Type.GetProperty Method (String, BindingFlags, Binder, Type, array<Type[], array<ParameterModifier[])

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Searches for the specified property whose parameters match the specified argument types and modifiers, using the specified binding constraints.

Namespace:  System
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Function GetProperty ( _
    name As String, _
    bindingAttr As BindingFlags, _
    binder As Binder, _
    returnType As Type, _
    types As Type(), _
    modifiers As ParameterModifier() _
) As PropertyInfo
public PropertyInfo GetProperty(
    string name,
    BindingFlags bindingAttr,
    Binder binder,
    Type returnType,
    Type[] types,
    ParameterModifier[] modifiers
)

Parameters

  • binder
    Type: System.Reflection.Binder
    A Binder object that defines a set of properties and enables binding, which can involve selection of an overloaded method, coercion of argument types, and invocation of a member through reflection.
    -or-
    A null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), to use the DefaultBinder.
  • returnType
    Type: System.Type
    The return type of the property.
  • types
    Type: array<System.Type[]
    An array of Type objects representing the number, order, and type of the parameters for the indexed property to get.
    -or-
    An empty array of the type Type (that is, Type[] types = new Type[0]) to get a property that is not indexed.

Return Value

Type: System.Reflection.PropertyInfo
A PropertyInfo object representing the property that matches the specified requirements, if found; otherwise, nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Implements

IReflect.GetProperty(String, BindingFlags, Binder, Type, array<Type[], array<ParameterModifier[])

Exceptions

Exception Condition
AmbiguousMatchException

More than one property is found with the specified name and matching the specified binding constraints.

ArgumentNullException

name is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

-or-

types is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

ArgumentException

types is multidimensional.

-or-

modifiers is multidimensional.

-or-

types and modifiers do not have the same length.

NullReferenceException

An element of types is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Remarks

A property is considered public to reflection if it has at least one accessor that is public. Otherwise the property is considered private, and you must use BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static (in Visual Basic, combine the values using Or) to get it.

Although the default binder does not process ParameterModifier (the modifiers parameter), you can use the abstract System.Reflection.Binder class to write a custom binder that does process modifiers. ParameterModifier is only used when calling through COM interop, and only parameters that are passed by reference are handled.

The following table shows what members of a base class are returned by the Get methods when reflecting on a type.

Member Type

Static

Non-Static

Constructor

No

No

Field

No

Yes. A field is always hide-by-name-and-signature.

Event

Not applicable

The common type system rule is that the inheritance is the same as that of the methods that implement the property. Reflection treats properties as hide-by-name-and-signature. See note 2 below.

Method

No

Yes. A method (both virtual and non-virtual) can be hide-by-name or hide-by-name-and-signature.

Nested Type

No

No

Property

Not applicable

The common type system rule is that the inheritance is the same as that of the methods that implement the property. Reflection treats properties as hide-by-name-and-signature. See note 2 below.

Notes:

  1. Hide-by-name-and-signature considers all of the parts of the signature, including custom modifiers, return types, parameter types, sentinels, and unmanaged calling conventions. This is a binary comparison.

  2. For reflection, properties and events are hide-by-name-and-signature. If you have a property with both a get and a set accessor in the base class, but the derived class has only a get accessor, the derived class property hides the base class property, and you will not be able to access the setter on the base class.

  3. Custom attributes are not part of the common type system.

The types array and the modifiers array have the same length. A parameter specified in the types array can have the following attributes, which are specified in the modifiers array: pdIn, pdOut, pdLcid, pdRetval, pdOptional, and pdHasDefault, which represent [In], [Out], [lcid], [retval], [optional], and a value specifying whether the parameter has a default value. A parameter's associated attributes are stored in the metadata and enhance interoperability.

The following BindingFlags filter flags can be used to define which properties to include in the search:

  • You must specify either BindingFlags.Instance or BindingFlags.Static in order to get a return.

  • Specify BindingFlags.Public to include public properties in the search.

  • Specify BindingFlags.NonPublic to include non-public properties (that is, private and protected properties) in the search.

  • Specify BindingFlags.FlattenHierarchy to include public and protected static members up the hierarchy; private static members in inherited classes are not included.

The following BindingFlags modifier flags can be used to change how the search works:

  • BindingFlags.IgnoreCase to ignore the case of name.

  • BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly to search only the properties declared on the Type, not properties that were simply inherited.

See System.Reflection.BindingFlags for more information.

If the current Type represents a constructed generic type, this method returns the PropertyInfo with the type parameters replaced by the appropriate type arguments.

If the current Type represents a type parameter in the definition of a generic type or generic method, this method searches the properties of the class constraint.

Indexers and Default Properties

Visual Basic 2005, Visual C# 2005, and Visual C++ 2005 have simplified syntax for accessing indexed properties and allow one indexed property to be a default for its type. For example, if the variable myList refers to a List<T>, the syntax myList[3] (myList(3) in Visual Basic) retrieves the element with the index of 3. You can overload the property.

In C#, this feature is called an indexer and cannot be refered to by name. By default, a C# indexer appears in metadata as an indexed property named "Item". However, a class library developer can use the IndexerNameAttribute attribute to change the name of the indexer in the metadata. For example, the String class has an indexer named Chars. Indexed properties created using languages other than C# can have names other than Item, as well. 

To determine whether a type has a default property, use the GetCustomAttributes(Type, Boolean) method to test for the DefaultMemberAttribute attribute. If the type has DefaultMemberAttribute, the MemberName property returns the name of the default property.

Platform Notes

Silverlight for Windows Phone Silverlight for Windows Phone

 GetProperty throws NullReferenceException instead of ArgumentNullException when types contains a nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) element.

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.