UtilityVerse.Copy 0.3.0

📦 UtilityVerse.Copy — Source Generator for DeepCopy and ShallowCopy in C#

🚀 UtilityVerse.Copy is a Roslyn-based source generator that automatically creates DeepCopy() and ShallowCopy() methods for your models. Eliminate repetitive boilerplate and enjoy clean, maintainable code with zero runtime dependencies.

✨ Features

• ✅ Automatically generates DeepCopy() and/or ShallowCopy() methods at compile-time
• ✅ No runtime overhead — it's all generated in the background by Roslyn
• ✅ Supports both [Attribute]-based and interface-based opt-in mechanisms
• ✅ Works great for DTOs, ViewModels, and plain C# objects
• ✅ Support for common collection types, arrays, tuples, and more

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📦 Installation

Install the NuGet package:

dotnet add package UtilityVerse.Copy

🛠️ How It Works

Important: Your classes must be marked partial for the generator to emit code successfully.

✅ Option 1: Use Attributes

Apply [ShallowCopy] or [DeepCopy] to your class or struct:

using UtilityVerse.Copy;

[ShallowCopy]
public partial class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

This generates a ShallowCopy() method at compile-time:

public Person ShallowCopy()
{
    return (Person)this.MemberWiseClone();
}

For deep copy:

using UtilityVerse.Copy;
[DeepCopy]
public partial class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

Generates a deep recursive DeepCopy() method that copies nested references and collections.

public Person DeepCopy()
{
    return new Person
    {
        Name = this.Name,
        Age = this.Age
    };
}

✅ Option 2: Use Marker Interfaces

Prefer no attributes? Just implement the marker interfaces:

using UtilityVerse.Copy;
public partial class Person : IShallowCopy
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

using UtilityVerse.Copy;
public partial class Person : IDeepCopy
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

The generator will handle the rest automatically!

📚 Supported Types

• ✅ Primitives and strings
• ✅ Arrays
• ✅ Tuples and ValueTuple
• ✅ Generic collections: List<T>, IEnumerable<T>, ICollection<T>, IReadOnlyList<T>, HashSet<T>, etc.
• ✅ Dictionary-like collections: Dictionary<TKey, TValue>, ConcurrentDictionary, FrozenDictionary, etc.
• ✅ Record types, classes, structs (as long as they are partial)
• ✅ Nested properties recursively copied in DeepCopy()

🧪 Sample Output

Given this class:

[DeepCopy]
public partial class User
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public List<Address> Addresses { get; set; }
}

Generated deep copy:

public User DeepCopy()
{
    return new User
    {
        Name = this.Name,
        Addresses = this.Addresses?.Select(x => x?.DeepCopy()).ToList()
    };
}

🔒 Safe and Reliable

• 💡 Partial: Won’t overwrite your code — generated code lives alongside your class
• 🧾 Readable: Generated files are emitted to the intermediate folder (obj)
• ⚙️ Non-Intrusive: No reflection, no extra dependencies