Question

I need to learn how to convert type to Class in C#.

In my case, I have an double array object but they are stored in object array.

public object Convert(object[] values, Type targetType, object parameter,
                      CultureInfo culture)
{
    if (values == null || values.Any(v => v == DependencyProperty.UnsetValue))
        return false;
    var typeOfArray = values[0].GetType();
    var firstItem = (double)values[0];
    return values.Skip(1).Any(item => (double)item == firstItem);
}

I want to make this generic implementation for any type but equals(method and operator)
doesn’t work.
But if I convert type to class I think I can do what I want.

But I want to learn ideas and how should I do this operation or How can I convert type object to Class to use it conversion operation?

Answer 1

I want to make this generic implementation for any type but equals(method and operator) doesn’t work.

Three options;

1: use the object.Equals(x,y) method (this uses the virtual Equals(x) method, but avoids a null-ref problem)

object firstItem = values[0];
return values.Skip(1).Any(item => Equals(item,firstItem));

2: use dynamic, but realise this may impact performance:

dynamic firstItem = values[0];
return values.Skip(1).Any(item => (dynamic)item == firstItem);

3: use generics (here, values is a typed, T[]):

var comparer = EqualityComparer<T>.Default;
T firstItem = values[0];
return values.Skip(1).Any(item => comparer.Equals(item,firstItem));

The nice thing about the generics option is that you avoid the need to box when it is a value-type (such as double).