Question

I’m not sure how to describe this but I’m trying to create a base class that contains a shared (factory) function called FromXml. I want this function to instantiate an object of the proper type and then fill it via an XmlDocument.

For example, let’s say I have something like this:

Public Class XmlObject
    Public Shared Function FromXml(ByVal source as XmlDocument) As XmlObject
        // <need code to create SPECIFIC TYPE of object and return it
    End Function
End Class

Public Class CustomObject
    Inherits XmlObject
End Class

I’d like to be able to do something like this:

Dim myObject As CustomObject = CustomObject.FromXml(source)

Is this possible?

Answer 1

If you want to tell a function to do something with a specific type, just add generic parameters to it. Not sure if this is the best way to go about your original intent, but it will get the job done.

   Public Class XmlObject
      Public Shared Function FromXml(Of T)(ByVal source As XmlDocument) As T
         Dim result As T = Activator.CreateInstance(GetType(T))

         Return result
      End Function
   End Class