Question

F# has a convenient feature “with”, example:

type Product = { Name:string; Price:int };;
let p = { Name="Test"; Price=42; };;
let p2 = { p with Name="Test2" };;

F# created keyword “with” as the record types are by default immutable.

Now, is it possible to define a similar extension in C#?
seems it’s a bit tricky, as in C# i’m not sure how to convert a string

Name="Test2"

to a delegate or expression?

Answer 1

public static T With<T, U>(this T obj, Expression<Func<T, U>> property, U value)
    where T : ICloneable {
    if (obj == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("obj");
    if (property == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("property");
    var memExpr = property.Body as MemberExpression;
    if (memExpr == null || !(memExpr.Member is PropertyInfo))
        throw new ArgumentException("Must refer to a property", "property");
    var copy = (T)obj.Clone();
    var propInfo = (PropertyInfo)memExpr.Member;
    propInfo.SetValue(copy, value, null);
    return copy;
}

public class Foo : ICloneable {
    public int Id { get; set; } 
    public string Bar { get; set; }
    object ICloneable.Clone() {
        return new Foo { Id = this.Id, Bar = this.Bar };
    }
}

public static void Test() {
    var foo = new Foo { Id = 1, Bar = "blah" };
    var newFoo = foo.With(x => x.Bar, "boo-ya");
    Console.WriteLine(newFoo.Bar); //boo-ya
}

Or, using a copy constructor:

public class Foo {
    public Foo(Foo other) {
        this.Id = other.Id;
        this.Bar = other.Bar;
    }
    public Foo() { }
    public int Id { get; set; } 
    public string Bar { get; set; }
}

public static void Test() {
    var foo = new Foo { Id = 1, Bar = "blah" };
    var newFoo = new Foo(foo) { Bar = "boo-ya" };
    Console.WriteLine(newFoo.Bar);
}

And a slight variation on George’s excellent suggestion, that allows for multiple assignments:

public static T With<T>(this T obj, params Action<T>[] assignments)
    where T : ICloneable {
    if (obj == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("obj");
    if (assignments == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("assignments");
    var copy = (T)obj.Clone();
    foreach (var a in assignments) {
        a(copy);
    }
    return copy;
}

public static void Test() {
    var foo = new Foo { Id = 1, Bar = "blah" };
    var newFoo = foo.With(x => x.Id = 2, x => x.Bar = "boo-ya");
    Console.WriteLine(newFoo.Bar);
}

I would probably use the second one since (1) any general purpose solution is going to be unnecessarily slow and convoluted; (2) it has the closest syntax to what you want (and the syntax does what you expect); (3) F# copy-and-update expressions are implemented similarly.