ConversionType

This enum is used to set the value of the ConversionType property of Converter object. It defines how the conversion type is when extracting the DbDataReader into its equivalent .NET CLR type.

Enum Values

Below is the list of enum values.

Name	Description
Default	The conversion is strict. There is no additional implied logic in used during the conversion of the DbDataReader object into its destination .NET CLR type.
Automatic	The conversion is not strict (or automatic). An additional logic from the `System.Linq.Expressions.Expression.Convert(Expression, Type)` and/or `System.Convert` objects will be used to properly map the instance of DbDataReader object into its destination .NET CLR type. The operation is compiled ahead-of-time (AOT) and will only succeed if the data types of both objects are convertible.

Use-Cases

You can use the value of Automatic if the database column type is not the same as the class property type (i.e.: Int to string, string to Guid, System.DateTime to string, etc).

Let us say, you have a given class named Customer as defined below.

public class Customer
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

Then, the library will succeed if the table is defined like below.

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Customer]
{
    [Id] INT IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
    [Name] NVARCHAR(32) NOT NULL,
    [Age] INT NOT NULL
}

However, the library will fail if the table is defined like below.

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Customer]
{
    [Id] INT IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
    [Name] NVARCHAR(32) NOT NULL,
    [Age] NVARCHAR(8) NOT NULL -- There is no explicit converter between STRING and INT
}

Usability

Simply set the value of ConversionType property of the Converter object like below.

Converter.ConversionType = ConversionType.Automatic;

Please be reminded that if the database column is not auto-convertible to a target property, then the System.Convert method will used during the transformation. With this additional logic implied, the performance will be affected during the transformations.