How to create a list dynamically from a class name (which is passed as argument) and return the list in c#.net - list

Question

How to create a list dynamically from a class name (which is passed as an argument) and return the list in C#.
Below code may not work. I have posted it to give an idea:
public T ConvertDataSetToList<T>(DataSet _ds, String tableName, string className)
{
Type classType=Type.GetType(className);
List<T> newList = new List<T>();
//System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetType(className));
try
{
Details _Details;
for (int iRowCount = 0; iRowCount < _ds.Tables[tableName].Rows.Count; iRowCount++)
{
_Details = FillDTO(_ds.Tables[tableName].Rows[iRowCount]);
newList.Add(_msDetails);
}
}
catch (Exception ex) { }
return newList;
}

Answer 1

You can dot it with some basic mapping stuff.
//Maps a dataset
public List<T> MapDataSet<T>(DataSet anyDataset
, string tablename) where T : new()
{
return MapDataTable<T>(anyDataset.Tables[tablename]);
}
// Maps a datatable
public List<T> MapDataTable<T>(DataTable table) where T : new()
{
List<T> result = new List<T>();
foreach(DataRow row in table.Rows)
{
result.Add(MapDataRow<T>(row));
}
return result;
}
// maps a DataRow to an arbitrary class (rudimentary)
public T MapDataRow<T>(DataRow row) where T: new()
{
// we map columns to class properties
Type destinationType = typeof(T);
// create our new class
T mappedTo = new T();
// iterate over the columns
for(int columnIndex=0;columnIndex<row.ItemArray.Length;columnIndex++)
{
// get a matching property of our class
PropertyInfo fieldTo = destinationType.GetProperty(
row.Table.Columns[columnIndex].ColumnName );
if (fieldTo !=null)
{
// map our fieldvalue to our property
fieldTo.SetValue(mappedTo, row[columnIndex], new object[] {});
}
else
{
// sorry, field doens't match any property on class
}
}
return mappedTo;
}
Here is basic test app to demonstrate its usage
void Main()
{
DataTable dt = new DataTable("hello");
dt.Columns.Add("foo");
dt.Columns.Add("bar");
dt.Columns.Add("foobar");
DataRow row = dt.NewRow();
row[0]="blah1";
row[1] ="two";
row[2] = "fb1";
dt.Rows.Add(row);
row = dt.NewRow();
row[0]="apples";
row[1] ="pears";
row[2] = "duh";
dt.Rows.Add(row);
List<DTO> list = MapDataTable<DTO>(dt);
List<SecondDTO> list2 = MapDataTable<SecondDTO>(dt);
}
// sample DTO object
public class DTO
{
public string foo { get; set;}
public string bar { get; set; }
}
// another sample DTO object
public class SecondDTO
{
public string foo { get; set;}
public string foobar { get; set; }
}