How to dynamic new Anonymous Class?

Question

In C# 3.0 you can create anonymous class with the following syntax

var o1 = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" };

Is there a way to dynamic create these anonymous class to a variable?

---

Example:

var o1 = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" };
var o2 = new { SQ = 2, Birth = DateTime.Now };

---

Dynamic create Example:

var o1 = DynamicNewAnonymous(new NameValuePair("Id", 1), new NameValuePair("Name", "Foo"));
var o2 = DynamicNewAnonymous(new NameValuePair("SQ", 2), new NameValuePair("Birth", 
DateTime.Now));

Beacuse I need to do:

dynamic o1 = new ExpandObject(); 
o1."ID" = 1;    <--"ID" is dynamic name
o1."Name" = "Foo";  <--"Name" is dynamic name

And Scene1:

void ShowPropertiesValue(object o)
{
  Type oType = o.GetType();
  foreach(var pi in oType.GetProperties())
  {
    Console.WriteLine("{0}={1}", pi.Name, pi.GetValue(o, null));
  }
}

if I call:

dynamic o1 = new ExpandObject();
o1.Name = "123";
ShowPropertiesValue(o1);

It can't show the result:

Name = 123

And also I how to Convert the ExpandoObject to AnonymouseType ?

Type type = o1.GetType();
type.GetProperties();   <--I hope it can get all property of o1

Last, I modify ShowPropertiesValue() method

void ShowPropertiesValue(object o)
{
  if( o is static object ) <--How to check it is dynamic or static object?
  {
    Type oType = o.GetType();
    foreach(var pi in oType.GetProperties())
    {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}={1}", pi.Name, pi.GetValue(o, null));
    }
  }
  else if( o is dynamic object )  <--How to check it is dynamic or static object?
  {
    foreach(var pi in ??? )  <--How to get common dynamic object's properties info ?
    {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}={1}", pi.Name, pi.GetValue(o, null));
    } 
  }
}

How to implement DynamicNewAnonymous method or how to modify the ShowPropertiesValue()?

My motivations is:

dynamic o1 = new MyDynamic();
o1.Name = "abc";
Type o1Type = o1.GetType();
var props = o1Type.GetProperties(); <--I hope can get the Name Property

If i can hook dynamicObject's GetType Method, and Compel convert to strongly-typed Type. The above Seamless code can work fine.

Answer 1

Anonymous types are just regular types that are implicitly declared. They have little to do with dynamic.

Now, if you were to use an ExpandoObject and reference it through a dynamic variable, you could add or remove fields on the fly.

edit

Sure you can: just cast it to IDictionary<string, object>. Then you can use the indexer.

You use the same casting technique to iterate over the fields:

dynamic employee = new ExpandoObject();
employee.Name = "John Smith";
employee.Age = 33;

foreach (var property in (IDictionary<string, object>)employee)
{
    Console.WriteLine(property.Key + ": " + property.Value);
}
// This code example produces the following output:
// Name: John Smith
// Age: 33

The above code and more can be found by clicking on that link.

Answer 2

You can create an ExpandoObject like this:

IDictionary<string,object> expando = new ExpandoObject();
expando["Name"] = value;

And after casting it to dynamic, those values will look like properties:

dynamic d = expando;
Console.WriteLine(d.Name);

However, they are not actual properties and cannot be accessed using Reflection. So the following statement will return a null:

d.GetType().GetProperty("Name") 

Answer 3

Of cause it's possible to create dynamic classes using very cool ExpandoObject class. But recently I worked on project and faced that Expando Object is serealized in not the same format on xml as an simple Anonymous class, it was pity =( , that is why I decided to create my own class and share it with you. It's using reflection and dynamic directive , builds Assembly, Class and Instance truly dynamicly. You can add, remove and change properties that is included in your class on fly Here it is :

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Reflection.Emit;
using static YourNamespace.DynamicTypeBuilderTest;

namespace YourNamespace
{

    /// This class builds Dynamic Anonymous Classes

    public class DynamicTypeBuilderTest
    {    
        ///   
        /// Create instance based on any Source class as example based on PersonalData
        ///
        public static object CreateAnonymousDynamicInstance(PersonalData personalData, Type dynamicType, List<ClassDescriptorKeyValue> classDescriptionList)
        {
            var obj = Activator.CreateInstance(dynamicType);

            var propInfos = dynamicType.GetProperties();

            classDescriptionList.ForEach(x => SetValueToProperty(obj, propInfos, personalData, x));

            return obj;
        }

        private static void SetValueToProperty(object obj, PropertyInfo[] propInfos, PersonalData aisMessage, ClassDescriptorKeyValue description)
        {
            propInfos.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Name == description.Name)?.SetValue(obj, description.ValueGetter(aisMessage), null);
        }

        public static dynamic CreateAnonymousDynamicType(string entityName, List<ClassDescriptorKeyValue> classDescriptionList)
        {
            AssemblyName asmName = new AssemblyName();
            asmName.Name = $"{entityName}Assembly";
            AssemblyBuilder assemblyBuilder = AssemblyBuilder.DefineDynamicAssembly(asmName, AssemblyBuilderAccess.RunAndCollect);

            ModuleBuilder moduleBuilder = assemblyBuilder.DefineDynamicModule($"{asmName.Name}Module");

            TypeBuilder typeBuilder = moduleBuilder.DefineType($"{entityName}Dynamic", TypeAttributes.Public);

            classDescriptionList.ForEach(x => CreateDynamicProperty(typeBuilder, x));

            return typeBuilder.CreateTypeInfo().AsType();
        }

        private static void CreateDynamicProperty(TypeBuilder typeBuilder, ClassDescriptorKeyValue description)
        {
            CreateDynamicProperty(typeBuilder, description.Name, description.Type);
        }

        ///
        ///Creation Dynamic property (from MSDN) with some Magic
        ///
        public static void CreateDynamicProperty(TypeBuilder typeBuilder, string name, Type propType)
        {
            FieldBuilder fieldBuider = typeBuilder.DefineField($"{name.ToLower()}Field",
                                                            propType,
                                                            FieldAttributes.Private);

            PropertyBuilder propertyBuilder = typeBuilder.DefineProperty(name,
                                                             PropertyAttributes.HasDefault,
                                                             propType,
                                                             null);

            MethodAttributes getSetAttr =
                MethodAttributes.Public | MethodAttributes.SpecialName |
                    MethodAttributes.HideBySig;

            MethodBuilder methodGetBuilder =
                typeBuilder.DefineMethod($"get_{name}",
                                           getSetAttr,
                                           propType,
                                           Type.EmptyTypes);

            ILGenerator methodGetIL = methodGetBuilder.GetILGenerator();

            methodGetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Ldarg_0);
            methodGetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Ldfld, fieldBuider);
            methodGetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Ret);

            MethodBuilder methodSetBuilder =
                typeBuilder.DefineMethod($"set_{name}",
                                           getSetAttr,
                                           null,
                                           new Type[] { propType });

            ILGenerator methodSetIL = methodSetBuilder.GetILGenerator();

            methodSetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Ldarg_0);
            methodSetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Ldarg_1);
            methodSetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Stfld, fieldBuider);
            methodSetIL.Emit(OpCodes.Ret);

            propertyBuilder.SetGetMethod(methodGetBuilder);
            propertyBuilder.SetSetMethod(methodSetBuilder);

        }

        public class ClassDescriptorKeyValue
        {
            public ClassDescriptorKeyValue(string name, Type type, Func<PersonalData, object> valueGetter)
            {
                Name = name;
                ValueGetter = valueGetter;
                Type = type;
            }

            public string Name;
            public Type Type;
            public Func<PersonalData, object> ValueGetter;
        }

        ///
        ///Your Custom class description based on any source class for example
        /// PersonalData
        public static IEnumerable<ClassDescriptorKeyValue> GetAnonymousClassDescription(bool includeAddress, bool includeFacebook)
        {
            yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Id", typeof(string), x => x.Id);
            yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Name", typeof(string), x => x.FirstName);
            yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Surname", typeof(string), x => x.LastName);
            yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Country", typeof(string), x => x.Country);
            yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Age", typeof(int?), x => x.Age);
            yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("IsChild", typeof(bool), x => x.Age < 21);

            if (includeAddress)
                yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Address", typeof(string), x => x?.Contacts["Address"]);
            if (includeFacebook)
                yield return new ClassDescriptorKeyValue("Facebook", typeof(string), x => x?.Contacts["Facebook"]);
        }

        ///
        ///Source Data Class for example
        /// of cause you can use any other class
        public class PersonalData
        { 
            public int Id { get; set; }
            public string FirstName { get; set; }
            public string LastName { get; set; }
            public string Country { get; set; }
            public int Age { get; set; }

            public Dictionary<string, string> Contacts { get; set; }
        }

    }
}

It is also very simple to use DynamicTypeBuilder, you just need put few lines like this:

    public class ExampleOfUse
    {
        private readonly bool includeAddress;
        private readonly bool includeFacebook;
        private readonly dynamic dynamicType;
        private readonly List<ClassDescriptorKeyValue> classDiscriptionList;
        public ExampleOfUse(bool includeAddress = false, bool includeFacebook = false)
        {
            this.includeAddress = includeAddress;
            this.includeFacebook = includeFacebook;
            this.classDiscriptionList = DynamicTypeBuilderTest.GetAnonymousClassDescription(includeAddress, includeFacebook).ToList();
            this.dynamicType = DynamicTypeBuilderTest.CreateAnonymousDynamicType("VeryPrivateData", this.classDiscriptionList);
        }

        public object Map(PersonalData privateInfo)
        {
            object dynamicObject = DynamicTypeBuilderTest.CreateAnonymousDynamicInstance(privateInfo, this.dynamicType, classDiscriptionList);

            return dynamicObject;
        }

    }

I hope that this code snippet help somebody =) Enjoy!