DKNet

Read and update properties by name

Part of DKNet.Fw.Extensions. Use PropertyExtensions for case-insensitive instance-property lookup, dotted reads and converted writes.

using System;
using DKNet.Fw.Extensions.Reflection;

var item = new Item { Owner = new Owner { Name = "Ada" } };
Console.WriteLine(item.GetPropertyValue("Owner.Name")); // Ada
item.SetPropertyValue(nameof(Item.Count), "12");
Console.WriteLine(item.Count); // 12
item.TrySetPropertyValue("Missing", 1); // missing property is ignored

public sealed class Item
{
    public Owner? Owner { get; set; }
    public int Count { get; set; }
}
public sealed class Owner { public string Name { get; set; } = ""; }

GetProperty caches PropertyInfo lookups, including missing results, by (Type, name, flags) in a static concurrent dictionary. It accepts an object or a Type receiver; use PropertyExtensions.GetProperty(typeof(Item), name) to avoid the instance Type.GetProperty overload.

GetPropertyValue walks dotted segments and returns null when a segment is missing or its value is null. Writes accept a property name or a PropertyInfo; they do not walk dotted paths. A non-null value goes through Convert.ChangeType with CurrentCulture; non-nullable enum destinations use Enum.Parse instead. Nullable destinations convert to their underlying type.

⚙️ Configuration reference

Option	Type	Default	Effect
GetProperty flags	BindingFlags	IgnoreCase \| Public \| NonPublic \| Instance	Controls reflection lookup. Dotted reads and named writes use this default.

⚠️ Gotchas & limits

• SetPropertyValue throws for a null receiver, null metadata, or a missing named property. Reflection getter/setter exceptions also propagate.
• Both TrySetPropertyValue overloads return void. Their initial null checks occur before the try and still throw.
• The name overload catches ArgumentNullException and ArgumentException from the write. The metadata overload catches ArgumentNullException and FormatException. Other failures propagate; neither is a universal exception shield.
• Convert.ChangeType does not support every destination type; nullable enum conversion has no enum-specific branch.
• The metadata cache is shared across calls and has no eviction; values themselves are read on each call.

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