Constraining generic parameter to be abstract

Question

Is it possible to specify a constraint to a C# generic parameter, where that parameter must be abstract? So I currently have a method where the generic parameter must have a parameterless constructor but I've now run in to a scenario where I need an abstract T so I was hoping to overload the method with one that accepts only abstract Ts

public static void SomeMethod<T>(IEnumberable<T> SomeParam) where T:SomeBase, new()
{
  T tThing = new T();
  //do something simple
}
public static T SomeOtherMethod<T>(IEnumberable<T> SomeParam) where T:SomeBase, new()
{
  T tThing = new T();
  //do something simple
}

public static void SomeMethod<T>(IEnumberable<T> SomeParam) where T:SomeBase, abstract()
{
 //do something clever
}
public static T SomeOtherMethod<T>(IEnumberable<T> SomeParam) where T:SomeBase, abstract()
{
 //do something clever
}

If, as I suspect, the answer is "you can't do this", are there any sensible workarounds?

Answer 1

You cannot instruct the compiler to check that the type parameter is abstract. But you can do a runtime check.

public static void SomeMethod<T>(IEnumerable<T> SomeParam) where T:SomeBase
{
    Type type = typeof(T);
    if(type.IsAbstract)
    {
        throw new Exception(string.Format("Cannot use SomeMethod with type {0} because it is abstract.", type.FullName)); 
    }

    // Do the actual work
}

Or:

public static void SomeMethod<T>(IEnumerable<T> SomeParam) where T:SomeBase
{
    Type type = typeof(T);
    if(type.IsAbstract)
    {
        SomeMethodAbstract<T>(SomeParam);
    }
    else
    {
        SomeMethodNonAbstract<T>(SomeParam);
    }
}