Using AutoMapper to map the property of an object to a string

Question

I have the following model:

public class Tag
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

I want to be able to

Answer 1

This is because you are trying to map to the actual destination type rather than a property of the destination type. You can achieve what you want with:

Mapper.CreateMap<Tag, string>().ConvertUsing(source => source.Name ?? string.Empty);

although it would be a lot simpler just to override ToString on the Tag class.

Answer 2

ForMember means you are providing mapping for a member where you want a mapping between type. Instead, use this :

Mapper.CreateMap<Tag, String>().ConvertUsing<TagToStringConverter>();

And Converter is

public class TagToStringConverter : ITypeConverter<Tag, String>
{
    public string Convert(ResolutionContext context)
    {
        return (context.SourceValue as Tag).Name ?? string.Empty;
    }
}