Check if a class is derived from a generic class

Question

I have a generic class in my project with derived classes.

public class GenericClass : GenericInterface
{
}

public class Test : GenericCla         


        

Answer 1

JaredPar's code works but only for one level of inheritance. For unlimited levels of inheritance, use the following code

public bool IsTypeDerivedFromGenericType(Type typeToCheck, Type genericType)
{
    if (typeToCheck == typeof(object))
    {
        return false;
    }
    else if (typeToCheck == null)
    {
        return false;
    }
    else if (typeToCheck.IsGenericType && typeToCheck.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == genericType)
    {
        return true;
    }
    else
    {
        return IsTypeDerivedFromGenericType(typeToCheck.BaseType, genericType);
    }
}

Answer 2

I worked through some of these samples and found they were lacking in some cases. This version works with all kinds of generics: types, interfaces and type definitions thereof.

public static bool InheritsOrImplements(this Type child, Type parent)
{
    parent = ResolveGenericTypeDefinition(parent);

    var currentChild = child.IsGenericType
                           ? child.GetGenericTypeDefinition()
                           : child;

    while (currentChild != typeof (object))
    {
        if (parent == currentChild || HasAnyInterfaces(parent, currentChild))
            return true;

        currentChild = currentChild.BaseType != null
                       && currentChild.BaseType.IsGenericType
                           ? currentChild.BaseType.GetGenericTypeDefinition()
                           : currentChild.BaseType;

        if (currentChild == null)
            return false;
    }
    return false;
}

private static bool HasAnyInterfaces(Type parent, Type child)
{
    return child.GetInterfaces()
        .Any(childInterface =>
        {
            var currentInterface = childInterface.IsGenericType
                ? childInterface.GetGenericTypeDefinition()
                : childInterface;

            return currentInterface == parent;
        });
}

private static Type ResolveGenericTypeDefinition(Type parent)
{
    var shouldUseGenericType = true;
    if (parent.IsGenericType && parent.GetGenericTypeDefinition() != parent)
        shouldUseGenericType = false;

    if (parent.IsGenericType && shouldUseGenericType)
        parent = parent.GetGenericTypeDefinition();
    return parent;
}

Here are the unit tests also:

protected interface IFooInterface
{
}

protected interface IGenericFooInterface<T>
{
}

protected class FooBase
{
}

protected class FooImplementor
    : FooBase, IFooInterface
{
}

protected class GenericFooBase
    : FooImplementor, IGenericFooInterface<object>
{

}

protected class GenericFooImplementor<T>
    : FooImplementor, IGenericFooInterface<T>
{
}


[Test]
public void Should_inherit_or_implement_non_generic_interface()
{
    Assert.That(typeof(FooImplementor)
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(IFooInterface)), Is.True);
}

[Test]
public void Should_inherit_or_implement_generic_interface()
{
    Assert.That(typeof(GenericFooBase)
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(IGenericFooInterface<>)), Is.True);
}

[Test]
public void Should_inherit_or_implement_generic_interface_by_generic_subclass()
{
    Assert.That(typeof(GenericFooImplementor<>)
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(IGenericFooInterface<>)), Is.True);
}

[Test]
public void Should_inherit_or_implement_generic_interface_by_generic_subclass_not_caring_about_generic_type_parameter()
{
    Assert.That(new GenericFooImplementor<string>().GetType()
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(IGenericFooInterface<>)), Is.True);
}

[Test]
public void Should_not_inherit_or_implement_generic_interface_by_generic_subclass_not_caring_about_generic_type_parameter()
{
    Assert.That(new GenericFooImplementor<string>().GetType()
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(IGenericFooInterface<int>)), Is.False);
}

[Test]
public void Should_inherit_or_implement_non_generic_class()
{
    Assert.That(typeof(FooImplementor)
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(FooBase)), Is.True);
}

[Test]
public void Should_inherit_or_implement_any_base_type()
{
    Assert.That(typeof(GenericFooImplementor<>)
        .InheritsOrImplements(typeof(FooBase)), Is.True);
}

Answer 3

Simple solution: just create and add a second, non-generic interface to the generic class:

public interface IGenericClass
{
}

public class GenericClass<T> : GenericInterface<T>, IGenericClass
{
}

Then just check for that in any way you like using is, as, IsAssignableFrom, etc.

if (thing is IGenericClass)
{
    // Do work
{

Obviously only possible if you have the ability to edit the generic class (which the OP seems to have), but it's a bit more elegant and readable than using a cryptic extension method.

Answer 4

Added to @jaredpar's answer, here's what I use to check for interfaces:

public static bool IsImplementerOfRawGeneric(this Type type, Type toCheck)
{
    if (toCheck.GetTypeInfo().IsClass)
    {
        return false;
    }

    return type.GetInterfaces().Any(interfaceType =>
    {
        var current = interfaceType.GetTypeInfo().IsGenericType ?
                    interfaceType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() : interfaceType;
        return current == toCheck;
    });
}

public static bool IsSubTypeOfRawGeneric(this Type type, Type toCheck)
{
    return type.IsInterface ?
          IsImplementerOfRawGeneric(type, toCheck)
        : IsSubclassOfRawGeneric(type, toCheck);
}

Ex:

Console.WriteLine(typeof(IList<>).IsSubTypeOfRawGeneric(typeof(IList<int>))); // true