How do I extract all the components of a gameobject and place them in to a new gameobject?

Hey there, I'm trying to extract ALL the components of a gameobject and then place them in a new gameobject at a later date after the original gameobject has been destroyed.

In effect I'm trying to clone the gameobject without the original object being there.

In C#.

It's for an inventory script. The user approaches the object then presses 'E' to 'collect' it. The object is detected with capsuletracing. I know this part works.

This is what I've got so far:

First, the struct, which I create outside of the main class:

public struct InventoryItems
{
    public string itemName;
    public Component[] itemComponents;
}

Then start:

void Start()
{
    realInventory = new InventoryItems[10];
    inventoryCollectionPrompt=0;
}

Then inside update:

if(Input.GetKeyUp(KeyCode.E))
{
    realInventory[0].itemName = hit_fwd.transform.gameObject.name;
    realInventory[0].itemComponents = hit_fwd.transform.gameObject.GetComponents(typeof(Component));
    Destroy(hit_fwd.transform.gameObject);
}

I know it gets the right number of components (in this case 5) through Debug.Log(realInventory.itemComponents.Length).

Then I try to 'restore' the gameobject by pressing 'F':

    if(realInventory[0].itemName!=null)
    {
        if(Input.GetKeyUp(KeyCode.F))
        {
            restoreItem();
        }

This is the restoreItem procedure:

void restoreItem()
{
    int i=0;
    GameObject Cake = new GameObject(realInventory[0].itemName);
    Cake.transform.position = transform.position;
    while(i < realInventory[0].itemComponents.Length)
    {
        Cake = Cake.AddComponent
 
  ("Test");
        i++;
    }
}

 

For some reason, AddComponent only accepts a string rather than component. Same with GetComponents. Where I have used it is simply guesswork, as I have never used AddComponent before as per the Unity script reference which is remarkably non-descriptive in this case.

I have tried to be as detailed as possible in my explanation of what I am trying to do. If I have left something vital out, please ask for it.

I would also like to request that answers are more than code correction/replacement and actually include explanations as to why those corrections/replacements are there, as it helps to further my learning.

Thanks in advance.