C# Using Reflection to copy base class properties

Question

I would like to update all properties from MyObject to another using Reflection. The problem I am coming into is that the particular object is inherited from a base class and those base class property values are not updated.

The below code copies over top level property values.

public void Update(MyObject o)
{
    MyObject copyObject = ...

    FieldInfo[] myObjectFields = o.GetType().GetFields(
    BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);

    foreach (FieldInfo fi in myObjectFields)
    {
        fi.SetValue(copyObject, fi.GetValue(o));
    }
}

I was looking to see if there were any more BindingFlags attributes I could use to help but to no avail.

Answer 1

I have an object which I derive from a base object, and add extra properties for certain scenarios. But would like to set all base object properties on a new instance of the derived object. Even when adding more properties to the base object later on, I don't have to worry about adding hard coded lines to set the base properties in the derived object.

Thanks to maciejkow I came up with the following:

// base object
public class BaseObject
{
    public int ID { get; set; } = 0;
    public string SomeText { get; set; } = "";
    public DateTime? CreatedDateTime { get; set; } = DateTime.Now;
    public string AnotherString { get; set; } = "";
    public bool aBoolean { get; set; } = false;
    public int integerForSomething { get; set; } = 0;
}

// derived object
public class CustomObject : BaseObject
{
    public string ANewProperty { get; set; } = "";
    public bool ExtraBooleanField { get; set; } = false;

    //Set base object properties in the constructor
    public CustomObject(BaseObject source)
    {
        var properties = source.GetType().GetFields(System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Public | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance);

        foreach(var fi in properties)
        {
            fi.SetValue(this, fi.GetValue(source));
        }
    }
}

Can be simply used like:

public CustomObject CreateNewCustomObject(BaseObject obj, string ANewProp, bool ExtraBool)
{
    return new CustomObject(obj)
    {
        ANewProperty = ANewProp,
        ExtraBooleanField = ExtraBool
    };
}

Other thoughts I had:

• Will simply casting the object work? (CustomObject)baseObject

  (I tested casting and got System.InvalidCastException: 'Unable to cast object of type 'BaseObject' to type 'CustomObject'.')

• Serialize to JSON string and Deserialize to CustomObject?

  (I tested Serialize/Deserialize - Worked like a charm, but there is a noticeable lag in serializing/deserializing)

So setting the properties with reflection in the constructor of the derived object is instant in my test case. I am sure JSON Serialize/Deserialize also uses reflection in anycase, but doing it twice whereas converting it in the constructor with reflection only happens the once.

Answer 2

Try this:

public void Update(MyObject o)
{
    MyObject copyObject = ...
    Type type = o.GetType();
    while (type != null)
    {
        UpdateForType(type, o, copyObject);
        type = type.BaseType;
    }
}

private static void UpdateForType(Type type, MyObject source, MyObject destination)
{
    FieldInfo[] myObjectFields = type.GetFields(
        BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);

    foreach (FieldInfo fi in myObjectFields)
    {
        fi.SetValue(destination, fi.GetValue(source));
    }
}

Answer 3

I wrote this as an extension method that works with different types too. My issue was that I have some models bound to asp mvc forms, and other entities mapped to the database. Ideally I would only have 1 class, but the entity is built in stages and asp mvc models want to validate the entire model at once.

Here is the code:

public static class ObjectExt
{
    public static T1 CopyFrom<T1, T2>(this T1 obj, T2 otherObject)
        where T1: class
        where T2: class
    {
        PropertyInfo[] srcFields = otherObject.GetType().GetProperties(
            BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.GetProperty);

        PropertyInfo[] destFields = obj.GetType().GetProperties(
            BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.SetProperty);

        foreach (var property in srcFields) {
            var dest = destFields.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Name == property.Name);
            if (dest != null && dest.CanWrite)
                dest.SetValue(obj, property.GetValue(otherObject, null), null);
        }

        return obj;
    }
}

Answer 4

This doesn't take into account properties with parameters, nor does it consider Private get/set accessors which may not be accessible, nor does it consider read-only enumerables, so here's an extended solution?

I tried converting to C#, but the usual sources for that failed to do so and I don't have the time to convert it myself.

''' <summary>
''' Import the properties that match by name in the source to the target.</summary>
''' <param name="target">Object to import the properties into.</param>
''' <param name="source">Object to import the properties from.</param>
''' <returns>
''' True, if the import can without exception; otherwise, False.</returns>
<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension()>
Public Function Import(target As Object, source As Object) As Boolean
    Dim targetProperties As IEnumerable(Of Tuple(Of Reflection.PropertyInfo, Reflection.MethodInfo)) =
        (From aPropertyInfo In source.GetType().GetProperties(Reflection.BindingFlags.Public Or Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic Or Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance)
         Let propertyAccessors = aPropertyInfo.GetAccessors(True)
         Let propertyMethods = aPropertyInfo.PropertyType.GetMethods()
         Let addMethod = (From aMethodInfo In propertyMethods
                          Where aMethodInfo.Name = "Add" AndAlso aMethodInfo.GetParameters().Length = 1
                          Select aMethodInfo).FirstOrDefault()
         Where aPropertyInfo.CanRead AndAlso aPropertyInfo.GetIndexParameters().Length = 0 _
          AndAlso (aPropertyInfo.CanWrite OrElse addMethod IsNot Nothing) _
          AndAlso (From aMethodInfo In propertyAccessors
                   Where aMethodInfo.IsPrivate _
                    OrElse (aMethodInfo.Name.StartsWith("get_") OrElse aMethodInfo.Name.StartsWith("set_"))).FirstOrDefault() IsNot Nothing
         Select New Tuple(Of Reflection.PropertyInfo, Reflection.MethodInfo)(aPropertyInfo, addMethod))
    ' No properties to import into.
    If targetProperties.Count() = 0 Then Return True

    Dim sourceProperties As IEnumerable(Of Tuple(Of Reflection.PropertyInfo, Reflection.MethodInfo)) =
        (From aPropertyInfo In source.GetType().GetProperties(Reflection.BindingFlags.Public Or Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic Or Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance)
         Let propertyAccessors = aPropertyInfo.GetAccessors(True)
         Let propertyMethods = aPropertyInfo.PropertyType.GetMethods()
         Let addMethod = (From aMethodInfo In propertyMethods
                          Where aMethodInfo.Name = "Add" AndAlso aMethodInfo.GetParameters().Length = 1
                          Select aMethodInfo).FirstOrDefault()
         Where aPropertyInfo.CanRead AndAlso aPropertyInfo.GetIndexParameters().Length = 0 _
          AndAlso (aPropertyInfo.CanWrite OrElse addMethod IsNot Nothing) _
          AndAlso (From aMethodInfo In propertyAccessors
                   Where aMethodInfo.IsPrivate _
                    OrElse (aMethodInfo.Name.StartsWith("get_") OrElse aMethodInfo.Name.StartsWith("set_"))).FirstOrDefault() IsNot Nothing
         Select New Tuple(Of Reflection.PropertyInfo, Reflection.MethodInfo)(aPropertyInfo, addMethod))
    ' No properties to import.
    If sourceProperties.Count() = 0 Then Return True

    Try
        Dim currentPropertyInfo As Tuple(Of Reflection.PropertyInfo, Reflection.MethodInfo)
        Dim matchingPropertyInfo As Tuple(Of Reflection.PropertyInfo, Reflection.MethodInfo)

        ' Copy the properties from the source to the target, that match by name.
        For Each currentPropertyInfo In sourceProperties
            matchingPropertyInfo = (From aPropertyInfo In targetProperties
                                    Where aPropertyInfo.Item1.Name = currentPropertyInfo.Item1.Name).FirstOrDefault()
            ' If a property matches in the target, then copy the value from the source to the target.
            If matchingPropertyInfo IsNot Nothing Then
                If matchingPropertyInfo.Item1.CanWrite Then
                    matchingPropertyInfo.Item1.SetValue(target, matchingPropertyInfo.Item1.GetValue(source, Nothing), Nothing)
                ElseIf matchingPropertyInfo.Item2 IsNot Nothing Then
                    Dim isEnumerable As IEnumerable = TryCast(currentPropertyInfo.Item1.GetValue(source, Nothing), IEnumerable)
                    If isEnumerable Is Nothing Then Continue For
                    ' Invoke the Add method for each object in this property collection.
                    For Each currentObject As Object In isEnumerable
                        matchingPropertyInfo.Item2.Invoke(matchingPropertyInfo.Item1.GetValue(target, Nothing), New Object() {currentObject})
                    Next
                End If
            End If
        Next
    Catch ex As Exception
        Return False
    End Try

    Return True
End Function

Answer 5

Bogdan Litescu's solution works great, although I would also check if you can write to property.

foreach (var property in srcFields) {
        var dest = destFields.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Name == property.Name);
        if (dest != null)
            if (dest.CanWrite)
                dest.SetValue(obj, property.GetValue(otherObject, null), null);
    }

Answer 6

Hmm. I thought GetFields gets you members from all the way up the chain, and you had to explicitly specifiy BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly if you didn't want inherited members. So I did a quick test, and I was right.

Then I noticed something:

I would like to update all properties from MyObject to another using Reflection. The problem I am coming into is that the particular object is inherited from a base class and those base class property values are not updated.

The below code copies over top level property values.

public void Update(MyObject o) {
  MyObject copyObject = ...

  FieldInfo[] myObjectFields = o.GetType().GetFields(
  BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);

This will get only fields (including private fields on this type), but not properties. So if you have this hierarchy (please excuse the names!):

class L0
{
    public int f0;
    private int _p0;
    public int p0
    {
        get { return _p0; }
        set { _p0 = value; }
    }
}

class L1 : L0
{
    public int f1;
    private int _p1;
    public int p1
    {
        get { return _p1; }
        set { _p1 = value; }
    }
}

class L2 : L1
{
    public int f2;
    private int _p2;
    public int p2
    {
        get { return _p2; }
        set { _p2 = value; }
    }
}

then a .GetFields on L2 with the BindingFlags you specify will get f0, f1, f2, and _p2, but NOT p0 or p1 (which are properties, not fields) OR _p0 or _p1 (which are private to the base classes and hence an objects of type L2 does not have those fields.

If you want to copy properties, try doing what you're doing, but using .GetProperties instead.