Setting a property by reflection with a string value

Question

I'd like to set a property of an object through Reflection, with a value of type string. So, for instance, suppose I have a Ship class, with a property of Latitude, which is a double.

Here's what I'd like to do:

Ship ship = new Ship();
string value = "5.5";
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = ship.GetType().GetProperty("Latitude");
propertyInfo.SetValue(ship, value, null);

As is, this throws an ArgumentException:

Object of type 'System.String' cannot be converted to type 'System.Double'.

How can I convert value to the proper type, based on propertyInfo?

Answer 1

You can use Convert.ChangeType() - It allows you to use runtime information on any IConvertible type to change representation formats. Not all conversions are possible, though, and you may need to write special case logic if you want to support conversions from types that are not IConvertible.

The corresponding code (without exception handling or special case logic) would be:

Ship ship = new Ship();
string value = "5.5";
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = ship.GetType().GetProperty("Latitude");
propertyInfo.SetValue(ship, Convert.ChangeType(value, propertyInfo.PropertyType), null);

Answer 2

As several others have said, you want to use Convert.ChangeType:

propertyInfo.SetValue(ship,
    Convert.ChangeType(value, propertyInfo.PropertyType),
    null);

In fact, I recommend you look at the entire Convert Class.

This class, and many other useful classes are part of the System Namespace. I find it useful to scan that namespace every year or so to see what features I've missed. Give it a try!

Answer 3

I notice a lot of people are recommending Convert.ChangeType - This does work for some cases however as soon as you start involving nullable types you will start receiving InvalidCastExceptions:

http://weblogs.asp.net/pjohnson/archive/2006/02/07/Convert.ChangeType-doesn_2700_t-handle-nullables.aspx

A wrapper was written a few years ago to handle this but that isn't perfect either.

http://weblogs.asp.net/pjohnson/archive/2006/02/07/Convert.ChangeType-doesn_2700_t-handle-nullables.aspx

Answer 4

I tried the answer from LBushkin and it worked great, but it won't work for null values and nullable fields. So I've changed it to this:

propertyName= "Latitude";
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = ship.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName);
if (propertyInfo != null)
{
     Type t = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(propertyInfo.PropertyType) ?? propertyInfo.PropertyType;
     object safeValue = (value == null) ? null : Convert.ChangeType(value, t);
     propertyInfo.SetValue(ship, safeValue, null);
}

Answer 5

You can use a type converter (no error checking):

Ship ship = new Ship();
string value = "5.5";
var property = ship.GetType().GetProperty("Latitude");
var convertedValue = property.Converter.ConvertFrom(value);
property.SetValue(self, convertedValue);

In terms of organizing the code, you could create a kind-of mixin that would result in code like this:

Ship ship = new Ship();
ship.SetPropertyAsString("Latitude", "5.5");

This would be achieved with this code:

public interface MPropertyAsStringSettable { }
public static class PropertyAsStringSettable {
  public static void SetPropertyAsString(
    this MPropertyAsStringSettable self, string propertyName, string value) {
    var property = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(self)[propertyName];
    var convertedValue = property.Converter.ConvertFrom(value);
    property.SetValue(self, convertedValue);
  }
}

public class Ship : MPropertyAsStringSettable {
  public double Latitude { get; set; }
  // ...
}

MPropertyAsStringSettable can be reused for many different classes.

You can also create your own custom type converters to attach to your properties or classes:

public class Ship : MPropertyAsStringSettable {
  public Latitude Latitude { get; set; }
  // ...
}

[TypeConverter(typeof(LatitudeConverter))]
public class Latitude { ... }

Answer 6

You're probably looking for the Convert.ChangeType method. For example:

Ship ship = new Ship();
string value = "5.5";
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = ship.GetType().GetProperty("Latitude");
propertyInfo.SetValue(ship, Convert.ChangeType(value, propertyInfo.PropertyType), null);

Answer 7

Using Convert.ChangeType and getting the type to convert from the PropertyInfo.PropertyType.

propertyInfo.SetValue( ship,
                       Convert.ChangeType( value, propertyInfo.PropertyType ),
                       null );

Answer 8

I will answer this with a general answer. Usually these answers not working with guids. Here is a working version with guids too.

var stringVal="6e3ba183-89d9-e611-80c2-00155dcfb231"; // guid value as string to set
var prop = obj.GetType().GetProperty("FooGuidProperty"); // property to be setted
var propType = prop.PropertyType;

// var will be type of guid here
var valWithRealType = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(propType).ConvertFrom(stringVal); 

Answer 9

Or you could try:

propertyInfo.SetValue(ship, Convert.ChangeType(value, propertyInfo.PropertyType), null);

//But this will cause problems if your string value IsNullOrEmplty...

Answer 10

If you are writing Metro app, you should use other code:

Ship ship = new Ship();
string value = "5.5";
PropertyInfo propertyInfo = ship.GetType().GetTypeInfo().GetDeclaredProperty("Latitude");
propertyInfo.SetValue(ship, Convert.ChangeType(value, propertyInfo.PropertyType));

Note:

ship.GetType().GetTypeInfo().GetDeclaredProperty("Latitude");

instead of

ship.GetType().GetProperty("Latitude");

Answer 11

Using the following code should solve your issue:

item.SetProperty(prop.Name, Convert.ChangeType(item.GetProperty(prop.Name).ToString().Trim(), prop.PropertyType));

Answer 12

Are you looking to play around with Reflection or are you looking to build a production piece of software? I would question why you're using reflection to set a property.

Double new_latitude;

Double.TryParse (value, out new_latitude);
ship.Latitude = new_latitude;