How to Reliably Select the Correct Generic Method Overload Using Reflection?

Use reflection to choose the correct generic method

Background

Reflection allows developers to access type information and dynamically call methods. However, distinguishing between overloads can be challenging when choosing a generic method. For example, the System.Linq.Queryable class contains definitions for multiple Where methods, making it difficult to choose the required version.

Choose the right method based on parameter type

To solve this problem, you can use a compilation-safe solution:

1. Create a delegate or expression that matches the desired overload

Construct a delegate or expression with the correct number and type of generic and method parameters that correspond to the target overload. For example:

var method = new Action<object>(MyClass.DoSomething<object>);

2. Get generic MethodInfo

Extract MethodInfo from a delegate or expression and use GetGenericMethodDefinition to get the generic method definition.

var methodInfo = method.Method.GetGenericMethodDefinition();

3. Specify generic type parameters

Pass actual generic type parameters to MakeGenericMethod to instantiate a specific generic method.

var typedMethod = methodInfo.MakeGenericMethod(type1, type2);

Example using Queryable.Where overload

For Queryable.Where method with overload:

public static IQueryable<TModel> Where<TModel>(this IQueryable<TModel>, Expression<Func<TModel, bool>>)

public static IQueryable<TModel> Where<TModel>(this IQueryable<TModel>, Expression<Func<TModel, int, bool>>)

The following code demonstrates how to select the first version:

var method = new Func<IQueryable<object>, Expression<Func<object, bool>>, IQueryable<object>>(Queryable.Where<object>);

var methodInfo = method.Method.GetGenericMethodDefinition().MakeGenericMethod(modelType);

Decoupling MethodInfo and parameter types

For greater flexibility, you can obtain MethodInfo separately and specify the generic type parameters later. This is useful when the type is unknown when retrieving the method.

var methodInfo = method.Method.GetGenericMethodDefinition();

var typedMethod = methodInfo.MakeGenericMethod(type1, type2);

By following these steps, developers can select the correct generic method through reflection in a compile-safe and flexible manner, even if multiple overloads exist.

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