Reflection is way through which we can identify metadata about assembly runtime.
Example: We have a .Net Assembly file (.dll file), which consist of 2 Class Definition and 10 Method Names, We can get information about classes and method name list through reflection.
Few Examples of Reflection
Loading Assembly FileAssembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(sAssemblyFileName);
Get List of Class Name.
Type[] types = assem.GetTypes();
Get List of Method Name
foreach (Type cls in types)
{
try
{
//Add Namespace Name
arrl.Add(cls.FullName);
//Add Class Name
if(cls.IsAbstract)
arrl.Add("Abstract Class:" + cls.Name.ToString());
else if(cls.IsPublic)
arrl.Add("Public Class:" + cls.Name.ToString());
else if(cls.IsSealed)
arrl.Add("Sealed Class:" + cls.Name.ToString());
MemberInfo[] methodName = cls.GetMethods();
foreach (MemberInfo method in methodName)
{
if (method.ReflectedType.IsPublic)
arrl.Add("\tPublic - " + method.Name.ToString());
else
arrl.Add("\tNon-Public - " + method.Name.ToString());
}
}
catch (System.NullReferenceException)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error msg");
}
}
A Sample Application Showing Good Usage of Reflection in .NetFollowing application shows how to identify list of Classes and Method in any .Net Assembly file with the help of .Net Reflection. For an example I am using Ajax Assembly filename to list all its classname and method name.
Step 1: Design a web form consisting of following controls.
Label – Shows text “Assembly File Name”
Textbox – Taking Input Assembly File Name.
Listbox – For displaying list of Class Names and Method Names
Button – On Button Click Event Display List of Class Name and Method Name
Step 2: Write following code on Button_Click Event.
private void btnListMethodName_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string sAssemblyFileName = txtAssemblyFileName.Text;
if (sAssemblyFileName.Length != 0)
{
Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(sAssemblyFileName);
Type[] types = assem.GetTypes();
ArrayList arrl = new ArrayList();
foreach (Type cls in types)
{
try
{
//Add Class Name
arrl.Add(cls.FullName);
if(cls.IsAbstract)
arrl.Add("Abstract Class:" + cls.Name.ToString());
else if(cls.IsPublic)
arrl.Add("Public Class:" + cls.Name.ToString());
else if(cls.IsSealed)
arrl.Add("Sealed Class:" + cls.Name.ToString());
MemberInfo[] methodName = cls.GetMethods();
foreach (MemberInfo method in methodName)
{
//arrl.Add("\t" + method.Name.ToString());
if (method.ReflectedType.IsPublic)
arrl.Add("\tPublic - " + method.Name.ToString());
else
arrl.Add("\tNon-Public - " + method.Name.ToString());
}
}
catch (System.NullReferenceException)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error msg");
}
}
//Dump Data to NotePad File
FileStream fs = new FileStream(@"c:\myData.txt", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite);
StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs);
for (int i = 0; i < arrl.Count; i++)
{
lstInfo.Items.Add(arrl[i].ToString());
sw.WriteLine(arrl[i].ToString());
}
sw.Flush();
sw.Close();
}
}
