How do you convert a DataTable into a generic list?

Question

Currently, I\'m using:

DataTable dt = CreateDataTableInSomeWay();

List list = new List(); 
foreach (DataRow dr in dt.Rows)
{
          


        

Answer 1

List<Employee> emp = new List<Employee>();

//Maintaining DataTable on ViewState
//For Demo only

DataTable dt = ViewState["CurrentEmp"] as DataTable;

//read data from DataTable 
//using lamdaexpression


emp = (from DataRow row in dt.Rows

   select new Employee
   {
       _FirstName = row["FirstName"].ToString(),
       _LastName = row["Last_Name"].ToString()

   }).ToList();

Answer 2

A more 'magic' way, and doesn't need .NET 3.5.

If, for example, DBDatatable was returning a single column of Guids (uniqueidentifier in SQL) then you could use:

Dim gList As New List(Of Guid)
gList.AddRange(DirectCast(DBDataTable.Select(), IEnumerable(Of Guid)))

Answer 3

To assign the DataTable rows to the generic List of class

  List<Candidate> temp = new List<Candidate>();//List that holds the Candidate Class,
    //Note:The Candidate class contains RollNo,Name and Department
    //tb is DataTable
    temp = (from DataRow dr in tb.Rows
                        select new Candidate()
                        {
                            RollNO = Convert.ToInt32(dr["RollNO"]),
                            Name = dr["Name"].ToString(),
                            Department = dr["Department"].ToString(),

                        }).ToList();

Answer 4

Output

public class ModelUser
{
    #region Model

    private string _username;
    private string _userpassword;
    private string _useremail;
    private int _userid;

    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>
    public int userid
    {
        set { _userid = value; }
        get { return _userid; }
    }


    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>

    public string username
    {
        set { _username = value; }
        get { return _username; }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>
    public string useremail
    {
        set { _useremail = value; }
        get { return _useremail; }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// 
    /// </summary>
    public string userpassword
    {
        set { _userpassword = value; }
        get { return _userpassword; }
    }
    #endregion Model
}

public List<ModelUser> DataTableToList(DataTable dt)
{
    List<ModelUser> modelList = new List<ModelUser>();
    int rowsCount = dt.Rows.Count;
    if (rowsCount > 0)
    {
        ModelUser model;
        for (int n = 0; n < rowsCount; n++)
        {
            model = new ModelUser();

            model.userid = (int)dt.Rows[n]["userid"];
            model.username = dt.Rows[n]["username"].ToString();
            model.useremail = dt.Rows[n]["useremail"].ToString();
            model.userpassword = dt.Rows[n]["userpassword"].ToString();

            modelList.Add(model);
        }
    }
    return modelList;
}

static DataTable GetTable()
{
    // Here we create a DataTable with four columns.
    DataTable table = new DataTable();
    table.Columns.Add("userid", typeof(int));
    table.Columns.Add("username", typeof(string));
    table.Columns.Add("useremail", typeof(string));
    table.Columns.Add("userpassword", typeof(string));

    // Here we add five DataRows.
    table.Rows.Add(25, "Jame", "Jame@hotmail.com", DateTime.Now.ToString());
    table.Rows.Add(50, "luci", "luci@hotmail.com", DateTime.Now.ToString());
    table.Rows.Add(10, "Andrey", "Andrey@hotmail.com", DateTime.Now.ToString());
    table.Rows.Add(21, "Michael", "Michael@hotmail.com", DateTime.Now.ToString());
    table.Rows.Add(100, "Steven", "Steven@hotmail.com", DateTime.Now.ToString());
    return table;
}

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    List<ModelUser> userList = new List<ModelUser>();

    DataTable dt = GetTable();

    userList = DataTableToList(dt);

    gv.DataSource = userList;
    gv.DataBind();
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Answer 5

You can use a generic method like that for datatable to generic list

public static List<T> DataTableToList<T>(this DataTable table) where T : class, new()
{
    try
    {
        List<T> list = new List<T>();

        foreach (var row in table.AsEnumerable())
        {
            T obj = new T();

            foreach (var prop in obj.GetType().GetProperties())
            {
                try
                {
                    PropertyInfo propertyInfo = obj.GetType().GetProperty(prop.Name);
                    if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsEnum)
                    {
                        propertyInfo.SetValue(obj, Enum.Parse(propertyInfo.PropertyType, row[prop.Name].ToString()));
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        propertyInfo.SetValue(obj, Convert.ChangeType(row[prop.Name], propertyInfo.PropertyType), null);
                    }                          
                }
                catch
                {
                    continue;
                }
            }

            list.Add(obj);
        }

        return list;
    }
    catch
    {
        return null;
    }
}

Answer 6

lPerson = dt.AsEnumerable().Select(s => new Person()
        {
            Name = s.Field<string>("Name"),
            SurName = s.Field<string>("SurName"),
            Age = s.Field<int>("Age"),
            InsertDate = s.Field<DateTime>("InsertDate")
        }).ToList();

Link to working DotNetFiddle Example

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;   
using System.Data;
using System.Linq;
using System.Data.DataSetExtensions;

public static void Main()
{
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
    dt.Columns.Add("Name", typeof(string));
    dt.Columns.Add("SurName", typeof(string));
    dt.Columns.Add("Age", typeof(int));
    dt.Columns.Add("InsertDate", typeof(DateTime));

    var row1= dt.NewRow();
    row1["Name"] = "Adam";
    row1["SurName"] = "Adam";
    row1["Age"] = 20;
    row1["InsertDate"] = new DateTime(2020, 1, 1);
    dt.Rows.Add(row1);

    var row2 = dt.NewRow();
    row2["Name"] = "John";
    row2["SurName"] = "Smith";
    row2["Age"] = 25;
    row2["InsertDate"] = new DateTime(2020, 3, 12);
    dt.Rows.Add(row2);

    var row3 = dt.NewRow();
    row3["Name"] = "Jack";
    row3["SurName"] = "Strong";
    row3["Age"] = 32;
    row3["InsertDate"] = new DateTime(2020, 5, 20);
    dt.Rows.Add(row3);

    List<Person> lPerson = new List<Person>();
    lPerson = dt.AsEnumerable().Select(s => new Person()
    {
        Name = s.Field<string>("Name"),
        SurName = s.Field<string>("SurName"),
        Age = s.Field<int>("Age"),
        InsertDate = s.Field<DateTime>("InsertDate")
    }).ToList();

    foreach(Person pers in lPerson)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2} {3}", pers.Name, pers.SurName, pers.Age, pers.InsertDate);
    }
}   

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string SurName { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public DateTime InsertDate { get; set; }
}

}