Programmatic equivalent of default(Type)

Question

I'm using reflection to loop through a Type's properties and set certain types to their default. Now, I could do a switch on the type and set the default(Type) explicitly, but I'd rather do it in one line. Is there a programmatic equivalent of default?

Answer 1

• In case of a value type use Activator.CreateInstance and it should work fine.
• When using reference type just return null

public static object GetDefault(Type type)
{
   if(type.IsValueType)
   {
      return Activator.CreateInstance(type);
   }
   return null;
}

In the newer version of .net such as .net standard, type.IsValueType needs to be written as type.GetTypeInfo().IsValueType

Answer 2

Why not call the method that returns default(T) with reflection ? You can use GetDefault of any type with:

    public object GetDefault(Type t)
    {
        return this.GetType().GetMethod("GetDefaultGeneric").MakeGenericMethod(t).Invoke(this, null);
    }

    public T GetDefaultGeneric<T>()
    {
        return default(T);
    }

Answer 3

You can use PropertyInfo.SetValue(obj, null). If called on a value type it will give you the default. This behavior is documented in .NET 4.0 and in .NET 4.5.

Answer 4

If you're using .NET 4.0 or above and you want a programmatic version that isn't a codification of rules defined outside of code, you can create an Expression, compile and run it on-the-fly.

The following extension method will take a Type and get the value returned from default(T) through the Default method on the Expression class:

public static T GetDefaultValue<T>()
{
    // We want an Func<T> which returns the default.
    // Create that expression here.
    Expression<Func<T>> e = Expression.Lambda<Func<T>>(
        // The default value, always get what the *code* tells us.
        Expression.Default(typeof(T))
    );

    // Compile and return the value.
    return e.Compile()();
}

public static object GetDefaultValue(this Type type)
{
    // Validate parameters.
    if (type == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("type");

    // We want an Func<object> which returns the default.
    // Create that expression here.
    Expression<Func<object>> e = Expression.Lambda<Func<object>>(
        // Have to convert to object.
        Expression.Convert(
            // The default value, always get what the *code* tells us.
            Expression.Default(type), typeof(object)
        )
    );

    // Compile and return the value.
    return e.Compile()();
}

You should also cache the above value based on the Type, but be aware if you're calling this for a large number of Type instances, and don't use it constantly, the memory consumed by the cache might outweigh the benefits.

Answer 5

Why do you say generics are out of the picture?

    public static object GetDefault(Type t)
    {
        Func<object> f = GetDefault<object>;
        return f.Method.GetGenericMethodDefinition().MakeGenericMethod(t).Invoke(null, null);
    }

    private static T GetDefault<T>()
    {
        return default(T);
    }

Answer 6

This is optimized Flem's solution:

using System.Collections.Concurrent;

namespace System
{
    public static class TypeExtension
    {
        //a thread-safe way to hold default instances created at run-time
        private static ConcurrentDictionary<Type, object> typeDefaults =
           new ConcurrentDictionary<Type, object>();

        public static object GetDefaultValue(this Type type)
        {
            return type.IsValueType
               ? typeDefaults.GetOrAdd(type, Activator.CreateInstance)
               : null;
        }
    }
}

Answer 7

The chosen answer is a good answer, but be careful with the object returned.

string test = null;
string test2 = "";
if (test is string)
     Console.WriteLine("This will never be hit.");
if (test2 is string)
     Console.WriteLine("Always hit.");

Extrapolating...

string test = GetDefault(typeof(string));
if (test is string)
     Console.WriteLine("This will never be hit.");

Answer 8

I do the same task like this.

//in MessageHeader 
   private void SetValuesDefault()
   {
        MessageHeader header = this;             
        Framework.ObjectPropertyHelper.SetPropertiesToDefault<MessageHeader>(this);
   }

//in ObjectPropertyHelper
   public static void SetPropertiesToDefault<T>(T obj) 
   {
            Type objectType = typeof(T);

            System.Reflection.PropertyInfo [] props = objectType.GetProperties();

            foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in props)
            {
                if (property.CanWrite)
                {
                    string propertyName = property.Name;
                    Type propertyType = property.PropertyType;

                    object value = TypeHelper.DefaultForType(propertyType);
                    property.SetValue(obj, value, null);
                }
            }
    }

//in TypeHelper
    public static object DefaultForType(Type targetType)
    {
        return targetType.IsValueType ? Activator.CreateInstance(targetType) : null;
    }

Answer 9

Equivalent to Dror's answer but as an extension method:

namespace System
{
    public static class TypeExtensions
    {
        public static object Default(this Type type)
        {
            object output = null;

            if (type.IsValueType)
            {
                output = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
            }

            return output;
        }
    }
}

Answer 10

The Expressions can help here:

    private static Dictionary<Type, Delegate> lambdasMap = new Dictionary<Type, Delegate>();

    private object GetTypedNull(Type type)
    {
        Delegate func;
        if (!lambdasMap.TryGetValue(type, out func))
        {
            var body = Expression.Default(type);
            var lambda = Expression.Lambda(body);
            func = lambda.Compile();
            lambdasMap[type] = func;
        }
        return func.DynamicInvoke();
    }

I did not test this snippet, but i think it should produce "typed" nulls for reference types..

Answer 11

Slight adjustments to @Rob Fonseca-Ensor's solution: The following extension method also works on .Net Standard since I use GetRuntimeMethod instead of GetMethod.

public static class TypeExtensions
{
    public static object GetDefault(this Type t)
    {
        var defaultValue = typeof(TypeExtensions)
            .GetRuntimeMethod(nameof(GetDefaultGeneric), new Type[] { })
            .MakeGenericMethod(t).Invoke(null, null);
        return defaultValue;
    }

    public static T GetDefaultGeneric<T>()
    {
        return default(T);
    }
}

...and the according unit test for those who care about quality:

[Fact]
public void GetDefaultTest()
{
    // Arrange
    var type = typeof(DateTime);

    // Act
    var defaultValue = type.GetDefault();

    // Assert
    defaultValue.Should().Be(default(DateTime));
}

Answer 12

 /// <summary>
    /// returns the default value of a specified type
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="type"></param>
    public static object GetDefault(this Type type)
    {
        return type.IsValueType ? (!type.IsGenericType ? Activator.CreateInstance(type) : type.GenericTypeArguments[0].GetDefault() ) : null;
    }

Answer 13

This should work: Nullable<T> a = new Nullable<T>().GetValueOrDefault();