How to fill a DataTable with a List(Of t) or convert a List(Of t) to a DataTable?

I have read many posts on this topic; among them and most recently .NET - Convert Generic Collection to Data Table. Unfortunately, all to no avail.

I have a开发者_如何学运维 generic collection of structures :

Private Structure MyStruct
Dim sState as String
Dim lValue as Long
Dim iLayer as Integer
End Structure

Dim LOStates As New List(Of MyStruct)

I need to fill a DataTable with this list of structures but have no idea how to go about doing this. I am using vb.net in Visual Studio 2008.

Any insights will be greatly appreciated

The code you linked assumes the members are declared as properties. You didn't declare properties. You can make it work with Reflection:

Imports System.Reflection
...

      Public Shared Function ConvertToDataTable(Of T)(ByVal list As IList(Of T)) As DataTable
        Dim table As New DataTable()
        Dim fields() As FieldInfo = GetType(T).GetFields()
        For Each field As FieldInfo In fields
          table.Columns.Add(field.Name, field.FieldType)
        Next
        For Each item As T In list
          Dim row As DataRow = table.NewRow()
          For Each field As FieldInfo In fields
            row(field.Name) = field.GetValue(item)
          Next
          table.Rows.Add(row)
        Next
        Return table
      End Function

I have same issue than @SamSelikoff, moved to GetProperties:

Public Shared Function ConvertToDataTable(Of t)(
                                                  ByVal list As IList(Of t)
                                               ) As DataTable
    Dim table As New DataTable()
    If Not list.Any Then
        'don't know schema ....
        Return table
    End If
    Dim fields() = list.First.GetType.GetProperties
    For Each field In fields
        table.Columns.Add(field.Name, field.PropertyType)
    Next
    For Each item In list
        Dim row As DataRow = table.NewRow()
        For Each field In fields
            dim p = item.GetType.GetProperty(field.Name)
            row(field.Name) = p.GetValue(item, Nothing)
        Next
        table.Rows.Add(row)
    Next
    Return table
End Function

Following @Hans Passant function if anyone is dealing with nullable types:

For Each field As FieldInfo In fields
' Extra check for nullable
If field.FieldType.AssemblyQualifiedName.Contains("System.Nullable") Then
    ' Insert proper type
    If field.FieldType.AssemblyQualifiedName.Contains("System.DateTime") Then
       table.Columns.Add(field.Name, Type.GetType("System.DateTime"))
    End If
Else
    table.Columns.Add(field.Name, field.FieldType)
End If
Next

Values:

For Each item As T In list
Dim row As DataRow = table.NewRow()
For Each field As FieldInfo In fields
    ' Check if value is null
    If field.GetValue(item) is nothing Then
        Continue For
    End If
    row(field.Name) = field.GetValue(item)
Next
table.Rows.Add(row)
Next