how to extract object .net

Question

I have a function that returns this object:

 var result = AjaxUserToPlacePaging();

 //this is the object
 object[] objcs = new object[1];

 objcs[0] = new
 {
     countHereNow = countHereNow.ToString(),
     countWillBeHere = countWillBeHere.ToString(),
     countWasHere = countWasHere.ToString()
 };

How can I extract the information from the object?

for example

 int count  = result[0].countHereNow;

the resun i nned the function to be object is because i using jquery and with the jquery it takes the object and converting it into json

Answer 1

I recommend making a custom class, and storing that, instead of just storing an anonymous type into an "object" directly.

objcs[0] = new MyClass
{
    countHereNow = countHereNow.ToString(),
    countWillBeHere = countWillBeHere.ToString(),
    countWasHere = countWasHere.ToString()
};

That will allow you to cast it back, when you retrieve:

MyClass myClass = result[0] as MyClass;
if (myClass != null)
{
    int count = myClass.countHereNow;
}

There are tricks you can do to work with anonymous types, but in most cases, they just make the code less maintainable.

Answer 2

You will need to use Reflection:

string countHereNow = string.Empty;
Type objType = result[0].GetType();
PropertyInfo prop = objType.GetPropertyInfo("countHereNow");
countHereNow = prop.GetValue(result[0], null) as string ?? string.Empty;

Typically I think returning an anonymous type is a bad idea, but maybe you have a reason for it. Otherwise, I would create a custom class and just return an array of that class type.

Answer 3

You need to use reflection (or something that uses reflection) to get the contents of your anonymous object outside the function where you create it. Maybe you should create a class and return instances of that instead?

Answer 4

You're currently declaring the array as an object array

object[] objcs = new object[1];

Declare it as a implicitly typed (var) array

var objcs = new [];

That way the objects you actually adding to the array won't be of SystemObject type but will be implicitly typed