Dynamically create an array of Type in C#

Question

In C#, I need to be able to create an array of Type objects at run-time based on a comma-delimited list of data types passed in to a function as a string. Basically, here is what I am trying to accomplish:

// create array of types
Type[] paramTypes = { typeof(uint), typeof(string), typeof(string), typeof(uint) };

But I need to be able to call my function like this:

MyFunction("uint, string, string, uint");

and have it generate the array dynamically based on the string passed in. Here was my first attempt:

void MyFunction(string dataTypes)
{
    //out or in parameters of your function.   
    char[] charSeparators = new char[] {',', ' '};
    string[] types = dataTypes.Split(charSeparators,
                        stringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);

    // create a list of data types for each argument
    List<Type> listTypes = new List<Type>();
    foreach (string t in types)
    {
        listTypes.Add(Type.GetType(t)); 
    }
    // convert the list to an array
    Type [] paramTypes = listTypes.ToArray<Type>();

}

This code simply creates an array of null objects of type System.Type. I'm pretty sure the problem lies here:

listTypes.Add(Type.GetType(t));

Suggestions on why this syntax does not do the trick?

Answer 1

The problem is that there are no uint and string types in .NET. Those are C# type aliases to the actual System.UInt32 and System.String types. So you should call your function like this:

MyFunction("System.UInt32, System.String, System.String, System.UInt32");

Answer 2

Pass in System.String, System.Int32 instead of string and int.

"string" is just shorthand for System.String. Type.GetType will not accept shorthand notation for types.