Using reflection to get a nested property value

Question

I have the following scenario:

class A
{
   string Foo;
}

Class B
{
   A PropertyA;
}

Class C
{
   B PropertyB;
}

Is it possible using .NET reflection to get the value of A.Foo if I start with object C? The problem I am running into is this: I get to A through PropertyInfo objects. However, they don't have the instance information stored with them. Therefore, I can't do GetProperty("Foo").GetValue(....) since I only have object of type C passed in.

Reed Copsey · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-13 16:41:18Z

4

You have to get the object returned by each property, then use the same reflection procedure on that instance to get the next "level" deep.

For example:

 C instance = GetMyCInstance();

 B propertyB = instance.GetType().GetProperty("PropertyB").GetValue(instance) as B;
 A propertyA = propertyB.GetType().GetProperty("PropertyA").GetValue(propertyB) as A;
 string Foo = propertyA.GetType().GetProperty("Foo").GetValue(propertyA) as string;

answered Apr 13, 2011 at 16:41

Reed Copsey

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1 Comment

travis Over a year ago

B propertyB = instance.GetType().GetProperty("PropertyB").GetValue(instance, null) as B; is what worked for me, thanks.

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