Is it possible to assign a base class object to a

Question

Is it possible to assign a base class object to a derived class reference with an explicit typecast in C#?.

I have tried it and it creates a run-time error.

Answer 1

I had this problem and solved it by adding a method that takes a type parameter and converts the current object into that type.

public TA As<TA>() where TA : Base
{
    var type = typeof (TA);
    var instance = Activator.CreateInstance(type);

     PropertyInfo[] properties = type.GetProperties();
     foreach (var property in properties)
     {
         property.SetValue(instance, property.GetValue(this, null), null);
     }

     return (TA)instance;
}

That means that you can use it in you code like this:

var base = new Base();
base.Data = 1;
var derived = base.As<Derived>();
Console.Write(derived.Data); // Would output 1

Answer 2

No, that's not possible since assigning it to a derived class reference would be like saying "Base class is a fully capable substitute for derived class, it can do everything the derived class can do", which is not true since derived classes in general offer more functionality than their base class (at least, that's the idea behind inheritance).

You could write a constructor in the derived class taking a base class object as parameter, copying the values.

Something like this:

public class Base {
    public int Data;

    public void DoStuff() {
        // Do stuff with data
    }
}

public class Derived : Base {
    public int OtherData;

    public Derived(Base b) {
        this.Data = b.Data;
        OtherData = 0; // default value
    }

    public void DoOtherStuff() {
        // Do some other stuff
    }
}

In that case you would copy the base object and get a fully functional derived class object with default values for derived members. This way you can also avoid the problem pointed out by Jon Skeet:

Base b = new Base();
Dervided d = new Derived();

b.DoStuff();    // OK
d.DoStuff();    // Also OK
b.DoOtherStuff();    // Won't work!
d.DoOtherStuff();    // OK

d = new Derived(b);  // Copy construct a Derived with values of b
d.DoOtherStuff();    // Now works!

Answer 3

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        a a1 = new b();  
        a1.print();  
    }
}
class a
{
    public a()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("base class object initiated");
    }
    public void print()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("base");
    }
}
class b:a
{
    public b()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("child class object");
    }
    public void print1()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("derived");
    }
}

}

when we create a child class object,the base class object is auto initiated so base class reference variable can point to child class object.

but not vice versa because a child class reference variable can not point to base class object because no child class object is created.

and also notice that base class reference variable can only call base class member.

Answer 4

Might not be relevent, but I was able to run code on a derived object given its base. It's definitely more hacky than I'd like, but it works:

public static T Cast<T>(object obj)
{
    return (T)obj;
}

...

//Invoke parent object's json function
MethodInfo castMethod = this.GetType().GetMethod("Cast").MakeGenericMethod(baseObj.GetType());
object castedObject = castMethod.Invoke(null, new object[] { baseObj });
MethodInfo jsonMethod = baseObj.GetType ().GetMethod ("ToJSON");
return (string)jsonMethod.Invoke (castedObject,null);

Answer 5

You can use an Extention:

public static void CopyOnlyEqualProperties<T>(this T objDest, object objSource) where T : class
    {
        foreach (PropertyInfo propInfo in typeof(T).GetProperties())
            if (objSource.GetType().GetProperties().Any(z => z.Name == propInfo.Name && z.GetType() == propInfo.GetType()))
                propInfo.SetValue(objDest, objSource.GetType().GetProperties().First(z => z.Name == propInfo.Name && z.GetType() == propInfo.GetType()).GetValue(objSource));
    }

In Code:

public class BaseClass
{
  public string test{ get; set;}
}
public Derived : BaseClass
{
//Some properies
}

public void CopyProps()
{
   BaseClass baseCl =new BaseClass();
   baseCl.test="Hello";
   Derived drv=new Derived();
   drv.CopyOnlyEqualProperties(baseCl);
   //Should return Hello to the console now in derived class.
   Console.WriteLine(drv.test);

}

Answer 6

No, it is not possible.

Consider a scenario where an ACBus is a derived class of base class Bus. ACBus has features like TurnOnAC and TurnOffAC which operate on a field named ACState. TurnOnAC sets ACState to on and TurnOffAC sets ACState to off. If you try to use TurnOnAC and TurnOffAC features on Bus, it makes no sense.