Type.BaseType Property

Syntax

'Declaration
Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property BaseType As Type

public abstract Type BaseType { get; }

Remarks

The base type is the type from which the current type directly inherits. Object is the only type that does not have a base type, therefore nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) is returned as the base type of Object.

Interfaces inherit from zero or more base interfaces; therefore, this property returns nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) if the Type object represents an interface. The base interfaces can be determined with GetInterfaces.

If the current Type represents a constructed generic type, the base type reflects the generic arguments. For example, consider the following declarations:

class B<U> { }
class C<T> : B<T> { }

Class B(Of U)
End Class
Class C(Of T)
    Inherits B(Of T)
End Class

generic<typename U> ref class B { };
generic<typename T> class C : B<T> { };

For the constructed type C<int> (C(Of Integer) in Visual Basic), the BaseType property returns B<int>.

If the current Type represents a type parameter of a generic type definition, BaseType returns the class constraint, that is, the class the type parameter must inherit. If there is no class constraint, BaseType returns System.Object.

This property is read-only.

Examples

The following example demonstrates using the BaseType property.

Note:
To run this example, see Building Examples That Use a Demo Method and a TextBlock Control.

Class Example

   Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim t As Type = GetType(Integer)
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("{0} inherits from {1}.", t, t.BaseType) & vbCrLf
   End Sub 'Main
End Class 'TestType

using System;
class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      Type t = typeof(int);
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("{0} inherits from {1}.", t, t.BaseType) + "\n";
   }
}

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.

See Also

Reference

Other Resources