Question

I have the following code that takes an SQL statement (string), loads the results into an ArrayList (organisationList) which is a collection of Organisations:

public void FillDataGridView(DataGridView grid, string SQLCommand)
{
    SqlCommand dataCommand = new SqlCommand();
    dataCommand.Connection = dataConnection;
    dataCommand.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
    dataCommand.CommandText = SQLCommand;

    SqlDataReader dataReader = dataCommand.ExecuteReader();

    while (dataReader.Read())
    {
        Organisation org = new Organisation();

        org.OrganisationId = (int)dataReader["OrganisationId"];
        org.OrganisationName = (string)dataReader["OrganisationName"];

        organisationList.Add(org);
    }

    grid.DataSource = organisationList;
    dataReader.Close();
}

I would like to adapt this method to be possible to fill an ArrayList passed into it.

Is it possible for me to pass the list into the method and have something like:

public void FillArrayList(DataGridView grid, SqlDataReader reader, ArrayList list)
{
    //Fill the list with the contents of the reader
    while (reader.Read())
    {
        Object  obj = new Object

        for(int i; i = 0; i < obj.NoOfProperties)
        {
            obj.Property[i] = reader[i];
        }

        list.Add(obj);
    }
}

Sorry if this is a little vague, I’m quite new to OOP and a bit lost!

Edit: Based on the advice of Darren Davies, I have modified the method as follows:

public void FillArrayList<T>(DataGridView grid, SqlDataReader reader, List<T> list)
{
    //Fill the list with the contents of the reader
    while (reader.Read())
    {
        Object obj = new Object();
        Type type = typeof(T);

        FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields(); // Get the fields of the assembly
        int i = 0;

        foreach(var field in fields)
        {
            field.SetValue(obj, reader[i]); // set the fields of T to the reader's value
            // field.setValue(obj, reader[field.Name]); // You can also set the field value to the explicit reader name, i.e. reader["YourProperty"]
            i++;
        }

        list.Add((T)obj);
    }

    grid.DataSource = list;
}

When I run the code, I get an error when casting the object to type T:

Unable to cast object of type ‘System.Object’ to type
‘TestHarness.Organisation’.

I was under the impression that an Object could store anything. Can anyone advise me on why this cast cannot be performed?

Thanks,

Andy

Answer 1

If you are using C# 2.0. or greater use Generics rather than ArrayList.

You could use Reflection to the get the properties of the type you pass in:

public void FillArrayList<T>(DataGridView grid, SqlDataReader reader, List<T> list)
{
    //Fill the list with the contents of the reader
    while (reader.Read())
    {
       Object  obj = new Object();
       Type type = typeof(T); // get the type of T (The paramter you passed in, i.e. Organisations)

       FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields(); // Get the fields of the assembly
       int i = 0;

        foreach(var field in fields) // Loop round the fields 
        {
            field.setValue(obj, reader[i]); // set the fields of T to the readers value
            // field.setValue(obj, reader[field.Name]); // You can also set the field value to the explicit reader name, i.e. reader["YourProperty"] 
            i++;
        }

        list.Add(obj);
    }
}

To invoke it:

 FillArrayList(grid, reader, list);

Where list is a List type of Organisations

 List<Organisations> list = new List<Organisations>();

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms379564(v=vs.80).aspx