Question

I created a dictionary from a Linq query result as suggested from stackoverflow questions answer: A dictionary where value is an anonymous type in C#

var intToAnon = sourceSequence.ToDictionary(
e => e.Id,
e => new { e.Column, e.Localized });

I have added this new object into my ASP.NET cache. How can I read it from the cache (HttpContext.Current.Cache.Add)? I imagine I need reflection but not sure how to go about it.

Any idea?

Thanks

Answer 1

To retrieve an anonymous type you’ll either need to use reflection or cast-by-example, neither of which are a good idea in this case.

Instead, either create your own custom type to hold the data, or use one of the built-in Tuple types:

// dict will be a Dictionary<TId, Tuple<TColumn, TLocalized>>
// where TId, TColumn and TLocalized are the actual types of those properties
var dict = sourceSequence.ToDictionary(e => e.Id,
                                       e => Tuple.Create(e.Column, e.Localized));
Cache["yourCacheKey"] = dict;

Then when you get the object from the cache just cast to the appropriate Tuple type:

// i'm assuming here that Id is Int32, Column is String, and Localized is Boolean
var dict = (Dictionary<int, Tuple<string, bool>>)Cache["yourCacheKey"];