DapperLib / DapperLib/Dapper

Cannot map PostgreSQL text[] type to List<string>

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C#
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Description

I have a PostgreSQL table named foo with a bar column of type text[]. I try to execute the following code:

public class Foo
{
    public List<string> Bar { get; set; }
}
public async Task<Foo> GetById(Guid id)
{
    var param = new { Id = id };
    string sql = "SELECT bar AS Bar FROM foo WHERE id = @Id";
    return await this._connection.QuerySingleOrDefaultAsync<Foo>(sql, param);
}

The QuerySingleOrDefaultAsync line fails with the following exception:

System.Data.DataException : Error parsing column 2 (bar=System.String[] - Object)
----> System.InvalidCastException : Unable to cast object of type 'System.String[]' to type 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]'.

The code works if I change the Foo.Bar property to string[], but I find the behavior inconsistent because Npgsql is supposed to support both regular .NET arrays and List<> types when mapping to/from a PostgreSQL array. Furthermore, performing an INSERT with a List<> parameter does work (supposedly because Dapper mapping doesn't intervene in this case).

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the QuerySingleOrDefaultAsync mapping against a PostgreSQL text[] column, then inspect Dapper's result-column conversion path for List. Done means Foo.Bar maps to List without the InvalidCastException while existing string[] mapping continues to work.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp, postgresql
Domain
backend, databases
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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