Question

Say I have the following method:

private static void SetLastModifiedTimeUser<TEntity>(TEntity entity) where TEntity : class
{
    PropertyInfo propertyInfo;

    propertyInfo = entity.GetType().GetProperty("LastModifiedUser");
    if (propertyInfo != null)
        propertyInfo.SetValue(entity, IdentityHelper.UserName, null);
}

As you can see, the method accepts a generic type. Every class passed to this method will contain a property named ‘LastModifiedUser’. Is there a way I can access this property without using reflection? I don’t think there is, but I thought I’d ask.

Answer 1

Yes, if all your entities have LastModifiedUser property, then you can make all entities inherit from base class, or implement some interface like

public interface IModifyable
{
    string LastModifiedUser { get; set; }
}

Then just add this constraint (or make your method non-generic, accepting IModifyable)

where TEntity : class, IModifyable

And your code will look like:

private static void SetLastModifiedTimeUser<TEntity>(TEntity entity) 
   where TEntity : class, IModifyable
{
   entity.LastModifiedUser = IdentityHelper.UserName;
}