A generic list of anonymous class

Question

In C# 3.0 you can create anonymous class with the following syntax

var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" };

Is there a way to add these anonymous class to a generic list?

Example:

var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" };
var o1 = new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" };

List<var> list = new List<var>();
list.Add(o);
list.Add(o1);

Another Example:

List<var> list = new List<var>();

while (....)
{
    ....
    list.Add(new {Id = x, Name = y});
    ....
}

Answer 1

You could do:

var list = new[] { o, o1 }.ToList();

There are lots of ways of skinning this cat, but basically they'll all use type inference somewhere - which means you've got to be calling a generic method (possibly as an extension method). Another example might be:

public static List<T> CreateList<T>(params T[] elements)
{
     return new List<T>(elements);
}

var list = CreateList(o, o1);

You get the idea :)

Answer 2

Here is the answer.

string result = String.Empty;

var list = new[]
{ 
    new { Number = 10, Name = "Smith" },
    new { Number = 10, Name = "John" } 
}.ToList();

foreach (var item in list)
{
    result += String.Format("Name={0}, Number={1}\n", item.Name, item.Number);
}

MessageBox.Show(result);

Answer 3

There are many ways to do this, but some of the responses here are creating a list that contains garbage elements, which requires you to clear the list.

If you are looking for an empty list of the generic type, use a Select against a List of Tuples to make the empty list. No elements will be instantiated.

Here's the one-liner to create an empty list:

 var emptyList = new List<Tuple<int, string>>()
          .Select(t => new { Id = t.Item1, Name = t.Item2 }).ToList();

Then you can add to it using your generic type:

 emptyList.Add(new { Id = 1, Name = "foo" });
 emptyList.Add(new { Id = 2, Name = "bar" });

As an alternative, you can do something like below to create the empty list (But, I prefer the first example because you can use it for a populated collection of Tuples as well) :

 var emptyList = new List<object>()
          .Select(t => new { Id = default(int), Name = default(string) }).ToList();   

Answer 4

Not exactly, but you can say List<object> and things will work. However, list[0].Id won't work.

This will work at runtime in C# 4.0 by having a List<dynamic>, that is you won't get IntelliSense.

Answer 5

I guess

List<T> CreateEmptyGenericList<T>(T example) {
    return new List<T>();
}

void something() {
    var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "foo" };
    var emptyListOfAnonymousType = CreateEmptyGenericList(o);
}

will work.

You might also consider writing it like this:

void something() {
    var String = string.Emtpy;
    var Integer = int.MinValue;
    var emptyListOfAnonymousType = CreateEmptyGenericList(new { Id = Integer, Name = String });
}

Answer 6

I usually use the following; mainly because you then "start" with a list that's empty.

var list = Enumerable.Range(0, 0).Select(e => new { ID = 1, Name = ""}).ToList();
list.Add(new {ID = 753159, Name = "Lamont Cranston"} );
//etc.

Lately, I've been writing it like this instead:

var list = Enumerable.Repeat(new { ID = 1, Name = "" }, 0).ToList();
list.Add(new {ID = 753159, Name = "Lamont Cranston"} );

Using the repeat method would also allow you to do:

var myObj = new { ID = 1, Name = "John" };
var list = Enumerable.Repeat(myObj, 1).ToList();
list.Add(new { ID = 2, Name = "Liana" });

..which gives you the initial list with the first item already added.

Answer 7

You can do this in your code.

var list = new[] { new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" } }.ToList();
list.Add(new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" });

Answer 8

I checked the IL on several answers. This code efficiently provides an empty List:

    using System.Linq;
    …
    var list = new[]{new{Id = default(int), Name = default(string)}}.Skip(1).ToList();

Answer 9

In latest version 4.0, can use dynamic like below

var list = new List<dynamic>();
        list.Add(new {
            Name = "Damith"
    });
        foreach(var item in list){
            Console.WriteLine(item.Name);
        }
    }

Answer 10

Here is my attempt.

List<object> list = new List<object> { new { Id = 10, Name = "Testing1" }, new {Id =2, Name ="Testing2" }}; 

I came up with this when I wrote something similar for making a Anonymous List for a custom type.

Answer 11

Here is a another method of creating a List of anonymous types that allows you to start with an empty list, but still have access to IntelliSense.

var items = "".Select( t => new {Id = 1, Name = "foo"} ).ToList();

If you wanted to keep the first item, just put one letter in the string.

var items = "1".Select( t => new {Id = 1, Name = "foo"} ).ToList();

Answer 12

Instead of this:

var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" }; 
var o1 = new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" }; 

List <var> list = new List<var>(); 
list.Add(o); 
list.Add(o1);

You could do this:

var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" }; 
var o1 = new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" }; 

List<object> list = new List<object>(); 
list.Add(o); 
list.Add(o1);

However, you will get a compiletime error if you try to do something like this in another scope, although it works at runtime:

private List<object> GetList()
{ 
    List<object> list = new List<object>();
    var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" }; 
    var o1 = new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" }; 
    list.Add(o); 
    list.Add(o1);
    return list;
}

private void WriteList()
{
    foreach (var item in GetList()) 
    { 
        Console.WriteLine("Name={0}{1}", item.Name, Environment.NewLine); 
    }
}

The problem is that only the members of Object are available at runtime, although intellisense will show the properties id and name.

In .net 4.0 a solution is to use the keyword dynamic istead of object in the code above.

Another solution is to use reflection to get the properties

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Program p = new Program();
            var anonymous = p.GetList(new[]{
                new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" },       
                new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" }
            });

            p.WriteList(anonymous);
        }

        private List<T> GetList<T>(params T[] elements)
        {
            var a = TypeGenerator(elements);
            return a;
        }

        public static List<T> TypeGenerator<T>(T[] at)
        {
            return new List<T>(at);
        }

        private void WriteList<T>(List<T> elements)
        {
            PropertyInfo[] pi = typeof(T).GetProperties();
            foreach (var el in elements)
            {
                foreach (var p in pi)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0}", p.GetValue(el, null));
                }
            }
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

Answer 13

var list = new[]{
new{
FirstField = default(string),
SecondField = default(int),
ThirdField = default(double)
}
}.ToList();
list.RemoveAt(0);

Answer 14

You can create a list of dynamic.

List<dynamic> anons=new List<dynamic>();
foreach (Model model in models)
{
   var anon= new
   {
      Id = model.Id,
      Name=model.Name
   };
   anons.Add(anon);
}

"dynamic" gets initialized by the first value added.

Answer 15

You can do it this way:

var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" };
var o1 = new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" };

var array = new[] { o, o1 };
var list = array.ToList();

list.Add(new { Id = 3, Name = "Yeah" });

It seems a little "hacky" to me, but it works - if you really need to have a list and can't just use the anonymous array.

Answer 16

This is an old question, but I thought I'd put in my C# 6 answer. I often have to set up test data that is easily entered in-code as a list of tuples. With a couple of extension functions, it is possible to have this nice, compact format, without repeating the names on each entry.

var people= new List<Tuple<int, int, string>>() {
    {1, 11, "Adam"},
    {2, 22, "Bill"},
    {3, 33, "Carol"}
}.Select(t => new { Id = t.Item1, Age = t.Item2, Name = t.Item3 });

This gives an IEnumerable - if you want a list that you can add to then just add ToList().

The magic comes from custom extension Add methods for tuples, as described at https://stackoverflow.com/a/27455822/4536527.

public static class TupleListExtensions    {
    public static void Add<T1, T2>(this IList<Tuple<T1, T2>> list,
            T1 item1, T2 item2)       {
        list.Add(Tuple.Create(item1, item2));
    }

    public static void Add<T1, T2, T3>(this IList<Tuple<T1, T2, T3>> list,
            T1 item1, T2 item2, T3 item3) {
        list.Add(Tuple.Create(item1, item2, item3));
    }

// and so on...

}

The only thing I don't like is that the types are separated from the names, but if you really don't want to make a new class then this approach will still let you have readable data.

Answer 17

For your second example, where you have to initialize a new List<T>, one idea is to create an anonymous list, and then clear it.

var list = new[] { o, o1 }.ToList();
list.Clear();

//and you can keep adding.
while (....)
{
    ....
    list.Add(new { Id = x, Name = y });
    ....
}

Or as an extension method, should be easier:

public static List<T> GetEmptyListOfThisType<T>(this T item)
{
    return new List<T>();
}

//so you can call:
var list = new { Id = 0, Name = "" }.GetEmptyListOfThisType();

Or probably even shorter,

var list = new int[0].Select(x => new { Id = 0, Name = "" }).Tolist();

Answer 18

Deriving from this answer, I came up with two methods that could do the task:

    /// <summary>
    /// Create a list of the given anonymous class. <paramref name="definition"/> isn't called, it is only used
    /// for the needed type inference. This overload is for when you don't have an instance of the anon class
    /// and don't want to make one to make the list.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="definition"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
#pragma warning disable RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    public static List<T> CreateListOfAnonType<T>(Func<T> definition)
#pragma warning restore RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    {
        return new List<T>();
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Create a list of the given anonymous class. <paramref name="definition"/> isn't added to the list, it is
    /// only used for the needed type inference. This overload is for when you do have an instance of the anon
    /// class and don't want the compiler to waste time making a temp class to define the type.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="definition"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
#pragma warning disable RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    public static List<T> CreateListOfAnonType<T>(T definition)
#pragma warning restore RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    {
        return new List<T>();
    }

You can use the methods like

var emptyList = CreateListOfAnonType(()=>new { Id = default(int), Name = default(string) });
//or
var existingAnonInstance = new { Id = 59, Name = "Joe" };
var otherEmptyList = CreateListOfAnonType(existingAnonInstance);

This answer has a similar idea, but I didn't see it until after I made those methods.

Answer 19

Try with this:

var result = new List<object>();

foreach (var test in model.ToList()) {
   result.Add(new {Id = test.IdSoc,Nom = test.Nom});
}

Answer 20

static void Main()
{
    List<int> list = new List<int>();
    list.Add(2);
    list.Add(3);
    list.Add(5);
    list.Add(7);
}