Using Case/Switch and GetType to determine the object [duplicate]

Solution 1:

This won't directly solve your problem as you want to switch on your own user-defined types, but for the benefit of others who only want to switch on built-in types, you can use the TypeCode enumeration:

switch (Type.GetTypeCode(node.GetType()))
{
    case TypeCode.Decimal:
        // Handle Decimal
        break;

    case TypeCode.Int32:
        // Handle Int32
        break;
     ...
}

Solution 2:

If I really had to switch on type of object, I'd use .ToString(). However, I would avoid it at all costs: IDictionary<Type, int> will do much better, visitor might be an overkill but otherwise it is still a perfectly fine solution.

Solution 3:

In the MSDN blog post Many Questions: switch on type is some information on why .NET does not provide switching on types.

As usual - workarounds always exists.

This one isn't mine, but unfortunately I have lost the source. It makes switching on types possible, but I personally think it's quite awkward (the dictionary idea is better):

  public class Switch
  {
      public Switch(Object o)
      {
          Object = o;
      }

      public Object Object { get; private set; }
  }


  /// <summary>
  /// Extensions, because otherwise casing fails on Switch==null
  /// </summary>
  public static class SwitchExtensions
  {
      public static Switch Case<T>(this Switch s, Action<T> a)
            where T : class
      {
          return Case(s, o => true, a, false);
      }

      public static Switch Case<T>(this Switch s, Action<T> a,
           bool fallThrough) where T : class
      {
          return Case(s, o => true, a, fallThrough);
      }

      public static Switch Case<T>(this Switch s,
          Func<T, bool> c, Action<T> a) where T : class
      {
          return Case(s, c, a, false);
      }

      public static Switch Case<T>(this Switch s,
          Func<T, bool> c, Action<T> a, bool fallThrough) where T : class
      {
          if (s == null)
          {
              return null;
          }

          T t = s.Object as T;
          if (t != null)
          {
              if (c(t))
              {
                  a(t);
                  return fallThrough ? s : null;
              }
          }

          return s;
      }
  }

Usage:

 new Switch(foo)
     .Case<Fizz>
         (action => { doingSomething = FirstMethodCall(); })
     .Case<Buzz>
         (action => { return false; })