For those wanting to create a dynamic class just properties (i.e. POCO), and create a list of this class. Using the code provided later, this will create a dynamic class and create a list of this.
var properties = new List<DynamicTypeProperty>()
{
new DynamicTypeProperty("doubleProperty", typeof(double)),
new DynamicTypeProperty("stringProperty", typeof(string))
};
// create the new type
var dynamicType = DynamicType.CreateDynamicType(properties);
// create a list of the new type
var dynamicList = DynamicType.CreateDynamicList(dynamicType);
// get an action that will add to the list
var addAction = DynamicType.GetAddAction(dynamicList);
// call the action, with an object[] containing parameters in exact order added
addAction.Invoke(new object[] {1.1, "item1"});
addAction.Invoke(new object[] {2.1, "item2"});
addAction.Invoke(new object[] {3.1, "item3"});
Here are the classes that the previous code uses.
Note: You'll also need to reference the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp library.
/// <summary>
/// A property name, and type used to generate a property in the dynamic class.
/// </summary>
public class DynamicTypeProperty
{
public DynamicTypeProperty(string name, Type type)
{
Name = name;
Type = type;
}
public string Name { get; set; }
public Type Type { get; set; }
}
public static class DynamicType
{
/// <summary>
/// Creates a list of the specified type
/// </summary>
/// <param name="type"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static IEnumerable<object> CreateDynamicList(Type type)
{
var listType = typeof(List<>);
var dynamicListType = listType.MakeGenericType(type);
return (IEnumerable<object>) Activator.CreateInstance(dynamicListType);
}
/// <summary>
/// creates an action which can be used to add items to the list
/// </summary>
/// <param name="listType"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static Action<object[]> GetAddAction(IEnumerable<object> list)
{
var listType = list.GetType();
var addMethod = listType.GetMethod("Add");
var itemType = listType.GenericTypeArguments[0];
var itemProperties = itemType.GetProperties();
var action = new Action<object[]>((values) =>
{
var item = Activator.CreateInstance(itemType);
for(var i = 0; i < values.Length; i++)
{
itemProperties[i].SetValue(item, values[i]);
}
addMethod.Invoke(list, new []{item});
});
return action;
}
/// <summary>
/// Creates a type based on the property/type values specified in the properties
/// </summary>
/// <param name="properties"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
/// <exception cref="Exception"></exception>
public static Type CreateDynamicType(IEnumerable<DynamicTypeProperty> properties)
{
StringBuilder classCode = new StringBuilder();
// Generate the class code
classCode.AppendLine("using System;");
classCode.AppendLine("namespace Dexih {");
classCode.AppendLine("public class DynamicClass {");
foreach (var property in properties)
{
classCode.AppendLine($"public {property.Type.Name} {property.Name} {{get; set; }}");
}
classCode.AppendLine("}");
classCode.AppendLine("}");
var syntaxTree = CSharpSyntaxTree.ParseText(classCode.ToString());
var references = new MetadataReference[]
{
MetadataReference.CreateFromFile(typeof(object).GetTypeInfo().Assembly.Location),
MetadataReference.CreateFromFile(typeof(DictionaryBase).GetTypeInfo().Assembly.Location)
};
var compilation = CSharpCompilation.Create("DynamicClass" + Guid.NewGuid() + ".dll",
syntaxTrees: new[] {syntaxTree},
references: references,
options: new CSharpCompilationOptions(OutputKind.DynamicallyLinkedLibrary));
using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
var result = compilation.Emit(ms);
if (!result.Success)
{
var failures = result.Diagnostics.Where(diagnostic =>
diagnostic.IsWarningAsError ||
diagnostic.Severity == DiagnosticSeverity.Error);
var message = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var diagnostic in failures)
{
message.AppendFormat("{0}: {1}", diagnostic.Id, diagnostic.GetMessage());
}
throw new Exception($"Invalid property definition: {message}.");
}
else
{
ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
var assembly = System.Runtime.Loader.AssemblyLoadContext.Default.LoadFromStream(ms);
var dynamicType = assembly.GetType("Dexih.DynamicClass");
return dynamicType;
}
}
}
}