bubdm / fluentobjects

Fluently access dynamic structures without defining them beforehand or worrying about exceptions

FluentObjects

Use your data structures before you write them!

Fluently access dynamic structures without defining them beforehand or worrying about exceptions.

In other words: do everything they told you not to do!

Simple usage example:

dynamic o = new FluentObject();
  
o.Name = "Joe";
o.AddressArray[0] = new Address();
o.Friends["12345-6789"].Name = "John";
o.Friends["12345-6789"].AddressArray[0] = new Address();

// Now what?
// Serialize to JSON or XML
// Access it with LINQ queries (MVC!)
// Cast to a native list (Dictionary/IDictionary*)
// * See Caveats for IDictionary example

But why?

There are only a handful of good reasons to use this (or any dynamic). It's up to you to decide when and where.

• The best example is to reduce the complexity involved in setting up complex structures such as JSON, XML, or MVC model hierarchies. This is helpful during the early phase of a top-down development pattern (GUI or webservice first). Use the data structures BEFORE you create them!

Why not use ExpandoObject?

ExpandoObject is very limited out of the box and FluentObject takes care of all the ugly hair-removing code required to get things just the way they should be.

Can your Expando do this?

dynamic o = new FluentObject();

o.test[0].Name.Is.So[12].Cool["YAY"].Oh.Yeah = "MyTest";
o.test[0].Name.Is.So[12].Yes["HEY"] = 4;
o.test[0].Name.Is.So[12].Yes["YOU"] = 7;

var dict = o.test[0].Name.Is.So[12].Yes;
IDictionary<string, int> implements = dict;

Debug.Print(string.Join(", ", implements));

Caveats

Casting to IDictionary cannot be done via direct cast:

// Won't work
IDictionary<string, object> d = (IDictionary<string, object>)o.Friends;
// Won't work
IDictionary<string, object> d = o.Friends;

It must be done indirectly as such:

// This works!
var extracted = o.Friends;
IDictionary<string, object> d = extracted;

Why? That's a harder question to answer... and the information is not very useful. If you can make it work seamlessly (ie. without using a method), send in a push request!!

A Converter pattern or an extension method are being considered to replace this ugly hack.

Method to the Madness

Keep all the ugly bottled up in FluentObject and test like mad to make sure it always works!