Set Many Properties in One Go

If you're looking for a way to set the value of many properties who's name starts with the same string, then look no further!

Here's a useful extension you can add to an object.

public static class Extensions
{
    public static void SetPropertiesToValue(this object obj, string propertyNameStartsWith, Type propertyType, object val)
    {
        foreach (PropertyInfo prop in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
        {
            if (prop.Name.StartsWith(propertyNameStartsWith) && prop.PropertyType == propertyType && prop.CanWrite)
                prop.SetValue(obj, val);
        }
    }
}

And here's how to use it:

myObj.SetPropertiesToValue("Name", typeof(string), "Jim");

This will set any property of myObj that has a name starting with Name to Jim.

Return Dynamic Generic IList in C#

I had a situation where I had a SQL statement stored against a row in a database. Depending on the row would depend on what data was output. For example, row 1 would return all the industries and row 2 would  return all the age groups and so on. Each of my tables has it's own C# class/object associated to it. So I have an Industry class and an AgeGroup class and so on.

The data that has the SQL logged against it was a table and object called PersonalDetail and the SQL was stored in a column/property called LookUpStatement. I wanted to get an Ilist<> of the data results that LookUpStatement returns when executed. The key thing I wanted to achieve was that the new method would return the IList<> strongly typed. So in the case of the industry data I would have IList<Industry> returned by it or for AgeGroup an IList<AgeGroup>.

The whole passing and returning of dynamic types has been something I have wanted to master for some time. After some extensive searching and no single article telling me exactly what I needed I managed to pile it all together and ended with this...

Calling and using it:

//Get the personal detail row that is required
// The Load method loads a specifc row from the database
// In this instance, row 1 LookUpStatement will select all industires (e.g. SELECT * FROM [Industry]) 
PersonalDetail personalDetail = PersonalDetail.Load(1);

//Get the industries as an IList from the personal detail object
IList<Industry> industries = personalDetail.LookUpData<List<Indstry>>();

Note that the LookUpData call is made using a List<> and not an IList<>.The code itself:

public class PersonalDetail
{

 public LookUpStatement
 {
  get; set;
 }
 
 //Other properties, constructor, etc...
 
 public T LookUpData<T>()
 {
  if (!typeof(T).Name.StartsWith("List"))
   throw new ArgumentException("The generic pass type must be a List<>"); 
  
  //Create a typed instance of the required List
  T os = (T)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(T));
  
  //Get the base object propertype. e.g. Industry
        Type propType = typeof(T).GetProperty("Item").PropertyType;
  
  //Get the data as a DataSet
  DataSet ds = _DB.GetDataSet(this.LookUpStatement);
  
  //Iterate the data
  for (int i = 0; i < ds.Tables[0].Rows.Count; i++)
  {
   //Get the data row
   DataRow dr = ds.Tables[0].Rows[i];

   //Use relfection to execute the Add method of the dynmaic List
   //Then use relfection to execute the LogItem method of the base object
   // Logitem converts the data row into the base object. e.g. Industry
   os.GetType().GetMethod("Add").Invoke(
    os,
    new object[] {
     propType.GetMethod("LogItem").Invoke(null, new object[] { dr })
    }
   );
  }
 }

}

The comments in the code should hopefully give an indication of how it works. Working out the T os = (T)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(T)); took a while as defining the os object as IList<object> just wasn't working. Got there in the end though :)

Dynamically Determine the Current Method / Function in C# and VB.NET

Needed to do some basic reflection the other day to easily determine the current method that was being executed in a VB ASP.NET application.

So here's the C# for it:

//Current method name
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()
    .Name;

//Fully qualified name of the method's class
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()
    .ReflectedType.FullName;

//Method's class name without Namespace
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()
    .ReflectedType.Name;

//Namespace
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()
    .ReflectedType.Namespace;

And the VB.NET:

'Current method name
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod(). _
    Name

'Fully qualified name of the method's class
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod(). _
    ReflectedType.FullName

'Method's class name without Namespace
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod(). _
    ReflectedType.Name

'Namespace
System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod(). _
    ReflectedType.Namespace