How do I convert a non-Generic IList to IList<T>?

Malcolm_40568 0
Viewed 34274

I have class that wants an IList<T>, but I have a Systems.Collection.IList, coming from an NHibernate quere.

I want to create a method that converts it to an IList<T>. How do I do this?

c#
7 Answers

If you're sure that all of the elements inherit from T (or whatever type you're using)

IList<T> myList = nonGenericList.Cast<T>().ToList();

If you're not sure:

IList<T> myList = nonGenericList.OfType<T>().ToList();

Of course, you will need the System.Linq namespace:

using System.Linq;
user_89540

Cast and OfType return IEnumerable<T> implemetnations, not IList<T> implementations, so they wouldn't be useful to you.

Calling .Cast<T>().ToList will result in an extra copy of the list, which may have adverse performance implications.

A better (IMHO) approach would be to just create a wrapper class and do the conversion on the fly. You want something like this:

class ListWrapper<T> : IList<T>
{
    private IList m_wrapped;

    //implement all the IList<T> methods ontop of m_wrapped, doing casts
    //or throwing not supported exceptions where appropriate.
    //You can implement 'GetEnumerator()' using iterators. See the docs for 
    //yield return for details
}

That will have the advantage of not create another copy of the entire list.

Scott_Wisniewski_17371920

One way is to use Linq, like list.OfType<T>() or .Cast<T>()

Miha_Markic_846150

Can't you achieve that NHibernate returns you an IList ? The ICriteria interface defines an List<T> method ...

user_557740

Frederik is correct, NHibernate already does this.

var data = query.List<MyType>();

This would result in an IList of the type you specified. In this case IList<MyType>.

user_1628480

No need for use Linq in this case (OfType() or .Cast). NHibernate implementation is enough.

You just have to use:

var results= query.List<YourType>();

Instead of

var results= query.List<>();
user_58732310
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