C# creating a dictionary of objects with generics applied

Question

I have a class structure like this:

public class BaseDataType
{
    //... some properties
}


public class FirstCustomDataType : BaseDataType
{
    //...some more properties
}


public class SecondCustomDataType : BaseDataType
{
    //...some more properties
}


public interface IMonitor<T> where T : BaseDataType
{
    List<List<DataSample<T>>> GetData();
}


public abstract class GenericMonitor<T> : IMonitor<T> where T : BaseDataType 
{
    protected List<List<DataSample<T>>> Data { get; set; }

    public List<List<DataSample<T>>> GetData() { return Data; }
}


public class FirstNonGenericMonitor : GenericMonitor<FirstCustomDataType> { }


public class SecondNonGenericMonitor : GenericMonitor<SecondCustomDataType> { }

Now I would like to have a dictionary, that will hold all my non generic monitors:

Dictionary< ResourceToMonitorEnum, IMonitor<BaseDataType> > Monitors

However, I don't know how should I add a new monitor to this dictionary, because this:

Monitors.Add( ResourceToMonitorEnum.Monitor1, new FirstNonGenericMonitor() )

won't let me add new FirstNonGenericMonitor as the IMonitor< T > because the types don't match. I know that it's the type issue but I don't know how to solve it.

why do you even need such complex inheritance? i think you are picking a wrong way to what you want to achieve... — M.kazem Akhgary
– M.kazem Akhgary, Commented May 25, 2016 at 20:02

Matt Dalzell · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-25 20:28:04Z

1

You can cast your FirstGenericMonitor instance as a IMonitor<BaseDataType> like so:

Monitors.Add(ResourceToMonitorEnum, new FirstNonGenericMonitor() as IMonitor<BaseDataType>);

Echoing M.kazem Akhgary's comment, this does seem to be a pretty complicated inheritance model you have here. It's worth considering if all of this is truly necessary, or if you are needlessly introducing complexity.

answered May 25, 2016 at 20:28

Matt Dalzell

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