Calling a function from a string in C#

Question

I know in php you are able to make a call like:

$function_name = 'hello';
$function_name();

function hello() { echo 'hello'; }

Is this possible in .Net?

Answer 1

Yes. You can use reflection. Something like this:

Type thisType = this.GetType();
MethodInfo theMethod = thisType.GetMethod(TheCommandString);
theMethod.Invoke(this, userParameters);

Answer 2

In C#, you can create delegates as function pointers. Check out the following MSDN article for information on usage: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173171(VS.80).aspx

    public static void hello()
    {
        Console.Write("hello world");
    }

   /* code snipped */

    public delegate void functionPointer();

    functionPointer foo = hello;
    foo();  // Writes hello to the console.

Answer 3

It is possible using reflection and the InvokeMember method.

Answer 4

class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Type type = typeof(MyReflectionClass);
            MethodInfo method = type.GetMethod("MyMethod");
            MyReflectionClass c = new MyReflectionClass();
            string result = (string)method.Invoke(c, null);
            Console.WriteLine(result);

        }
    }

    public class MyReflectionClass
    {
        public string MyMethod()
        {
            return DateTime.Now.ToString();
        }
    }

Answer 5

You can invoke methods of a class instance using reflection, doing a dynamic method invocation:

Suppose that you have a method called hello in a the actual instance (this):

string methodName = "hello";

//Get the method information using the method info class
 MethodInfo mi = this.GetType().GetMethod(methodName);

//Invoke the method
// (null- no parameter for the method call
// or you can pass the array of parameters...)
mi.Invoke(this, null);