Testing if object is of generic type in C#
C#.NetGenericsReflectionTypesC# Problem Overview
I would like to perform a test if an object is of a generic type. I've tried the following without success:
public bool Test()
{
List<int> list = new List<int>();
return list.GetType() == typeof(List<>);
}
What am I doing wrong and how do I perform this test?
C# Solutions
Solution 1 - C#
If you want to check if it's an instance of a generic type:
return list.GetType().IsGenericType;
If you want to check if it's a generic List<T>
:
return list.GetType().GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(List<>);
As Jon points out, this checks the exact type equivalence. Returning false
doesn't necessarily mean list is List<T>
returns false
(i.e. the object cannot be assigned to a List<T>
variable).
Solution 2 - C#
I assume that you don't just want to know if the type is generic, but if an object is an instance of a particular generic type, without knowing the type arguments.
It's not terribly simple, unfortunately. It's not too bad if the generic type is a class (as it is in this case) but it's harder for interfaces. Here's the code for a class:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
class Test
{
static bool IsInstanceOfGenericType(Type genericType, object instance)
{
Type type = instance.GetType();
while (type != null)
{
if (type.IsGenericType &&
type.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == genericType)
{
return true;
}
type = type.BaseType;
}
return false;
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// True
Console.WriteLine(IsInstanceOfGenericType(typeof(List<>),
new List<string>()));
// False
Console.WriteLine(IsInstanceOfGenericType(typeof(List<>),
new string[0]));
// True
Console.WriteLine(IsInstanceOfGenericType(typeof(List<>),
new SubList()));
// True
Console.WriteLine(IsInstanceOfGenericType(typeof(List<>),
new SubList<int>()));
}
class SubList : List<string>
{
}
class SubList<T> : List<T>
{
}
}
EDIT: As noted in comments, this may work for interfaces:
foreach (var i in type.GetInterfaces())
{
if (i.IsGenericType && i.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == genericType)
{
return true;
}
}
I have a sneaking suspicion there may be some awkward edge cases around this, but I can't find one it fails for right now.
Solution 3 - C#
These are my two favorite extension methods that cover most edge cases of generic type checking:
Works with:
-
Multiple (generic) interfaces
-
Multiple (generic) base classes
-
Has an overload that will 'out' the specific generic type if it returns true (see unit test for samples):
public static bool IsOfGenericType(this Type typeToCheck, Type genericType) { Type concreteType; return typeToCheck.IsOfGenericType(genericType, out concreteType); } public static bool IsOfGenericType(this Type typeToCheck, Type genericType, out Type concreteGenericType) { while (true) { concreteGenericType = null; if (genericType == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(genericType)); if (!genericType.IsGenericTypeDefinition) throw new ArgumentException("The definition needs to be a GenericTypeDefinition", nameof(genericType)); if (typeToCheck == null || typeToCheck == typeof(object)) return false; if (typeToCheck == genericType) { concreteGenericType = typeToCheck; return true; } if ((typeToCheck.IsGenericType ? typeToCheck.GetGenericTypeDefinition() : typeToCheck) == genericType) { concreteGenericType = typeToCheck; return true; } if (genericType.IsInterface) foreach (var i in typeToCheck.GetInterfaces()) if (i.IsOfGenericType(genericType, out concreteGenericType)) return true; typeToCheck = typeToCheck.BaseType; } }
Here's a test to demonstrate the (basic) functionality:
[Test]
public void SimpleGenericInterfaces()
{
Assert.IsTrue(typeof(Table<string>).IsOfGenericType(typeof(IEnumerable<>)));
Assert.IsTrue(typeof(Table<string>).IsOfGenericType(typeof(IQueryable<>)));
Type concreteType;
Assert.IsTrue(typeof(Table<string>).IsOfGenericType(typeof(IEnumerable<>), out concreteType));
Assert.AreEqual(typeof(IEnumerable<string>), concreteType);
Assert.IsTrue(typeof(Table<string>).IsOfGenericType(typeof(IQueryable<>), out concreteType));
Assert.AreEqual(typeof(IQueryable<string>), concreteType);
}
Solution 4 - C#
You can use shorter code using dynamic althougth this may be slower than pure reflection:
public static class Extension
{
public static bool IsGenericList(this object o)
{
return IsGeneric((dynamic)o);
}
public static bool IsGeneric<T>(List<T> o)
{
return true;
}
public static bool IsGeneric( object o)
{
return false;
}
}
var l = new List<int>();
l.IsGenericList().Should().BeTrue();
var o = new object();
o.IsGenericList().Should().BeFalse();
Solution 5 - C#
return list.GetType().IsGenericType;
Solution 6 - C#
public static string WhatIsMyType<T>()
{
return typeof(T).NameWithGenerics();
}
public static string NameWithGenerics(this Type type)
{
if (type == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(type));
if (type.IsArray)
return $"{type.GetElementType()?.Name}[]";
if (!type.IsGenericType)
return type.Name;
var name = type.GetGenericTypeDefinition().Name;
var index = name.IndexOf('`');
var newName = index == -1 ? name : name.Substring(0, index);
var list = type.GetGenericArguments().Select(NameWithGenerics).ToList();
return $"{newName}<{string.Join(",", list)}>";
}
Now test with this:
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<IEnumerable<string>>());
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<List<int>>());
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<IList<int>>());
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<List<ContentBlob>>());
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<int[]>());
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<ContentBlob>());
Console.WriteLine(WhatIsMyType<Dictionary<string, Dictionary<int, int>>>());
and you will get
IEnumerable<String>
List<Int32>
IList<Int32>
List<ContentBlob>
Int32[]
ContentBlob
Dictionary<String,Dictionary<Int32,Int32>>