Question

I’m using the following right now:

foreach (string file in files) {
    switch (filetype.Value) {
        case "ReadFile":
            ReadFile(file);
            break;
        case "ReadMSOfficeWordFile":
            ReadMSOfficeWordFile(file);
            break;
        case "ReadMSOfficeExcelFile":
            ReadMSOfficeExcelFile(file);
            break;
        case "ReadPDFFile":
            ReadPDFFile(file);
            break;
    }
}

It works, but it feels kinda wrong. The Python way would be something more like this:

foreach string file in files:
    filetype.Value(file)

I have a really hard time imagining that C# can’t do something like this. It may be that my Google skills are bad, but I can’t seem to figure it out.

SOLUTION

public static readonly IDictionary<string, Action<string>> FileTypesDict = new Dictionary<string,Action<string>> {
    {"*.txt", ReadFile},
    {"*.doc", ReadMSOfficeWordFile},
    {"*.docx", ReadMSOfficeWordFile},
    {"*.xls", ReadMSOfficeExcelFile},
    {"*.xlsx", ReadMSOfficeExcelFile},
    {"*.pdf", ReadPDFFile},
};

 

foreach (KeyValuePair<string, Action<string>> filetype in FileTypesDict) {
    string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(FilePath, filetype.Key, SearchOption.AllDirectories);
    //System.Reflection.MethodInfo ReadFileMethod = ReadFile.GetType().GetMethod(filetype.Value);
    foreach (string file in files) {
        FileTypesDict[filetype.Key](file);
    }
}

Answer 1

You can do it with some preparation using delegates, like this:

private static readonly IDictionary<string,Action<string>> actionByType =
    new Dictionary<string,Action<string>> {
        {"ReadFile", ReadFile}
    ,   {"ReadMSOfficeWordFile", ReadMSOfficeWordFile}
    ,   {"ReadMSOfficeExcelFile", ReadMSOfficeExcelFile}
    ,   {"ReadPDFFile", ReadPDFFile}
    };

When it is time to call your action, do it as follows:

actionByType[actionName](file);