Convert anonymous type to class

Question

I got an anonymous type inside a List anBook:

var anBook=new []{  new {Code=10, Book ="Harry Potter"}, new {Code=11, Book="James Bond"} }; 

Is to possible to convert it to a List with the following definition of clearBook:

public class ClearBook {   int Code;   string Book;  } 

by using direct conversion, i.e., without looping through anBook?

Answer 1

Well, you could use:

var list = anBook.Select(x => new ClearBook {                Code = x.Code, Book = x.Book}).ToList(); 

but no, there is no direct conversion support. Obviously you'll need to add accessors, etc. (don't make the fields public) - I'd guess:

public int Code { get; set; } public string Book { get; set; } 

Of course, the other option is to start with the data how you want it:

var list = new List<ClearBook> {     new ClearBook { Code=10, Book="Harry Potter" },     new ClearBook { Code=11, Book="James Bond" } }; 

There are also things you could do to map the data with reflection (perhaps using an Expression to compile and cache the strategy), but it probably isn't worth it.