Access property using its name in vb.net

Question

For example:

Sub Test()
  Dim car as new MyCar
  car.chassis.wheel.radius = 15
  Console.WriteLine(car.chassis.wheel.radius)    
End Sub

So question is. Is it possible to access the property using its string name like Something("car.chassis.wheel.radius") = 15?

I have to update object's properties' values from many controls, and it is much easier to do it dynamically than directly assign values for each property. — rqm.yorik, Jun 02 '10 at 07:49

score 17 · Answer 1 · answered May 31 '10 at 17:13

You can, but not as concise as in your question.

This function will get any property of any object by name.

Public Function GetPropertyValue(ByVal obj As Object, ByVal PropName As String) As Object
    Dim objType As Type = obj.GetType()
    Dim pInfo As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo = objType.GetProperty(PropName)
    Dim PropValue As Object = pInfo.GetValue(obj, Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing)
    Return PropValue
End Function

I leave error handling to you. And any consequences :)

The "And any consequences" seems very appropriate here, since I want to do this, but it seems like a bad idea. — PerpetualStudent, Dec 07 '20 at 17:19

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 01 '16 at 07:33

4

Yes you can very easily:

Dim radius As Integer = CallByName(car.chassis.wheel, "radius", Microsoft.VisualBasic.CallType.Get, Nothing)

See this Microsoft page for reference.

answered Jun 01 '16 at 07:33

pnizzle

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This helped me. But remember it has a severe effect on performance when you use this on a loop. – Sibeesh Venu Mar 07 '18 at 12:20

Access property using its name in vb.net

2 Answers2

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