How can I resolve from System.Type without referencing the container

Question

I want to be able to create an instance of a component from the windsor container for the type described by a System.Type instance.

I realise I can do something like:

public object Create(Type type)
{
    return globalContainer.Resolve(type);
}

But I want to be able to do this without refering to the container. I was wondering whether this could be done using the typed factory facility? Something like

public interface IObjFactory
{
    object Create(Type type);
}

public class Installer: IWindsorInstaller
{
    public void Install(IWindsorContainer container, IConfigurationStore store)
    {
        container.AddFacility<TypedFactoryFacility>();

        container.Register(Component.For<IObjFactory>().AsFactory());
    }
}

public class Something
{
    private readonly IObjFactory objFactory;

    public Something(IObjFactory objFactory)
    {
        this.objFactory = objFactory;
    }

    public void Execute(Type type)
    {
        var instance = objFactory.Create(type);

        // do stuff with instance
    }
}

Answer 1

The code below shows how you can do this with Windsor. I would however recommend against making such a generic factory. It is probably better to only allow creation of components implementing a specific interface.

Kind regards, Marwijn.

public interface IObjFactory
{
    object Create(Type type);
}

public class FactoryCreatedComponent
{

}

public class Installer : IWindsorInstaller
{
    public void Install(IWindsorContainer container, IConfigurationStore store)
    {
        container.AddFacility<TypedFactoryFacility>();
        container.Register(
            Component.For<FactoryCreatedComponent>(),
            Component.For<IObjFactory>().AsFactory(new TypeBasedCompenentSelector()));
    }
}

public class TypeBasedCompenentSelector : DefaultTypedFactoryComponentSelector
{
    protected override Type GetComponentType(MethodInfo method, object[] arguments)
    {
        return (Type) arguments[0];
    }
}



class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var container = new WindsorContainer();
        container.Install(new Installer());
        var factory = container.Resolve<IObjFactory>();

        var component = factory.Create(typeof (FactoryCreatedComponent));

        Debug.Assert(typeof(FactoryCreatedComponent) == component.GetType());
    }
}