Question

I have this:

var Virtual = Property.GetValue(Entity, null);

Entity is being pulled from a repository using Entity Framework.

How can I determine if it is a single object, or a collection?

I tried checking the type, but wasn’t sure what to compare it to.

var VirtualType = Virtual.GetType();

Upon inspection with a debugger, Virtual is either a DynamicProxy of an instantiated single class, or a HashSet of an instantiated ICollection. If .GetType() is used on the DynamicProxy this is thrown:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

I also tried this:

var test = (IEnumerable<object>)Virtual;
if (test.Count() > 0)

which works on the collection, but fails on the single object.

I also tried this:

if (Virtual is Enumerable)

but it was false, even for the collection.

How can I discern the two through reflection?

Answer 1

just a quick guess from looking at your code.

//works for collection but throws exception for single object (as it should)
var test = (IEnumerable<object>)Virtual;

//try using
var test = Virtual as IEnumerable;
if(test == null) // single object

this is the same as

if(Virtual is IEnumerable){}