How to generate array type using a given type?

Question

I am working on a code generator written in C#. This code generator reads a xml file and generate a .cs file. So far we have assumed that all fields are string which is not true and I have changed the code so it can generate a type according to the specified type in our xml :

<MyField>
   <Name>Name</Name>
   <Type>String</Type>
</MyField>

But there might be some fields that can have more than one values (Multiselectable fields) that have another attribute (Options for example) that list all possible options. What I would like to do is to generate the array type for any given type .So that I can process my fields first and if there are some fields optional I can convert their type to an array.

Here's what I want to do :

Type fieldType=typeof(string);
Type fieldType=GetArrayTypeof(fieldType);

How should I implement GetArrayTypeOf function ?

@BCdotNET I think this question is not the same as mine because I don't want to make a generic type like List<T> but I'd like to generate an array. — Beatles1692
– Beatles1692, Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 10:39
Then replace the generic type with an array: stackoverflow.com/questions/400900/… — BCdotWEB
– BCdotWEB, Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 10:41

Eugene Podskal · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 10:53:21Z

2

To get type from its string name you can use Type.GetType method.

To get array type from item use Type.MakeArrayType instance method:

 string itemTypeName = "System.Int32";

 Type itemType = Type.GetType(itemTypeName);

 Console.WriteLine(itemType.MakeArrayType());

edited Oct 21, 2014 at 10:53

answered Oct 21, 2014 at 10:33

Eugene Podskal

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2 Comments

Beatles1692 Over a year ago

Well I thought there might be a way without creating an instance :)

Beatles1692 Over a year ago

Funny that I haven't seen this method before :D

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