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I want to set all DateTime properties of my object to a default date. However, if I try do set the values through reflection I get the exception: "Object does not match target type."

private void SetDefaultValues()
{
    DateTime dt = DateTime.Parse("1/1/2000", new CultureInfo("en-US", true));
    foreach (PropertyInfo p in this.GetType().GetProperties())
    {
        if (p.PropertyType.FullName == "System.DateTime")
        {                                      
            p.SetValue(dt, typeof(DateTime), null);
        }
    }
}

Am I doing / thinking something fundamentally incorrect?

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What's the reason for setting these through reflection instead of directly? If you have a ton that need to be set, you could consider putting them in a List or a Dictionary. – Joel Beckham Nov 2 '11 at 22:55
Any reason to avoid standard properties with a getter returning a class var with your default date? – Aaron McIver Nov 2 '11 at 22:56
I have tried to do similar functionality in a multi-level inheritance nightmare implementing a custom deserialization method based on reflection. The performance is terrible! You're better off using partial classes and writing a code generator. (my $0.02). – Wesley Long Nov 2 '11 at 23:06
I need to set all DateTime properties to a "standard" date because the object they belong to is an EF Code First object which means: I can't save DateTime properties to the SQL CE DB if they have a DateTime.MinValue (hope you understand what I mean...) – Mike Nov 2 '11 at 23:07

1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Parameters need adjusting; the first is the target - which I assume is this here; the second is the value (dt). The last relates to "indexers" - which probably doesn't apply here.

p.SetValue(this, dt, null);
share|improve this answer
it works - love it, thanks! :-) – Mike Nov 2 '11 at 22:59

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