Dynamic override of ToString() using Reflection

Question

I generally override the ToString() method to output the property names and the values associated to them. I got a bit tired of writing these by hand so I\'m looking for a d

Answer 1

This works for me:

public class TestingClass
{
    public string Prop1 { get; set; }//properties
    public string Prop2 { get; set; }
    public void Method1(string a) { }//method
    public TestingClass() { }//const
    public override string ToString()
    {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in this.GetType().GetProperties())
        {
            sb.Append(property.Name);
            sb.Append(": ");
            if (property.GetIndexParameters().Length > 0)
            {
                sb.Append("Indexed Property cannot be used");
            }
            else
            {
                sb.Append(property.GetValue(this, null));
            }

            sb.Append(System.Environment.NewLine);
        }

        return sb.ToString();
    }
}

---

To make it available everywhere you can create an Extension.
It's not possible to override methods in an Extension, but still it should simplify your life.

public static class MyExtensions
{
    public static string ToStringExtension(this object obj)
    {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
        {

            sb.Append(property.Name);
            sb.Append(": ");
            if (property.GetIndexParameters().Length > 0)
            {
                sb.Append("Indexed Property cannot be used");
            }
            else
            {
                sb.Append(property.GetValue(obj, null));
            }

            sb.Append(System.Environment.NewLine);
        }

        return sb.ToString();
    }
}

You can then call ToStringExtension() on every object.
Downside is, it doesn't work perfectly for lists etc., example:

var list = new List();
// (filling list ommitted)
list.ToStringExtension();
// output:
// Capacity: 16
// Count: 11
// Item: Indexed Property cannot be used