instantiate a List<T> where T is known at runtime using reflection

[davikokar]

Hallo,

I need to instantiate a generic list, but the type is going to be known only on runtime. Something like:

Type T = GetTheTypeUsingReflection();
List<T> myList = new List<T>();

But this code does not work: "the type 'T' could not be found"

Any suggestion?

Thanks

 

[davikokar]

doing some research I found out the solution:

Type t = GetTheTypeUsingReflection();
IList newList = GetTypedList(t);

IList GetTypedList(Type itemType)
{
Type listType;
listType = typeof(List<>).MakeGenericType(itemType);
return Activator.CreateInstance(listType) as IList;
}

 

[jmeckley]

this seems counter intuitive. If you need an IList return an implementation of IList. Why create a a typed list through reflection? It would be much easier to return an ArrayList.

Jason Meckley
Programmer

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