To map protected Properties using AutoMapper in C# and VB.NET you can use the following snippet.

Samples

Samples C#

using System;
using AutoMapper;

namespace de.Fesslersoft.AutoMapperMapToProtectedProperties
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Product prod = new Product {Number = "Test", Price = 100, Quantity = 50};
            Mapper.Initialize(cfg =>
            {
                //without this line the ItemQuantity will be 10 and the Price 5
                //with this line  the ItemQuantity will be 50 and the Price 100
                cfg.ShouldMapProperty = p => p.GetGetMethod(true).IsPrivate || p.GetGetMethod(true).IsHideBySig;
                Mapper.CreateMap<Product, Item>();
            });
            Item item = Mapper.Map<Product, Item>(prod);
            Console.WriteLine("ItemNumber: {0}; ItemQuantity: {1}, ItemPrice: {2}", item.Number, item.GetQuantity(), item.GetPrice());
            Console.Read();
        }

        public class Product
        {
            public string Number { get; set; }
            public short Quantity { get; set; }
            public decimal Price { get; set; }
        }

        public class Item
        {
            public Item()
            {
                Quantity = 10;
                Price = 5;
            }

            public string Number { get; set; }

            protected short Quantity { get; set; }
            private decimal Price { get; }

            public decimal GetPrice()
            {
                return Price;
            }

            public short GetQuantity()
            {
                return Quantity;
            }
        }
    }
}

Samples VB.NET

🙁 missing, feel free to provide a VB.NET sample

Another approach would be to create a method in the destination object to do the mapping.

Samples

Sample C#

Mapper.CreateMap<Source, Destination>().AfterMap((src, dest) => dest.MethodToSetProtectedProperty(Source.SourceProperty));

Sample VB.NET

Mapper.CreateMap(Of Source, Destination)().AfterMap(Function(src, dest) dest.MethodToSetProtectedProperty(Source.SourceProperty))

Compatibility: .NET 2.0 .NET 3.0 .NET 3.5 .NET 4.0 .NET 4.5 .NET 4.6

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Related links:

• AutoMapper
• Automapper: Map to Protected Property
• Configuring visibility
• Before and after map actions (Automapper WIKI)
• Access Modifiers (C# Programming Guide)
• Access Levels in Visual Basic