Object.LiteralWriter 2.0.4

ObjectLiteralWriter

Convert arbitrary .NET objects at runtime into strings containing their construction literal in C#

Library is available on NuGet https://www.nuget.org/packages/Object.LiteralWriter/

Ever had a case when you need to prepare data for a unit test, you have suitable object during runtime (i.e. you got it from DB or another service) and you need to produce its literal for use in that test? ObjectLiteralWriter solves this problem.

It will handle primitive values and built-in types, complex classes, nested objects, collections, tuples, etc...

hint: if you have a json representation of your object - you can run it through deserializer and feed the result into ObjectLiteralWriter. Strong typed C# class literals will be easier to maintain than json.

var subj = new object[]
{
    new Test1()
    {
        Foo = 1.1m,
        Bar = null,
        Bac = (1, 2, 3),
    },
    new DateTime(1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc),
    null,
    1,
    2D,
    3M,
    Guid.Parse("d237f51b-61ec-4a53-a6df-56aeaee6bb68"),
    true,
    new object(),
};

var literal = new ObjectLiteralWriter.ObjectLiteralWriter().GetLiteral(subj, indentation: "    ");
// OR 
// var literal = new ObjectLiteralWriter().GetLiteral(subj).IndentLiteral();

/*
@"new Object[]
{
    new Test1()
    {
        Foo = 1.1M,
        Bac = (1, 2, 3),
    },
    new DateTime(1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc),
    null,
    1,
    2D,
    3M,
    Guid.Parse("d237f51b-61ec-4a53-a6df-56aeaee6bb68"),
    true,
    new object(),
}"*/

In a rare case where you want to customize literals of specific types or specific properties, ObjectLiteralWriter has extension points:

/// <summary>
/// Function will get a chance to examine values 
/// that are being converted to literals.
/// Return literal string to write it.
/// Return null to fallback to default literal writer.
/// Return empty string to skip writing this value.
/// </summary>
Func<Type, object, string> CustomLiteralWriter
{
    get;
    set;
}

/// <summary>
/// Function will get a chance to examine type members
/// that are being converted to literals.
/// Return literal string to write it.
/// Return null to fallback to default literal writer.
/// Return empty string to skip writing this member.
/// </summary>
Func<PropertyInfo, FieldInfo, object, string> CustomMemberWriter
{
    get;
    set;
}