I have a situation where I'm taking advantage of events raised by a class that inherits Bindinglist(Of t). I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to create and return a new item (Of t) when the list is empty or that specific Key string is not found when using the "FIND" function shown below? My code looks as follows:
BINDINGLIST(OF T) CLASS:
Imports System.ComponentModel
Public Class mylist(Of t)
Inherits BindingList(Of t)
'find an item by keystring
Public Function Find(ByVal KeyString) As t
Dim myItem As t
'Check if any objects of t exist in the list
If Me.Items.Count > 0 Then
Dim properties As PropertyDescriptorCollection = _
TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(Me.Items(0).GetType)
'find the key property
Dim myProperty As PropertyDescriptor = properties.Find("Key", False)
'search for string match
For Each myItem In Me.Items
If myProperty.GetValue(myItem) = KeyString Then
Return myItem
Exit Function
End If
Next
'THIS IS WHERE I NEED HELP:
'need to assign default property values to myitem of t and return
End If
'THIS IS WHERE I NEED HELP:
'need to assign default property values to myitem of t and return
End Function
End Class
You would need to use a constraint on your generic type parameter to require that it has a parameterless constructor.
Public Class MyList(Of T As New)
You can then create an instance of that type by invoking that constructor as you would for any other type, e.g.
Return New T
Note that your class will then only be able to store items of a type that has a parameterless constructor. If that's a limitation that you can't accept then you will simply not be able to create an instance of T because there is no single way to create an instance of an arbitrary type.
Related
When I try to use the .Where() method on a list, this does method does not seem to be defined if the list is of a generic type:
In my program, I have a class called Warning, and in another class, a list of warnings, defined as:
Dim warningList As List(Of Warning)
When I try to manipulate this list as:
Dim item = warningList.Where(Function(x) x.GetName() = "Foo").FirstOrDefault()
This works completely fine, but when I try it like this:
Dim itemList
if(type = "Warning") Then 'Please note that this condition is true...
itemList = warningList
End If
Dim item = itemList.Where(Function(x) x.GetName() = "Foo").FirstOrDefault()
I get an exception, stating that method .Where() is not defined for class Warning
Can anybody tell me why this is?
Thank you!
Now that you've edited your question it's clear.
You declare itemList without a type, so it's Object implicitly(in VB.NET with option strict set to Off which i strongly recommend against).
Now that you have declared a variable of type Object you can asssign any type to it. But you would have to cast it back to its real type List(Of Warning) to be able to use list or LINQ methods(which extend IEnumerable(Of T).
But instead declare it with the correct type:
Dim itemList As List(Of Warning)
if(type = "Warning") Then
itemList = warningList
End If
Dim item = itemList.Where(Function(x) x.GetName() = "Foo").FirstOrDefault()
Including to comment to explain why Warning is not related to this problem:
That's not the real code. If warningList is really a List(Of Warning)
you should be able to use Enumerable.Where(if LINQ is
imported). The fact that you assign this instance to another variable
(on declaration) doesn't change anything because that variable's type
is also a List(Of Warning). So itemList.Where should work too. Warning
has nothing to do with it because the type which is extended by Where
is IEnumerable(Of T), T can be any type(even Object). Since List(Of T)
implements IEnumerable(Of T) you can use Enumerable.Where on any list
(or array).
If you actually have multiple types and Warning is just one of it, you should implement a common interface. Here's an example:
Public Enum NotificationType
Warning
Info
[Error]
End Enum
Public Interface INamedNotification
ReadOnly Property Type As NotificationType
Property Name As string
End Interface
Public Class Warning
Implements INamedNotification
Public Sub New( name As String )
Me.Name = name
End Sub
Public Property Name As String Implements INamedNotification.Name
Public ReadOnly Property Type As NotificationType Implements INamedNotification.Type
Get
Return NotificationType.Warning
End Get
End Property
End Class
Now you can declare a List(Of INamedNotification) and fill it with whatever implements this interface, like the Warning class:
Dim notificationList As List(Of INamedNotification)
if type = "Warning" Then
itemList = warningList
Else If type = "Info"
itemList = infoList
End If
Dim item = notificationList.Where(Function(x) x.Name = "Foo").FirstOrDefault()
I have a program that de-serializes stuff from an xml file and does all kinds of fancy things with it. I have 2 arrays in the XML file, one called variables and one called lookupTables. I also have 2 classes, variable and lookupTable. Both of those classes inherit from a class called definition. definition is inherit only and has one method that must be inherited, evaluate. Here is the code:
Definition
Public MustInherit Class Definition
Public Sub New()
End Sub
<XmlAttribute("name")> _
Public Property name As String
Public MustOverride Function evaluate(variables As Dictionary(Of String, Double)) As Double
End Class
Variable
<XmlRoot("variable")> _
Public Class Variable
Inherits Definition
<XmlAttribute("value")> _
Public Property value As String
Public Overrides Function evaluate(variables As Dictionary(Of String, Double)) As Double
Dim calculator As CalculationEngine = New CalculationEngine()
Return calculator.Calculate(value, variables)
End Function
End Class
LookupTable
<XmlRoot("lookupTable")> _
Public Class LookupTable
Inherits Definition
Public Sub New()
End Sub
<XmlElement("data")> _
Public Property data As Integer()()
Public Overrides Function evaluate(variables As Dictionary(Of String, Double)) As Double
Return True
End Function
End Class
My question is (hopefully) very simple. How can I create a list of Defintions (so a list containing both Variables and LookupTables) without loosing their individual methods and properties. All I will need to use this list for is calling evaluate.
I thought I could just create a List(Of Definition) since both Variable and LookupTable are guaranteed to implement evaluate() but as I read, it seems that typecasting both of the lists would strip them of their own innards and keep onluy what is common with Definition. What can I do here?
Since both your objects inherit from definition, you could create a list of Definition items then when you need to access specific methods, you cast them to their proper type using directCast to their specific type. To determine the type, you can use
If you had multiple variables types not inheriting from the same base, you could create a list of objects and apply the same idea.
'List of definition item
Private _List As New List(Of Definition)
'When you want to use specific method, you can cast items back to their types.
For Each Item As Definition In _List
Select Case Item.GetType
Case GetType(LookupTables)
Dim Table As LookupTables = DirectCast(Item, LookupTables)
Table.msg() 'Method in my LookupTables class only.
Case GetType(Variables)
Dim Variable As Variables = DirectCast(Item, Variables)
Variable.WriteToConsole() 'Method found in Variables class only.
End Select
Next
As for casting,
you can cast your LookupType to definition and vice-versa to use their respective methods as needed.
The simple answer was to use an ArrayList.
I add items to a combobox like this:
For each R as DataRow in MyDataTable.Rows
If R("ID") > 10 then MyCombo.Items.Add(R)
Next
And now I need to set the DisplayMember and ValueMember to a column of the datarow:
MyCombo.ValueMember = R("ID")
MyCombo.DisplayMember = R("Name")
I know it doesn't make sence to to use "R" as it doesn't reference to anything at this point but it's just to make an indication of what I mean ;-)
The documentation for ValueMember says:
"A String representing a single property name of the DataSource property value, or a hierarchy of period-delimited property names that resolves to a property name of the final data-bound object"
I know I can add the rows to a new datatable and set it to the DataSource, but as you can add any object to the combobox items, it would be nice to use the rows directly, just can't figures out how to make a reference the particular column as a string.?
Maybe you cannot use a row object directly. I guess to use Valuemember you need your item objects to be wrapped in a collection which implement an ilist interface.
In the old MS-Access days combobox items had natively Display- and ValueMember properties, I've always missed that in the .Net combobox control.
My work-around is to use this class, which then can be used for all your ComboBoxes:
Class oComboItems
Public items As New List(Of oDVpairs)
Class oDVpairs
Implements IComparable(Of oDVpairs)
Private myDM As String
Private myVM As Object
Sub New(DM As String, VM As Object)
myDM = DM
myVM = VM
End Sub
Public ReadOnly Property DM() As String
Get
Return myDM
End Get
End Property
Public ReadOnly Property VM() As Object
Get
Return myVM
End Get
End Property
Public Function CompareTo(other As oDVpairs) As Integer Implements IComparable(Of oDVpairs).CompareTo
Return Me.myDM.CompareTo(other.myDM)
End Function
End Class
Public Sub AddItems(DisplayMember As String, ValueMemeber As Object)
items.Add(New oDVpairs(DisplayMember, ValueMemeber))
End Sub
Public ReadOnly Property DisplayMember() As String
Get
Return "DM"
End Get
End Property
Public ReadOnly Property ValueMember() As Object
Get
Return "VM"
End Get
End Property
End Class
And now add my datarows(or any other objects) to the ComboBox:
Dim CI As New oComboItems
For Each R As DataRow In DT_U.Rows
If R("medlnr") > 10 Then
CI.AddItems(R("name"), R("ID"))
end if
Next
CI.items.Sort()
MyCombo.DataSource = CI.Items
MyCombo.DisplayMember = CI.DisplayMember
MyCombo.ValueMember = CI.ValueMember
I'm trying to teach myself reflection and have been googling but I can't wrap my head around it entirely. I created a class called DataClass which contains a method called GetClassFromDB as you can see below, which will be inherited from multiple classes.
What I am attempting to do is have my dataclass read the TableName property that is defined within objResults. Once I pull in the tablename from objResults I would query the SQL database for a dataset. Once I have the dataset I would create a new object of the same TYPE inheriting this class (Which will be different types) and populate it from the dataset. Once I have the newly populated class I will return it for use.
I believe I have gotten most of the way there properly (Please correct me if there is a better way), but my real question is this. How can I create a new class of the type thats deriving that class from that string name that I getting in my code, or the type. I would want to have all the accessible properties from objResults available.
Namespace MyApp
Public Class DataClass
Private _TableName As String
Private _Name As String
Overridable ReadOnly Property TableName As String
Get
Return _TableName
End Get
End Property
Public Overloads Function GetClassFromDB() As Object
Try
Dim BaseObject As New Object
'Get the object name
Dim objName As String = MyBase.GetType().Name
'Gets the type thats calling this method
Dim objDerived As Type = MyBase.GetType()
'Get the property info to request the tablename from the derived class
Dim TableName As PropertyInfo = objDerived.GetProperty("TableName")
Dim TableNameString As String = TableName.GetValue(Me, Nothing).ToString
'Once I get the table name from objResults I can perform the SQL
Dim QueryResults as DataSet = SQLiteCLass.Query("Select * FROM TableNameString")
'Once I get data from the SQL I want to create a new object of the type deriving this method.
'In this example is objResults
Dim NewObject as objDerived
'Now I can fill my new object with the results and return it as an object
'THIS IS MY QUESTION - How can I create a new object of the TYPE that I receive from Reflection
Return False
Catch ex As Exception
Return False
End Try
End Function
End Class
End Namespace
and this is a sample class that would inherit my dataclass.
Public Class objResults
Inherits MyApp.DataClass
Private _GameID As Guid
Public Property GameID As Guid
Get
Return _GameID
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Guid)
_GameID = value
End Set
End Property
Public Overrides ReadOnly Property TableName As String
Get
Return "This is my tablename"
End Get
End Property
End Class
and this is how I would use this in code.
Dim objResult as New objResults
Dim TodaysResult as objResultsCollection
TodaysResult = objResult.GetClassFromDB()
I'm trying to use a generic list without knowing the type when loading the page. I have a typePropertyCollection which inherits from List(Of PropertyData). The usercontrol that uses this collection doesn't know what type of data is used (which objects). So when the page is loaded, I pass along the type to the usercontrol using a dependencyproperty. This type ends up in this method:
Private Shared Sub OnObjectTypeChanged(ByVal obj As DependencyObject, ByVal args As DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs)
Dim objectType As Type = TryCast(args.NewValue, Type)
Dim aList As List(Of PropertyData) = New TypePropertyCollection(Of objectType)
End Sub
I can succesfully retrieve the type from the EventArgs and put it in a variable. When I'm creating a new typePropertyCollection, I want to pass the type to the generic list, but it says the objectType isn't defined, although is is declared just the line above.
Any suggestions?
Edit
The class typepropertyCollection looks like this:
Public Sub New()
Dim properties = New List(Of PropertyInfo)(GetType(T).GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public Or BindingFlags.Instance))
For Each propertyToCheck In properties
Dim descriptionAttribute = propertyToCheck.GetCustomAttributes(GetType(DescriptionAttribute), True)
If Not descriptionAttribute Is Nothing AndAlso descriptionAttribute.Length > 0 Then
Add(New PropertyData() With {.Description = DirectCast(descriptionAttribute(0), DescriptionAttribute).Description, .PropertyName = propertyToCheck.Name})
Else
Add(New PropertyData() With {.Description = propertyToCheck.Name, .PropertyName = propertyToCheck.Name})
End If
Next
End Sub
To use this collection, I'm creating a new class which inherits from the typcollection:
Public Class CustomerTypePropertyCollection
Inherits TypePropertyCollection(Of Person)
End Class
I cannot do this because Person (I named it Person here to make it easier) is not known in that solution. It should also be possible to make collection of other types which or not known. That's why I wanted to pass the type of the object and use it that way.
Dim aList As List(Of PropertyData) = New TypePropertyCollection(Of Type)
This error is because you are attempting to create a TypePropertyCollection of Type 'objectType', objecttype is the variable name of a variable with a type of type .'. You would need a TypePropertyCollection of Type Type Type, not the variable name. Come back to me if there are other issues beyond this.