Convert DataTable to Generic List in C#

Question

Disclaimer: I know its asked at so many places at SO.
My query is a little different.

Coding Language: C# 3.5

I have a DataTable named cardsTable that

Answer 1

I built on top of Tomas Jansson's logic to include an "Ignore" attribute. This allows me to add other attribute's to the class being loaded without breaking the DataTable-To-Class loading itself.

Alternatively I also considered adding a separate parameter that holds the actual column name to be read from in the DataTable. In that case instead of using "row[property.Name]" then you'd use row[attribute.Name]" or something like that for that particular property.

public static class DataTableExtensions
{
    [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, Inherited = false, AllowMultiple = true)]
    public sealed class IgnoreAttribute : Attribute { public IgnoreAttribute() { } }

    private static Dictionary<Type, IList<PropertyInfo>> typeDictionary = new Dictionary<Type, IList<PropertyInfo>>();

    public static IList<PropertyInfo> GetPropertiesForType<T>()
    {
        var type = typeof(T);

        if (!typeDictionary.ContainsKey(typeof(T)))
            typeDictionary.Add(type, type.GetProperties().ToList());

        return typeDictionary[type];
    }

    public static IList<T> ToList<T>(this DataTable table) where T : new()
    {
        IList<PropertyInfo> properties = GetPropertiesForType<T>();
        IList<T> result = new List<T>();

        foreach (var row in table.Rows)
            result.Add(CreateItemFromRow<T>((DataRow)row, properties));

        return result;
    }

    private static T CreateItemFromRow<T>(DataRow row, IList<PropertyInfo> properties) where T : new()
    {
        T item = new T();

        foreach (var property in properties)
        {
            // Only load those attributes NOT tagged with the Ignore Attribute
            var atr = property.GetCustomAttribute(typeof(IgnoreAttribute));
            if (atr == null)
                property.SetValue(item, row[property.Name], null);
        }

        return item;
    }
}

Answer 2

You could actually shorten it down considerably. You can think of the Select() extension method as a type converter. The conversion could then be written as this:

List<Cards> target = dt.AsEnumerable()
    .Select(row => new Cards
    {
        // assuming column 0's type is Nullable<long>
        CardID = row.Field<long?>(0).GetValueOrDefault(),
        CardName = String.IsNullOrEmpty(row.Field<string>(1))
            ? "not found"
            : row.Field<string>(1),
    }).ToList();

Answer 3

Coming late but this can be useful. Can be called using:

table.Map(); or call with a Func to filter the values.

You can even change the mapping name between the type property and DataColumn header by setting the attributes on the property.

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
    public class SimppleMapperAttribute: Attribute
    {
        public string HeaderName { get; set; }
    }


     public static class SimpleMapper
{
    #region properties
    public static bool UseDeferredExecution { get; set; } = true;
    #endregion

#region public_interface  


    public static IEnumerable<T> MapWhere<T>(this DataTable table, Func<T, bool> sortExpression) where T:new()
    {
        var result = table.Select().Select(row => ConvertRow<T>(row, table.Columns, typeof(T).GetProperties())).Where((t)=>sortExpression(t));
        return UseDeferredExecution ? result : result.ToArray();
    }
    public static IEnumerable<T> Map<T>(this DataTable table) where T : new()
    {
        var result = table.Select().Select(row => ConvertRow<T>(row, table.Columns, typeof(T).GetProperties()));
        return UseDeferredExecution ? result : result.ToArray();
    }
    #endregion

#region implementation_details
    private static T ConvertRow<T>(DataRow row, DataColumnCollection columns, System.Reflection.PropertyInfo[] p_info) where T : new()
    {
        var instance = new T();
        foreach (var info in p_info)
        {
            if (columns.Contains(GetMappingName(info))) SetProperty(row, instance, info);             
        }
        return instance;
    }

    private static void SetProperty<T>(DataRow row, T instance, System.Reflection.PropertyInfo info) where T : new()
    {
        string mp_name = GetMappingName(info);
        object value = row[mp_name];
        info.SetValue(instance, value);
    }

    private static string GetMappingName(System.Reflection.PropertyInfo info)
    {
        SimppleMapperAttribute attribute = info.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(SimppleMapperAttribute),true).Select((o) => o as SimppleMapperAttribute).FirstOrDefault();
        return attribute == null ? info.Name : attribute.HeaderName;
    }
#endregion
}