Creating a shape using reflection

GoDiagram (6 and previous)
1

I am attempting to create shapes dynamically, and I have hit a snag regarding the use of Reflection to get this done.



I am tying to do something like this, where an object (objClass) has a string property (chartShape) with the name of the GoShape that is to be used when displaying that object.





GoBasicNode node = new GoBasicNode();

Type s = Type.GetType(“Northwoods.GoWeb.” + objClass.chartShape);

node.Shape = Activator.CreateInstance(s);



The trouble is that Activator.CreateInstance returns an object, which I will need to cast to the appropriate shape. But, how do I do that?



Attempts like this:

node.Shape = (s.GetType())Activator.CreateInstance(s);



are not syntacticly correct but, I can’t figure out how to code it.



Any suggestions from anyone?



Thanks very much.



2
Can't you just do
node.Shape = (GoShape)Activator.CreateInstance(s);
or
GoShape shape = Activator.CreateInstance(s) as GoShape;
3

yes, of course I can!

"node.Shape = (GoShape)Activator.CreateInstance(s);" is actually the first thing I tried, but the type pointed to by "s" was not being formed correctly, and was throwing the error. I mistook the error to mean that the cast was not functioning properly.
D'uh.
Thanks for your help.