How can I convert a class into Dictionary<string,string>?

Question

Can I convert Class into Dictionary<string, string>?

In Dictionary I want my class properties as keys and value of particular a property as the value.

Suppose my class is

public class Location
{
    public string city { get; set; }
    public string state { get; set; }
    public string country { get; set;
}

Now suppose my data is

city = Delhi
state = Delhi
country = India

Now you can understand my point easily!

I want to make a Dictionary! That dictionary should be like:

Dictionary<string,string> dix = new Dictionary<string,string> ();
dix.add("property_name", "property_value");

I can get the value! But how can I get property names (not value)?

What should I code to create it dynamic? That should work for every class which I want.

You can understand this question as:

How can I get a list of properties from particular class?

_{Now again I am explaining one of my eagernesses about Dictionary! This question popuped in my mind from answer of my previous question!!}

Answer 1

This is the recipe: 1 reflection, 1 LINQ-to-Objects!

 someObject.GetType()
     .GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public)
          .ToDictionary(prop => prop.Name, prop => (string)prop.GetValue(someObject, null))

Since I published this answer I've checked that many people found it useful. I invite everyone looking for this simple solution to check another Q&A where I generalized it into an extension method: Mapping object to dictionary and vice versa

Answer 2

Here a example with reflection without LINQ:

    Location local = new Location();
    local.city = "Lisbon";
    local.country = "Portugal";
    local.state = "None";

    PropertyInfo[] infos = local.GetType().GetProperties();

    Dictionary<string,string> dix = new Dictionary<string,string> ();

    foreach (PropertyInfo info in infos)
    {
        dix.Add(info.Name, info.GetValue(local, null).ToString());
    }

    foreach (string key in dix.Keys)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("nameProperty: {0}; value: {1}", key, dix[key]);
    }

    Console.Read();

Answer 3

I would like to add an alternative to reflection, using JToken. You will need to check the benchmark difference between the two to see which has better performance.

var location = new Location() { City = "London" };
var locationToken = JToken.FromObject(location);
var locationObject = locationObject.Value<JObject>();
var locationPropertyList = locationObject.Properties()
    .Select(x => new KeyValuePair<string, string>(x.Name, x.Value.ToString()));

Note this method is best for a flat class structure.