Dynamically adding properties to an ExpandoObject

Question

I would like to dynamically add properties to a ExpandoObject at runtime. So for example to add a string property call NewProp I would like to write something like

var x = new ExpandoObject();
x.AddProperty("NewProp", System.String);

Is this easily possible?

Answer 1

dynamic x = new ExpandoObject();
x.NewProp = string.Empty;

Alternatively:

var x = new ExpandoObject() as IDictionary<string, Object>;
x.Add("NewProp", string.Empty);

Answer 2

Here is a sample helper class which converts an Object and returns an Expando with all public properties of the given object.

public static class dynamicHelper
    {
        public static ExpandoObject convertToExpando(object obj)
        {
            //Get Properties Using Reflections
            BindingFlags flags = BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance;
            PropertyInfo[] properties = obj.GetType().GetProperties(flags);

            //Add Them to a new Expando
            ExpandoObject expando = new ExpandoObject();
            foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties)
            {
                AddProperty(expando, property.Name, property.GetValue(obj));
            }

            return expando;
        }

        public static void AddProperty(ExpandoObject expando, string propertyName, object propertyValue)
        {
            //Take use of the IDictionary implementation
            var expandoDict = expando as IDictionary<String, object>;
            if (expandoDict.ContainsKey(propertyName))
                expandoDict[propertyName] = propertyValue;
            else
                expandoDict.Add(propertyName, propertyValue);
        }
    }

Usage:

//Create Dynamic Object
dynamic expandoObj= dynamicHelper.convertToExpando(myObject);
    
//Add Custom Properties
dynamicHelper.AddProperty(expandoObj, "dynamicKey", "Some Value");

Answer 3

As explained here by Filip - http://www.filipekberg.se/2011/10/02/adding-properties-and-methods-to-an-expandoobject-dynamicly/

You can add a method too at runtime.

var x = new ExpandoObject() as IDictionary<string, Object>;
x.Add("Shout", new Action(() => { Console.WriteLine("Hellooo!!!"); }));
x.Shout();

Answer 4

This is the best solution I've found. But be careful with that. Use exception handling because it might not work on all of the cases

    public static dynamic ToDynamic(this object obj)
    {
        return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj));
    }

Answer 5

This is the best solution I've found. But be careful with that. Use exception handling because it might not work on all of the cases

public static dynamic ToDynamic(this object obj)
{
    return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj));
}

//another nice extension method you might want to use

    public static T JsonClone<T>(this T source)
    {
        if (!typeof(T).IsSerializable)
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("The type must be serializable.", nameof(source));
        }

        var serialized = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(source);
        return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(serialized);
    }