Using Reflection to get Properties, Methods, Types

[mendhak]

To get all the properties of a class:

Public Shared Sub GetProperties(ByRef theType As Type)
 
        'To get the properties of an object.
 
        Dim pi_Properties() As PropertyInfo = theType.GetProperties((BindingFlags.Public Or BindingFlags.Instance))
 
        'Now, we have the properties.  It's time to loop through them.
 
        Dim pi_PropertyItem As PropertyInfo
 
        For Each pi_PropertyItem In pi_Properties
            Console.WriteLine(pi_PropertyItem.Name & " is of type " & pi_PropertyItem.PropertyType.ToString)
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & pi_PropertyItem.Name & IIf(pi_PropertyItem.CanRead, " can be Read.", " cannot be Read."))
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & pi_PropertyItem.Name & IIf(pi_PropertyItem.CanWrite, " can be Written.", " cannot be Written."))
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & vbCrLf)
        Next
 
    End Sub

To get all the methods in a class, along with the parameters for each method.

Public Shared Sub GetMethods(ByRef theType As Type)
        'This is to get the methods of the object.  
 
 
        Dim mi_Properties() As MethodInfo  'array of methodinfo.
        mi_Properties = theType.GetMethods()
 
        Dim mi_MethodItem As MethodInfo
 
        'now, we loop through mi_Properties array and can view each method and its parameters.
 
        For Each mi_MethodItem In mi_Properties
 
            Console.WriteLine(mi_MethodItem.Name & " returns " & mi_MethodItem.ReturnType.ToString)
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & mi_MethodItem.Name & IIf(mi_MethodItem.IsPrivate, " is private", " is public."))
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & mi_MethodItem.Name & IIf(mi_MethodItem.IsStatic, " is static", " is not static."))
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & mi_MethodItem.Name & IIf(mi_MethodItem.IsConstructor, " is constructor for " & theType.Name.ToString, " is not a constructor"))
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & mi_MethodItem.Name & " takes the following parameters:")
            Console.WriteLine(GetMethodParameters(mi_MethodItem))
            Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & vbCrLf)
        Next
 
 
    End Sub
 
 
'This function returns a string and should only be used by GetMethods()
    Private Shared Function GetMethodParameters(ByRef mi As MethodInfo) As String
 
        Dim p_Params() As ParameterInfo
        Dim strParamsText As String = ""
 
        p_Params = mi.GetParameters()
 
        If p_Params.Length = 0 Then
            strParamsText = "***NONE***"
        Else
            Dim pi_ParamItem As ParameterInfo
            For Each pi_ParamItem In p_Params
                strParamsText &= "  *" & pi_ParamItem.Name & " of type " & pi_ParamItem.ParameterType.ToString & vbCrLf
            Next
        End If
 
        Return strParamsText
 
 
    End Function

To get all the Types present in the same assembly as a type that you specify:

Public Shared Sub GetTypes(ByRef theType As Type)
        'every type belongs to an assembly.  Get the assembly OF the type being passed.
 
        Dim TargetAssembly As [Assembly] = theType.Assembly
 
        'Get its namespace
 
        Dim TargetNamespace As String = theType.Namespace
 
        'And now, list out ALL the types in this namespace
 
        Dim TargetTypes() As Type = TargetAssembly.GetTypes
 
        Dim TypeItem As Type
 
        Dim strTypeInfo As String
 
 
        For Each TypeItem In TargetTypes
 
            If TypeItem.Namespace = TargetNamespace Then
                'This check is performed because an assembly can contain different namespace.  
                'For example, the namespace for System.Windows.Forms can contain System, System.Resources, etc.
 
                strTypeInfo = TypeItem.Name & " is a "
 
                If TypeItem.IsPublic Then
                    strTypeInfo &= "public "
                Else
                    strTypeInfo &= "private "
                End If
 
                If TypeItem.IsClass Then
                    strTypeInfo &= "class."
                End If
 
                If TypeItem.IsEnum Then
                    strTypeInfo &= "enum"
                End If
                If TypeItem.IsInterface Then
                    strTypeInfo &= "interface"
                End If
                Console.WriteLine(strTypeInfo)
 
            End If
 
 
 
        Next
 
 
    End Sub

Although they're all being written to console, it's just for the purpose of displaying the output. Modify it as you see fit.


Keywords:
System.Reflection
Method
Method Parameters
Properties
Types
Assembly
Mendhak