Generic Property Merge Using Reflection

I have found this generic merge method to be very useful. Before you cut and paste it into you Silverlight application, let me explain why I created it.

1. public virtual bool MergeValues(object oSource, bool bNotifyUI)
2. {
3. bool bSucess = true;
5. foreach (var oPropInfo in oSource.GetType().GetProperties())
6. {
7. if (!oPropInfo.CanRead !oPropInfo.CanWrite oPropInfo.Name == "Item")
8. continue;
10. var oResult = oPropInfo.GetValue(oSource, null);
11. if (oResult != oPropInfo.GetValue(this, null))
12. try
13. {
14. oPropInfo.SetValue(this, oResult, null);
15. if (bNotifyUI)
16. NotifyOfPropertyChange(oPropInfo.Name);
17. }
18. catch
19. {
20. bSucess = false;
21. }
22. }
23. return bSucess;
24. }

Once Silverlight binds a property to a XAML element, your program will perform a lot better if you just change the value rather then rebind to a new object. I have not done any detailed timing tests, but by using this code in a before / after way you can “feel” that this is faster.

I know there is a performance cost when you access a property via reflection, but I am willing to pay that cost to have a solution that is VERY reliable.

By defining this method as virtual you are able to override to build a version that performs better, for example:

1. public override bool MergeValues(object oSource, bool bNotifyUI)
2. {
3. bool bSucess = true;
4. Person oPerson = oSource as Person;
6. this.ID = oPerson.ID;
7. this.FirstName = oPerson.FirstName;
8. this.MiddleName = oPerson.MiddleName;
9. this.LastName = oPerson.LastName;
10. this.MostRecentFlight = oPerson.MostRecentFlight;
12. return bSucess;
13. }

But this solution is not as reliable and requires me to change the code every time I modify the properties in this class.

Feel free to cut, paste and modify this code to meet your own coding objectives.