type of system.Collection <T>

Question

I'm creating a list of <T>, but i want to know the type of that T-object. (i'm using reflection in my project, so i don't know the type when i'm creating my code.

So first i have my List --> List<T> values

Now i want to get all the properties of that T-object (for creating columns in a datagrid)

any help?

Answer 1

You can take one object from that list and look at its type. Though there is certainly a better way, I think.

Answer 2

You can just use typeof(T) in your class or generic method:

void ProcessList<T>(List<T> list) {
    Type typeOfT = typeof(T);
    // Work with type...
}

Answer 3

Is it as easy as GetType(), and then using reflection for GetProperties()?

Answer 4

For a GetListType function see this answer. To get the properties of the list for data-binding purposes, you should really use the component-model (for compatibility) - i.e.

PropertyDescriptorCollection props = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(type);

Then look at each PropertyDescriptor, using GetValue / Converter etc. Your list code will generally have to work against the non-generic IList; something like:

IList list = ...
object obj = list[rowIndex];
// then for any given "prop"
object val = prop.GetValue(obj);
string displayText = prop.Converter.ConvertToString(val);

However, if you wanted to be "complete" you'd also need to look at IListSource and ITypedList

Answer 5

 values.GetType().GetGenericArguments()[0].FullName

The above gives you the type object for type 'T'

values.GetType().GetGenericArguments()[0].GetProperties(System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Public|System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance)

The above gives you the public properties available on 'T',you can pass in the appropriate BindingFlags as you see fit.