Calling a variable with a variable

Question

So I posted the same question but with calling a label with a variable
(http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Forums/Thread/246996/)

Now I need to call a variable with a variable.
I've tried to modify the code given in the before mentioned thread, but with no luck.
So my question, can it be done? And if so, how?

Saying I have a variable called Cookie, I need to call the variable that equals what is written in the Cookie variable.
Say, Cookie = "Cake"; I would wanna call the Cake variable.

As mentioned I've tried modifying the code given to the label question (thread as mentioned before), but it didn't work. Here's the code I tried:

String TheLabel = (String)this.Controls[cookie];

Please help, I will love you forever if you do :)

Vulpes · Answer

I was trying to illustrate that the first variable could contain the name of any other variable either cake or drink in this example. To write to a variable you'd then need to assign a new string to it (as you normally would) and then refresh the dictionary value as well: static void Main() { string cake = gateau; string drink = pepsi; var dict = new Dictionary { {cake cake} {drink drink} }; string cookie = cake; Console.WriteLine(dict[cookie]); // gateau cake = battenberg; // write to variable dict[cookie] = cake; // refresh dictionary value Console.WriteLine(dict[cookie]); // battenberg Console.ReadKey(); }

Michael Mortensen · Answer

It's a local variable. But I don't understand the coding at all. Why do I need the drink? Why do I need to chnge Cookie twice? string cookie = cake; Console.WriteLine(dict[cookie]); // gateau cookie = drink; Console.WriteLine(dict[cookie]); // drink and how do I write to the variable?

Vulpes · Answer

It depends whether they're local variables or class-level variables. If they're local variables you'd need to build some sort of dictionary. For example: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Test { static void Main() { string cake = gateau; string drink = pepsi; var dict = new Dictionary { {cake cake} {drink drink} }; string cookie = cake; Console.WriteLine(dict[cookie]); // gateau cookie = drink; Console.WriteLine(dict[cookie]); // drink Console.ReadKey(); } } A similar approach would also work for class-level variables (or fields) though you could also use reflection as well. using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Reflection; class Test { string cake = gateau; string drink = pepsi; Dictionary dict; static void Main() { Test t = new Test(); t.dict = new Dictionary { {cake t.cake} {drink t.drink} }; string cookie = cake; Console.WriteLine(t.dict[cookie]); // gateau cookie = drink; Console.WriteLine(t.dict[cookie]); // drink Console.WriteLine(); // alternatively using reflection BindingFlags bf = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic; Type tt = typeof(Test); cookie = cake; Console.WriteLine(tt.GetField(cookie bf).GetValue(t));// gateau cookie = drink; Console.WriteLine(tt.GetField(cookie bf).GetValue(t));// drink Console.ReadKey(); } }