Question

I am working on a project that makes extensive use of XML config files, and I would like to take a few things to the next level with generic implementation of shared code.

Problem is, of my five classes, two handle a “description” grid view differently.
This grid view shows objects of the appropriate type with various columns.

Also of note: the data is passed via a Data Record, so the GUI does not have direct access to the source object(s).

Here is my current “attempt” to get dynamic data, using a rather silly hack (that did not work)

GetObjectData( MyClass myObject, string[] dataToGet)
{
    List<string> dataToReturn = new List<string>();
    foreach (string propertyName in dataToGet)
    {
       try
       {
         Label tempLabel = new Label();
         tempLabel.DataBindings.Add("Text", myObject, propertyName);

         dataToReturn.Add(tempLabel.Text);
       }
       catch { dataToReturn.Add(""); }
    }
}

There MUST be a way to do this, but I’m not sure what it would be called, or how to approach the issue.

Answer 1

You can use Reflection to get property value in this manner:

public void GetObjectData(MyClass myObject, string[] dataToGet) 
       {    
           List<string> dataToReturn = new List<string>();

           Type type = myObject.GetType(); 

           foreach (string propertyName in dataToGet)     
           {        
               try        
               {
                   PropertyInfo pInfo = type.GetProperty(propertyName);
                   var myValue = pInfo.GetValue(myObject, null); 
                   dataToReturn.Add(Convert.ToString(myValue));        
               }       
               catch 
               { dataToReturn.Add("");
               }    
           } 
       } 

Hope this help you.. you can use dictionay to save your return rather than list of string.

For Reference:
Use reflection to get the value of a property by name in a class instance
Set property Nullable<> by reflection
Reflection – get attribute name and value on property

MSDN