iterate through List<object>

Question

How can I loop through a List of type Object?

List<object> countries = new List<object>();
countries.Add(new { Name = "United States", Abbr = "US" , Currency = "$"});
countries.Add(new { Name = "Canada", Abbr = "CA", Currency = "$" });
...more

I want to do something like (using property names) in my view

@model ViewModel
@foreach(object country in Model.Countries)
{
    Name = country.Name
    Code = country.Abbr
    Currency = country.Currency
}

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that I am using MVC and I want to loop the data in View. Countries object is one of the property of ViewModel to view is strongly typed.

UPDATE: updating as asked to show how View is called from the controller -

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(FormCollection form)
{
..some validations and some logic
ViewModel myViewModel = new ViewModel();
myViewModel.Countries = GetCountries(); -- this is where data get initialized
myViewModel.Data = db.GetData();
return PartialView("_myPartial", myViewModel);
}

you could try the cast to anonymous type here stackoverflow.com/questions/1409734/cast-to-anonymous-type — Manatherin
– Manatherin, Commented Sep 26, 2012 at 16:18
Or you could also just use foreach(dynamic country in countries) if you're using .net 4.0 but the best way is just to create a class — Manatherin
– Manatherin, Commented Sep 26, 2012 at 16:19
In this case you could use msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/… — BrunoLM
– BrunoLM, Commented Sep 26, 2012 at 16:27
The alternative way is using reflection as given [here][1] [1]: stackoverflow.com/questions/2594527/… — peacefulmember
– peacefulmember, Commented Sep 26, 2012 at 18:44

L.B · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-26 16:22:50Z

9

var countries = new []{
        new { Name = "United States", Abbr = "US", Currency = "$" },
        new { Name = "Canada", Abbr = "CA", Currency = "$" }
    };

foreach(var country in countries)
{
      var Name = country.Name;
      .....
}

answered Sep 26, 2012 at 16:22

L.B

116k20 gold badges188 silver badges229 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

kbaccouche · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-26 17:18:32Z

3

If I understood well, you are trying to send the view model from the controller to the view. So if you are using razor your code should be like this

@model ViewModel
@foreach(object country in Model.countries)
{
  var Name = country.Name
  var Code = country.Abbr
  var Currency = country.Currency
}

notice the keyword Model.

Edit

// Code inside your controller should be like this
ViewModel myModel = new ViewModel();
List<object> countries = new List<object>();
countries.Add(new { Name = "United States", Abbr = "US" , Currency = "$"});
countries.Add(new { Name = "Canada", Abbr = "CA", Currency = "$" });

myModel.countries = countries;

return View("yourView", myModel); // you can write just return View(myModel); if your view's name is the same as your action

Hope it helps you.

edited Sep 26, 2012 at 17:18

answered Sep 26, 2012 at 16:54

kbaccouche

4,60511 gold badges47 silver badges65 bronze badges

10 Comments

peacefulmember Over a year ago

I am not very clear here. Model is referring to ViewModel which has one property as Countries. Then how would it recognize Countries list. I tried your example I get

'object' does not contain a definition for 'Name' and no extension method 'Name' accepting a first argument of type 'object' could be found.

kbaccouche Over a year ago

Can you put the code you are using to call your view from the controller ?

kbaccouche Over a year ago

You are returning an object when your action should return an ActionResult. Change the return insruction to look like mine and you will be fine ;)

peacefulmember Over a year ago

Seems like the similar code that I have. I noticed the Model keyword. That is what I have. It was typo in my original question. Sorry about that.

kbaccouche Over a year ago

So the problem is related to using the type Object, try to create your own class Country wich has all the properties you need ("Name" ...)

|

Adriaan Stander · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-26 16:19:58Z

3

You need to make countries anonymous too.

As an exaplme, something like

var countries = (new[] {
    new { Name = "United States", Abbr = "US", Currency = "$" },
    new { Name = "Canada", Abbr = "CA", Currency = "$" },
 });
 List<string> names = new List<string>();
 countries.ToList().ForEach(x => { names.Add(x.Name); });

answered Sep 26, 2012 at 16:19

Adriaan Stander

167k32 gold badges294 silver badges288 bronze badges

Comments

Chris Knight · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-26 16:20:55Z

1

I would just create a new class, and use that instead of the generic object. Is there a reason that it needs to use the base level object? If more abstraction is needed you could utilize an anonymous type with a Where clause or use an abstract class.

answered Sep 26, 2012 at 16:20

Chris Knight

1,4861 gold badge17 silver badges24 bronze badges

Comments

Sergey Kalinichenko · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-26 16:21:41Z

1

The way you defined your objects leaves dynamic as your only option: the two anonymous classes are of different type. You should either write

foreach (dynamic country in countries) {
    ...
}

or initialize your list with instances of a named class (this is preferred, because dynamic may be too heavy in your situation).

answered Sep 26, 2012 at 16:21

Sergey Kalinichenko

729k85 gold badges1.2k silver badges1.6k bronze badges

1 Comment

KeithS Over a year ago

+1 because you're right, but dynamic is not a keyword to use lightly. The OP should probably just define a simple struct type for countries.

ranieuwe · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-26 16:21:56Z

0

If you want to work with the polymorphic items somehow (and not with anonymous types) take a look at Cast<...>.ToList() or OfType<...>.ToList()

answered Sep 26, 2012 at 16:21

ranieuwe

2,3061 gold badge24 silver badges31 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

iterate through List<object>

6 Answers 6

Comments

10 Comments

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

6 Answers 6

Comments

10 Comments

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Linked

Related