Best way to convert IList or IEnumerable to Array
Solution 1:
Which version of .NET are you using? If it's .NET 3.5, I'd just call ToArray()
and be done with it.
If you only have a non-generic IEnumerable, do something like this:
IEnumerable query = ...;
MyEntityType[] array = query.Cast<MyEntityType>().ToArray();
If you don't know the type within that method but the method's callers do know it, make the method generic and try this:
public static void T[] PerformQuery<T>()
{
IEnumerable query = ...;
T[] array = query.Cast<T>().ToArray();
return array;
}
Solution 2:
Put the following in your .cs file:
using System.Linq;
You will then be able to use the following extension method from System.Linq.Enumerable:
public static TSource[] ToArray<TSource>(this System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<TSource> source)
I.e.
IEnumerable<object> query = ...;
object[] bob = query.ToArray();
Solution 3:
I feel like reinventing the wheel...
public static T[] ConvertToArray<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable)
{
if (enumerable == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("enumerable");
return enumerable as T[] ?? enumerable.ToArray();
}