Convert anonymous type to class

Question

I got an anonymous type inside a List anBook:

var anBook=new []{

new {Code=10, Book ="Harry Potter"},
new {Code=11, Book="James Bond"}
};

Is to possible to convert it to a List with the following definition of clearBook:

public class ClearBook
{
  int Code;
  string Book; 
}

by using direct conversion, i.e., without looping through anBook?

Answer 1

Well, you could use:

var list = anBook.Select(x => new ClearBook {
               Code = x.Code, Book = x.Book}).ToList();

but no, there is no direct conversion support. Obviously you'll need to add accessors, etc. (don't make the fields public) - I'd guess:

public int Code { get; set; }
public string Book { get; set; }

Of course, the other option is to start with the data how you want it:

var list = new List<ClearBook> {
    new ClearBook { Code=10, Book="Harry Potter" },
    new ClearBook { Code=11, Book="James Bond" }
};

There are also things you could do to map the data with reflection (perhaps using an Expression to compile and cache the strategy), but it probably isn't worth it.