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Interrogating Types

The System.Type class also enables you to query a type regarding almost any of its attributes, including a types access modifier, whether the type is nested, its COM properties, and so on. The following code illustrates this by using several common types as well as some demo types: -

using System;
using System.Reflection;

interface DemoInterface
{
}

class DemoAttr : System.Attribute
{
}

enum DemoEnum
{
}

public class DemoBaseClass
{
}

public class DemoDerivedClass : DemoBaseClass
{
}

class DemoStruct
{
}

class QueryTypesApp
{
    public static void QueryType(string typeName)
    {
        try
        {
            Type type = Type.GetType(typeName);
            Console.WriteLine("Type name: {0}", type.FullName);
            Console.WriteLine("\tHasElementType = {0}",

                              type.HasElementType);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsAbstract = {0}", type.IsAbstract);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsAnsiClass = {0}", type.IsAnsiClass);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsArray = {0}", type.IsArray);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsAutoClass = {0}", type.IsAutoClass);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsAutoLayout = {0}",
                              type.IsAutoLayout);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsByRef = {0}", type.IsByRef);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsClass = {0}", type.IsClass);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsCOMObject = {0}", type.IsCOMObject);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsContextful = {0}",
                              type.IsContextful);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsEnum = {0}", type.IsEnum);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsExplicitLayout = {0}",
                              type.IsExplicitLayout);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsImport = {0}", type.IsImport);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsInterface = {0}",
                              type.IsInterface);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsLayoutSequential = {0}",
                              type.IsLayoutSequential);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsMarshalByRef = {0}",
                              type.IsMarshalByRef);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNestedAssembly = {0}",
                              type.IsNestedAssembly);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNestedFamANDAssem = {0}",
                              type.IsNestedFamANDAssem);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNestedFamily = {0}",
                              type.IsNestedFamily);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNestedFamORAssem = {0}",
                              type.IsNestedFamORAssem);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNestedPrivate = {0}",
                              type.IsNestedPrivate);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNestedPublic = {0}",
                              type.IsNestedPublic);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsNotPublic = {0}",
                              type.IsNotPublic);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsPointer = {0}",
                              type.IsPointer);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsPrimitive = {0}",
                              type.IsPrimitive);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsPublic = {0}",
                              type.IsPublic);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsSealed = {0}",
                              type.IsSealed);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsSerializable = {0}",
                              type.IsSerializable);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsServicedComponent = {0}",
                              type.IsServicedComponent);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsSpecialName = {0}",
                              type.IsSpecialName);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsUnicodeClass = {0}",
                              type.IsUnicodeClass);
            Console.WriteLine("\tIsValueType = {0}", type.IsValueType);
        }
        catch(System.NullReferenceException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine
                        ("{0} is not a valid type", typeName);
        }
    }

        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
                QueryType("System.Int32");
                QueryType("System.Int64");
                QueryType("System.Type");

                QueryType("DemoAttr");
                QueryType("DemoEnum");
                QueryType("DemoBaseClass");
                QueryType("DemoDerivedClass");
                QueryType("DemoStruct");
        }
    }

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