Is it possible to pass a generic type in a SortedList(Of String, Generic Type)

Question

I currently have several Structure and SortedList:

 Public Structure Membres
    Dim NoMembre As String
    Dim TypeMembre As String
    Dim LangCode As String
    Dim MembreNom As String
    Dim MembrePrenom As String
    Dim MembreAdresse As String
    Dim MembreVille As String
    Dim ProvCode As String
    Dim MembreCodePostal As String
    Dim MembreNoTel As String
    Dim MembreEMail As String
End Structure

Public Structure Provinces
    Dim ProvCode As String
    Dim ProvDesc As String
End Structure

Public Structure Langues
    Dim LangCode As String
    Dim LangDesc As String
End Structure

Public Structure TypesMembres
    Dim TypeMembre As String
    Dim TypeMembreDesc As String
End Structure

Public FicheMembre As New SortedList(Of String, Membres)
Public FicheProvince As New SortedList(Of String, Provinces)
Public FicheLangue As New SortedList(Of String, Langues)
Public FicheTypeMembre As New SortedList(Of String, TypesMembres)

What I would like to achieve is to pass as a paramater in a function any of these SortedList as a generic Type form :

Private Function readTxt(list As SortedList(Of String, Generic Type), path 
As String)

Now is it possible to do this and how can I achieve it ?

I have already tried to pass an Object, a Type, etc. None worked. Maybe I'm missing something here ?

Here is something I tried but failed:

Private Function ReadTxt(Of T)(list As SortedList(Of String, T), path As String) As SortedList(Of String, T)

    Dim reader As System.IO.StreamReader
    reader = IO.File.OpenText(path)
    Dim str As String()
    Dim i As Integer = 0
    Do While reader.Peek <> -1
        Dim line As String = reader.ReadLine
        Dim key As String = line.Substring(0, line.IndexOf("|"))

        If Not (list.ContainsKey(key)) Then
            str = line.Split("|")
            list.Add(key, getMembre(str))
        End If
        i += 1
    Loop
    Return list
End Function

My implementation of the ANSWER:

    Private Function GetLists(Str As String(), t1 As Object) As Object

    Dim m As Membres
    Dim p As Provinces
    Dim tm As TypesMembres
    Dim l As Langues

    Select Case True
        Case TypeOf t1 Is Membres
            m.NoMembre = Str(0)
            m.MembreNom = Str(3)
            m.MembrePrenom = Str(4)
            m.MembreAdresse = Str(5)
            m.MembreVille = Str(6)
            m.ProvCode = Str(7)
            m.MembreCodePostal = Str(8)
            m.MembreNoTel = Str(9)
            m.MembreEMail = Str(10)
            m.LangCode = Str(2)
            m.TypeMembre = Str(1)
            Return m
        Case TypeOf t1 Is Provinces
            p.ProvCode = Str(0)
            p.ProvDesc = Str(1)
            Return p
        Case TypeOf t1 Is TypesMembres
            tm.TypeMembre = Str(0)
            tm.TypeMembreDesc = Str(1)
            Return tm
        Case TypeOf t1 Is Langues
            l.LangCode = Str(0)
            l.LangDesc = Str(1)
            Return l
    End Select

End Function

Private Function ReadTxt(Of T)(list As SortedList(Of String, T), path As String, args As Object) As SortedList(Of String, T)
    Dim reader As System.IO.StreamReader
    reader = IO.File.OpenText(path)
    Dim str As String()
    Do While reader.Peek <> -1
        Dim line As String = reader.ReadLine
        Dim key As String = line.Substring(0, line.IndexOf("|"))

        If Not (list.ContainsKey(key)) Then
            str = line.Split("|")
            list.Add(key, GetLists(str, args))
        End If
    Loop
    Return list
End Function

Private Sub GetProvName()

End Sub

This worked for me since I only wanted to know the type of structure passed as a parameter.

Answer 1

To make a method generic, you need to add at least one type parameter. The syntax for type parameters in VB.NET is (Of T1, T2, ...).

Therefore, your function should look something like this:

Private Function ReadTxt(Of T)(list As SortedList(Of String, T), path As String) As String
    ' Your code here.
End Function

Usage:

ReadTxt(FicheMembre, "SomeString")
ReadTxt(FicheProvince, "SomeString")
'
' etc.

References:

• Generic Procedures in Visual Basic.