Compact Framework - how do I dynamically create type with no default constructor?

Question

I\'m using the .NET CF 3.5. The type I want to create does not have a default constructor so I want to pass a string to an overloaded constructor. How do I do this?

Answer 1

Ok, here's a funky helper method to give you a flexible way to activate a type given an array of parameters:

static object GetInstanceFromParameters(Assembly a, string typeName, params object[] pars) 
{
    var t = a.GetType(typeName);

    var c = t.GetConstructor(pars.Select(p => p.GetType()).ToArray());
    if (c == null) return null;

    return c.Invoke(pars);
}

And you call it like this:

Foo f = GetInstanceFromParameters(a, "SmartDeviceProject1.Foo", "hello", 17) as Foo;

So you pass the assembly and the name of the type as the first two parameters, and then all the constructor's parameters in order.