I'm wanting to have a simple duck typing example in C# using dynamic objects. It would seem to me, that a dynamic object should have HasValue/HasProperty/HasMethod methods with a single string parameter for the name of the value, property, or method you are looking for before trying to run against it. I'm trying to avoid try/catch blocks, and deeper reflection if possible. It just seems to be a common practice for duck typing in dynamic languages (JS, Ruby, Python etc.) that is to test for a property/method before trying to use it, then falling back to a default, or throwing a controlled exception. The example below is basically what I want to accomplish.
If the methods described above don't exist, does anyone have premade extension methods for dynamic that will do this?
Example: In JavaScript I can test for a method on an object fairly easily.
//JavaScript
function quack(duck) {
if (duck && typeof duck.quack === "function") {
return duck.quack();
}
return null; //nothing to return, not a duck
}
How would I do the same in C#?
//C# 4
dynamic Quack(dynamic duck)
{
//how do I test that the duck is not null,
//and has a quack method?
//if it doesn't quack, return null
}
Try this:
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
//...
public dynamic Quack(dynamic duck, int i)
{
Object obj = duck as Object;
if (duck != null)
{
//check if object has method Quack()
MethodInfo method = obj.GetType().GetMethods().
FirstOrDefault(x => x.Name == "Quack");
//if yes
if (method != null)
{
//invoke and return value
return method.Invoke((object)duck, null);
}
}
return null;
}
Or this (uses only dynamic):
public static dynamic Quack(dynamic duck)
{
try
{
//invoke and return value
return duck.Quack();
}
//thrown if method call failed
catch (RuntimeBinderException)
{
return null;
}
}