Question

Please check the following section of code (Simplified version)

my concern is in the ReadPath class where I need to call the GetPath() of the type i am using. How can I achieve this?

public interface IPath
{
    string GetPath();
}

public class classA: IPath
{
    string GetPath()
    {
        return "C:\";
    }
}
public class classB: IPath
{
    string GetPath()
    {
        return "D:\";
    }
}
public class ReadPath<T> where T : IPath
{        
    public List<T> ReadType()
    {
        // How to call GetPath() associated with the context type.
    }        
}

Answer 1

Interfaces are instance based. So if you want to do that, pass in an instance and work with that.

However, there is a concept that is type-based: attributes:

[TypePath(@"C:\")]
public class classA
{
}
[TypePath(@"D:\")]
public class classB
{
}
public class ReadPath<T>
{        
    public static List<T> ReadType()
    {
        var attrib = (TypePathAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(
              typeof(T), typeof(TypePathAttribute));
        var path = attrib.Path;
        ...
    }        
}

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class | AttributeTargets.Struct
    | AttributeTargets.Interface | AttributeTargets.Enum,
    AllowMultiple = false, Inherited = false)]
public class TypePathAttribute : Attribute
{
    public string Path { get; private set; }
    public TypePathAttribute(string path) { Path = path; }
}