieldInfoValue;
public bool ErrorFound;
public GetObjectsComparison GetObjectsComparison;
}
private static bool ObjectsComparison(GetObjectsComparison GetObjectsComparison)
{
GetObjectsComparison FunctionGet = GetObjectsComparison;
SetObjectsComparison FunctionSet = new SetObjectsComparison();
if (FunctionSet.ErrorFound==false)
foreach (FieldInfo FirstObjectFieldInfo in FunctionGet.FirstObject.GetType().GetFields(FunctionGet.BindingFlagsConditions))
{
FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfo =
FunctionGet.SecondObject.GetType().GetField(FirstObjectFieldInfo.Name, FunctionGet.BindingFlagsConditions);
FunctionSet.FirstObjectFieldInfoValue = FirstObjectFieldInfo.GetValue(FunctionGet.FirstObject);
FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfoValue = FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfo.GetValue(FunctionGet.SecondObject);
if (FirstObjectFieldInfo.FieldType.IsNested)
{
FunctionSet.GetObjectsComparison =
new GetObjectsComparison()
{
FirstObject = FunctionSet.FirstObjectFieldInfoValue
,
SecondObject = FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfoValue
};
if (!ObjectsComparison(FunctionSet.GetObjectsComparison))
{
FunctionSet.ErrorFound = true;
break;
}
}
else if (FunctionSet.FirstObjectFieldInfoValue != FunctionSet.SecondObjectFieldInfoValue)
{
FunctionSet.ErrorFound = true;
break;
}
}
return !FunctionSet.ErrorFound;
}

Generic Extension Method
public static class GenericExtensions
{
public static bool DeepCompare<T>(this T objA, T objB)
{
if (typeof(T).IsValueType)
return objA.Equals(objB);
if (ReferenceEquals(objA, objB))
return true;
if ((objA == null) || (objB == null))
return false;
if (typeof(T) is IEnumerable)
{
var enumerableA = (IEnumerable<T>) objA;
var enumerableB = (IEnumerable<T>) objB;
if (enumerableA.Count() != enumerableB.Count())
return false;
using (var enumeratorA = enumerableA.GetEnumerator())
using (var enumeratorB = enumerableB.GetEnumerator())
{
while (true)
{
bool moveNextA = enumeratorA.MoveNext();
bool moveNextB = enumeratorB.MoveNext();
if (!moveNextA || !moveNextB)
break;
var currentA = enumeratorA.Current;
var currentB = enumeratorB.Current;
if (!currentA.DeepCompare<T>(currentB))
return false;
}
return true;
}
}
foreach (var property in objA.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var valueA = property.GetValue(objA);
var valueB = property.GetValue(objB);
if (!valueA.DeepCompare(valueB))
return false;
}
return true;
}
}

One way to do this would be to override Equals() on each type involved. For example, your top level object would override Equals() to call the Equals() method of all 5 child objects. Those objects should all override Equals() as well, assuming they are custom objects, and so on until the entire hierarchy could be compared by just performing an equality check on the top level objects.

Use IEquatable<T> Interface which has a method Equals.

To return each property updated:
public IEnumerable<string> GetPropsUpdated(T oldModel, T newModel)
{
var diff = new List<string>();
foreach (var prop in oldModel.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var oldValue = prop.GetValue(oldModel);
var newValue = prop.GetValue(newModel);
if (oldValue == null && newValue == null)
continue;
if (oldValue == null && newValue != null
|| oldValue != null && newValue == null)
{
diff.Add(prop.Name);
continue;
}
var oldPropHashed = oldValue.GetHashCode();
var newPropHashed = newValue.GetHashCode();
if (!oldPropHashed.Equals(newPropHashed))
diff.Add(prop.Name);
}
return diff;
}