.NET get class name from String

Question

I need to use this method :

public T DeserializeFromXmlString<T>(string xmlString)
{
    var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
    using (TextReader reader = new StringReader(xmlString))
    {
        return (T)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
    }
}

And to use it, I need to know the generic type T. Imagine that I have a class "Apple". I will use it like this:

var myapple= DeserializeFromXmlString<Apple>(someXmlString);

But I need to be able to remove this <Apple> and replacing it by something else considering that I have the string "Apple".
The goal is to convert a string to be able to use it in this method as a generic type T.

Possible duplicate of How do I use reflection to call a generic method? — MakePeaceGreatAgain
– MakePeaceGreatAgain, Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 12:05

Dennis · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-03 12:01:05Z

2

Re-design your API to support non-generic cases:

public object DeserializeFromXmlString(Type targetType, string xmlString)
{
    var serializer = new XmlSerializer(targetType);
    using (TextReader reader = new StringReader(xmlString))
    {
        return serializer.Deserialize(reader);
    }
}

public T DeserializeFromXmlString<T>(string xmlString)
{
    return (T)DeserializeFromXmlString(typeof(T), xmlString);
}

Load type from string and use non-generic API:

var targetType = Type.GetType("YourTypeName", true);
var deserializedObj = DeserializeFromXmlString(targetType, yourXmlString);

answered Jun 3, 2016 at 12:01

Dennis

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5 Comments

MakePeaceGreatAgain Over a year ago

This however won´t return a strongly typed instance of T if we don´t know the type at compile-time which is what OP wants - as far as I see.

Dennis Over a year ago

@HimBromBeere: absolutely. But, if we know type at compile-time, we've got a type instead of type name. IMO, it is strange to talk about type safety in context of type name usage. :)

KingOfBabu Over a year ago

Ok, thanks this help ! But what can I do now if I want to get the value of a xml element now ? Before, I could just do myApple.color for example

Dennis Over a year ago

@KingOfBabu: it looks like you're talking about two mutual exclusive use cases. To be able to write myApple.Color, you need to know about Apple type at compile-type; and if you know about Apple, then you can use generic method and don't need type name. Assuming, that Apple is unknown at compile-time, you need non-generic method, but you can't write myApple.Color in this case. Your options will be: a) dynamic; b) reflection; c) casting to some base type, which is known statically (e.g. Fruit).

KingOfBabu Over a year ago

Ok, this is better now ! I will use reflection, thanks :)

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