Target

Gets the class instance on which the current delegate invokes the instance method.

Syntax

public object Target { get; }

Value

A object instance, or null if the delegate invokes only static methods.

Remarks

An instance method is a method that is associated with an instance of a class; a static method is a method that is associated with the class itself.

If the delegate invokes one or more instance methods, this property returns the target of the last instance method in the invocation list.

Example

Example 1:

The following example gets the Delegate.Target property values for two delegates. The first delegate invokes a static method, and the second invokes an instance method.

C# Example

using System;
public delegate string DelegatedMethod(string s);
class MyClass {
  public static string StaticMethod(string s) {
    return ("Static method Arg=" + s);
  }
  public string InstanceMethod(string s) {
    return ("Instance method Arg=" + s);
  }
}
class TestClass {
  public static void Main() {
    MyClass myInstance = new MyClass();
     //Create  delegates from delegate type DelegatedMethod.
    DelegatedMethod delStatic = new DelegatedMethod(MyClass.StaticMethod);        
    DelegatedMethod delInstance = new DelegatedMethod(myInstance.InstanceMethod);
    object t = delStatic.Target; 
    Console.WriteLine ("Static target is {0}", t==null ? "null":t);    
    t = delInstance.Target;
    Console.WriteLine ("Instance target is {0}", t==null ? "null":t);
    }
}

The output is

Static target is null Instance target is MyClass

Example 2:

The following example gets the Delegate.Target property value for three delegates created using instance methods, static methods, and a combination of the two.

C# Example

using System;
class MyClass {
  public static string StaticMethod(string s) {
    return ("Static String " + s);
  }
  public string InstanceMethod(string s) {
    return ("Instance String " + s);
  }
}
class MyClass2 {
  public static string StaticMethod2(string s) {
    return ("Static String2 " + s);
  }
  public string InstanceMethod2(string s) {
    return ("Instance String2 " + s);
  }
}
public delegate string DelegatedMethod(string s);

class TestClass {
    public static void Main() {
    DelegatedMethod delStatic = new DelegatedMethod(MyClass.StaticMethod);
    DelegatedMethod delStatic2 = new DelegatedMethod(MyClass2.StaticMethod2);
    
    MyClass myInstance = new MyClass();
    DelegatedMethod delInstance = new DelegatedMethod(myInstance.InstanceMethod);

    MyClass2 myInstance2 = new MyClass2();
    DelegatedMethod delInstance2 = new DelegatedMethod(myInstance2.InstanceMethod2);

    Delegate d = Delegate.Combine(delStatic, delInstance );
    Delegate e = Delegate.Combine(delInstance,delInstance2);
    Delegate f = Delegate.Combine(delStatic, delStatic2 );
    if (d!=null) {
        Console.WriteLine("Combined 1 static, 1 instance, same class:");
        Console.WriteLine("target...{0}", d.Target == null ? "null" : d.Target);
        foreach(Delegate x in d.GetInvocationList())
            Console.WriteLine("invoke element target: {0}",x.Target);

    }
    Console.WriteLine("");
    if (e!=null) {
        Console.WriteLine("Combined 2 instance methods, different classes:");
        Console.WriteLine("target...{0}", e.Target == null ? "null" : e.Target);
        foreach(Delegate x in e.GetInvocationList())
            Console.WriteLine("invoke element target: {0}",x.Target);
    }
    Console.WriteLine("");
    if (f!=null) {
        Console.WriteLine("Combined 2 static methods, different classes:");
        Console.WriteLine("target...{0}", f.Target == null ? "null" : f.Target);
        foreach(Delegate x in f.GetInvocationList())
            Console.WriteLine("invoke element target: {0}",x.Target);
    }

    }
}

The output is

Combined 1 static, 1 instance, same class: target...MyClass invoke element target: invoke element target: MyClass Combined 2 instance methods, different classes: target...MyClass2 invoke element target: MyClass invoke element target: MyClass2 Combined 2 static methods, different classes: target...null invoke element target: invoke element target:

Requirements

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0, 4.0.0.0