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Useful wrapper class to override the Object.ToString method

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4.64/5 (9 votes)
3 Oct 2011CPOL 37.2K   9   7
A useful wrapper class to override the Object.ToString method.

This class can be useful for when you want to override the Object.ToString method on a type you don't have access to edit.


C#
public class ToStringWrapper<T>
{
    private readonly T _wrappedObject;
    private readonly Func<T, string> _toStringFunction;

    public T WrappedObject
    {
        get { return _wrappedObject; }
    }

    public ToStringWrapper(T wrappedObject, Func<T, string> toStringFunction)
    {
        this._wrappedObject = wrappedObject;
        this._toStringFunction = toStringFunction;
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return _toStringFunction(_wrappedObject);
    }
}


Sample usage: Don't have access to edit the Person type and you want the Name property's value to be returned in the ToString method.



C#
public sealed class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Person type not wrapped.  Type will be returned in ToString method
        var person = new Person { Name = "TestName" };
        Console.WriteLine(person);

        // Person type wrapped with ToStringWrapper<T> class and supplying
        // a function that will return the Person class's Name property value.
        var personWrapper = new ToStringWrapper<Person>(person, i => i.Name);
        Console.WriteLine(personWrapper);

        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}


Output:
ConsoleApplication1.Person
TestName

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


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Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Nice Pin
Shahare12-Sep-11 19:32
Shahare12-Sep-11 19:32 

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