Skelp.MirrorClone 1.1.1

dotnet add package Skelp.MirrorClone --version 1.1.1
NuGet\Install-Package Skelp.MirrorClone -Version 1.1.1
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.
<PackageReference Include="Skelp.MirrorClone" Version="1.1.1" />
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.
paket add Skelp.MirrorClone --version 1.1.1
#r "nuget: Skelp.MirrorClone, 1.1.1"
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.
// Install Skelp.MirrorClone as a Cake Addin
#addin nuget:?package=Skelp.MirrorClone&version=1.1.1

// Install Skelp.MirrorClone as a Cake Tool
#tool nuget:?package=Skelp.MirrorClone&version=1.1.1

<img src="/misc/icon.png" width="32" height="32"> MirrorClone License: MIT Nuget

This repository provides a reflection-based cloner which copies over anything it can find while also considering the original object references (eg. two child-objects having the same reference to the parent object).

No class-attributes required.

Table of Contents

  1. Supported Types
  2. Installation
  3. Why MirrorClone?
  4. Getting Started

Supported Types

Generally speaking, anything should be clonable.

However, instances of the following have been covered by tests and are therefore guaranteed to work.

  • primitives
  • strings
  • classes
  • structs
  • arrays (inluding ragged- and multidimensional arrays)
  • collections (List, Dictionary)
  • delegates (Func)
  • null
  • dynamic (ExpandoObject)

Anything in round brackets represent the implementing type used in the tests

Anything above can be cloned as a member of another (more complex) object or on their own. The only thing known not to be cloned are static members - this is due to the nature of their existance and cannot be cloned.

Should you find something which refuses to be cloned, please raise an issue in this repository.

Installation

Simply use the Visual Studio NuGet Package Manager and look for MirrorClone.

Alternatively, you can use the Package Manager Console as such:

Install-Package Skelp.MirrorClone

If you want to use the .NET CLI, you can use the following command:

dotnet add package Skelp.MirrorClone

Why MirrorClone?

There are many cloning libraries on NuGet, indeed. Originally I planned to use one of them for a project of mine. Soon I had to conclude that I would have to write my own cloner.

The reason? Other cloners are not reliable in terms of references. Cloned objects should be cloned in their entirety, otherwise a MemberwiseClone() or manual cloning would suffice. Down below is a small table of tested packages, only showing the differences, not a complete list of their features.

Version Structs w/ Ref. Members Looping Ref. Dynamic
MirrorClone 1.1.0
AnyClone 1.1.2
CloneExtensions 1.4.2
DeepCloner 0.10.3
FastDeepCloner 1.3.6

An ❌ either represents a thrown exception on cloning or an inaccuracy of a member in the clone

Note that none of the above packages are any less valuable for lacking certain features. However, my specific application called for a complete, reliable deep clone of the underlying type which is completely decoupled from the original object.

Another reason is the amount of features. Personally, I prefer packages that keep it simple: One problem, one solution. Most other packages add features such as ignore attributes in order to ignore cloning marked members.

MirrorClone only provides what is needed to clone an entire object. This has the unintentional benefit of (in some cases) being less resource intensive, both CPU and memory wise.

Plans are made to provide a benchmark result for various scenarios to showcase the above

Getting Started

The package consists of of two namespaces.

  1. Skelp.MirrorClone consists of the actual Cloner class
  2. Skelp.MirrorClone.Extensions provides object extensions

Choose either of them to get started.

Using The object Extensions

using Skelp.MirrorClone.Extensions;

[...]

YourObject objectToClone = new YourObject();

// This is what will be called 99.9% of the time
var clonedObject = objectToClone.MirrorClone();

// Alternatively, if object is deeply nested and presents stack overflow concerns
// this will catch any stack overflow from crashing the application
bool success = objectToClone.TryMirrorClone(out YourObject clonedObject);

Using The Cloner Class

using Skelp.MirrorClone;

[...]

YourObject objectToClone = new YourObject();

var cloner = new Cloner();

// This is what will be called 99.9% of the time
var clonedObject = cloner.Clone(objectToClone);

// Alternatively, if object is deeply nested and presents stack overflow concerns
// this will catch any stack overflow from crashing the application
bool success = cloner.TryClone(objectToClone, out YourObject clonedObject);
Product Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET net5.0 is compatible.  net5.0-windows was computed.  net6.0 is compatible.  net6.0-android was computed.  net6.0-ios was computed.  net6.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net6.0-macos was computed.  net6.0-tvos was computed.  net6.0-windows was computed.  net7.0 was computed.  net7.0-android was computed.  net7.0-ios was computed.  net7.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net7.0-macos was computed.  net7.0-tvos was computed.  net7.0-windows was computed.  net8.0 was computed.  net8.0-android was computed.  net8.0-browser was computed.  net8.0-ios was computed.  net8.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net8.0-macos was computed.  net8.0-tvos was computed.  net8.0-windows was computed. 
.NET Core netcoreapp3.0 was computed.  netcoreapp3.1 is compatible. 
.NET Standard netstandard2.1 is compatible. 
MonoAndroid monoandroid was computed. 
MonoMac monomac was computed. 
MonoTouch monotouch was computed. 
Tizen tizen60 was computed. 
Xamarin.iOS xamarinios was computed. 
Xamarin.Mac xamarinmac was computed. 
Xamarin.TVOS xamarintvos was computed. 
Xamarin.WatchOS xamarinwatchos was computed. 
Compatible target framework(s)
Included target framework(s) (in package)
Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.
  • .NETCoreApp 3.1

    • No dependencies.
  • .NETStandard 2.1

    • No dependencies.
  • net5.0

    • No dependencies.
  • net6.0

    • No dependencies.

NuGet packages

This package is not used by any NuGet packages.

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version Downloads Last updated
1.1.1 414 3/29/2022
1.1.0 253 1/4/2022
1.0.0 227 12/30/2021