System.Type.GetProperty Method

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

Syntax

public System.Reflection.PropertyInfo GetProperty (string name, System.Reflection.BindingFlags bindingAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, Type returnType, Type[] types, System.Reflection.ParameterModifier[] modifiers)

Parameters

returnType
The return type of the property.
name
The string containing the name of the property to get.
bindingAttr
A bitmask comprised of one or more System.Reflection.BindingFlags that specify how the search is conducted.
binder
An 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.
returnType
The return type of the property.
types
An array of Type objects representing the number, order, and type of the parameters for the indexed property to get.
modifiers
An array of System.Reflection.ParameterModifier objects representing the attributes associated with the corresponding element in the types array. The default binder does not process this parameter.

Returns

An object representing the property that matches the specified requirements, if found; otherwise, null.

Exceptions

TypeReason
System.Reflection.AmbiguousMatchExceptionMore than one property matching the specified criteria was found.
ArgumentNullException name or types is null, or at least one of the elements in types is null.
ArgumentException types has more than one dimension.

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 System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Static (in Visual Basic, combine the values using Or) to get it.

Although the default binder does not process System.Reflection.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.

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.

[The 'ordered' type of list has not been implemented in the ECMA stylesheet.]

The following System.Reflection.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, internal, 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 System.Reflection.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 System.Reflection.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

vbprvblong, csprcslong, and vcprvclong 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 an ArrayList, 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 System.Runtime.CompilerServices.IndexerNameAttribute attribute to change the name of the indexer in the metadata. For example, the string class has an indexer named string.Chars(int). 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 System.Reflection.MemberInfo.GetCustomAttributes(Type, bool) method to test for the System.Reflection.DefaultMemberAttribute attribute. If the type has System.Reflection.DefaultMemberAttribute, the System.Reflection.DefaultMemberAttribute.MemberName property returns the name of the default property.

Permissions

TypeReason
System.Security.Permissions.ReflectionPermissionRequires permission to retrieve information on non-public members of types in loaded assemblies. See System.Security.Permissions.ReflectionPermissionFlag.TypeInformation.

Requirements

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