Convert a Dynamic Entity to a System Entity

This sample code shows how to convert a dynamic entity instance into a strongly typed account entity instance. The code first creates a dynamic entity, populates its properties with account attributes and values, and then converts the dynamic entity to an account entity.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

using CrmSdk;
using Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Utility;

namespace Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.HowTo
{
   public class ConvertDynamicToCore
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         // TODO: Change the server URL and organization to match your Microsoft
         // Dynamics CRM Server and Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization.
         ConvertDynamicToCore.Run("http://localhost:5555", "CRM_SDK");
      }
      
      public static bool Run(string crmServerUrl, string orgName)
      { 
         // Create an account dynamic entity.
         DynamicEntity accountDynamicEntity = new DynamicEntity();

         //Set a few account properties.
         StringProperty name = new StringProperty();
         name.Name = "name";
         name.Value = "Fabrikam Inc.";

         StringProperty accountnumber = new StringProperty();
         accountnumber.Name = "accountnumber";
         accountnumber.Value = "AZ1200";

         Picklist plist = new Picklist();
         plist.name = "UPS";
         plist.Value = 2;

         PicklistProperty shippingmethodcode = new PicklistProperty();
         shippingmethodcode.Name = "address1_shippingmethodcode";
         shippingmethodcode.Value = plist;

         accountDynamicEntity.Properties = new Property[] { name, accountnumber, shippingmethodcode };
         accountDynamicEntity.Name = EntityName.account.ToString();

         //Create a strongly typed account entity to copy the dynamic entity into.
         account coreAccount = new account();

         //Convert the dynamic entity to a strongly typed business entity.
         coreAccount = (account)Convert(accountDynamicEntity);

         Console.WriteLine("\n|Core Account Attributes\n|=======================");
         Console.WriteLine("|name:  {0}", coreAccount.name);
         Console.WriteLine("|accountnumber:  {0}", coreAccount.accountnumber);
         Console.WriteLine("|address1_shipmethodcode:  {0}", coreAccount.address1_shippingmethodcode.Value);

         return true;
      }

      /// 

      /// Convert a dynamic entity into a strongly typed business entity.
      /// 
      public static BusinessEntity Convert(DynamicEntity entity)
      {
         string coreEntityName = entity.Name;

         Type entType = (new account()).GetType();
         ConstructorInfo init = entType.GetConstructor(new Type[] { });
         object ent = init.Invoke(new object[] { });

         foreach (Property p in entity.Properties)
         {
            PropertyInfo entProp = entType.GetProperty(p.Name);
            if (null == entProp)
            {
               Console.WriteLine("Could not find attribute {0} on entity {1}.", p.Name, coreEntityName);
            }
            else
            {
               entProp.SetValue(ent, GetAttribute(entity, p.Name), null);
            }
         }
         return (BusinessEntity)ent;
      }

      /// 

      /// This method returns the value of a dynamic entity attribute.
      /// 
      public static object GetAttribute(BusinessEntity entity, string attribute)
      {
         if (entity.GetType() == typeof(DynamicEntity))
         {
            DynamicEntity de = (DynamicEntity)entity;
            foreach (Property prop in de.Properties)
            {
               if (prop.Name == attribute)
               {
                  PropertyInfo propInfo = prop.GetType().GetProperty("Value");
                  return propInfo.GetValue(prop, null);
               }
            }
            return null;
         }
         else
         {
            PropertyInfo propInfo = entity.GetType().GetProperty(attribute);
            return propInfo.GetValue(entity, null);
         }
      }
   }
}