MethodImplAttribute Class (System.Runtime.CompilerServices)

Switch View :
ScriptFree
.NET Framework Class Library
MethodImplAttribute Class

Updated: September 2010

Specifies the details of how a method is implemented. This class cannot be inherited.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
  System.Attribute
    System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImplAttribute

Namespace:  System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Syntax

Visual Basic
<SerializableAttribute> _
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Constructor Or AttributeTargets.Method, Inherited := False)> _
Public NotInheritable Class MethodImplAttribute _
	Inherits Attribute
C#
[SerializableAttribute]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Constructor|AttributeTargets.Method, Inherited = false)]
public sealed class MethodImplAttribute : Attribute
Visual C++
[SerializableAttribute]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets::Constructor|AttributeTargets::Method, Inherited = false)]
public ref class MethodImplAttribute sealed : public Attribute
F#
[<Sealed>]
[<SerializableAttribute>]
[<ComVisibleAttribute(true)>]
[<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Constructor|AttributeTargets.Method, Inherited = false)>]
type MethodImplAttribute =  
    class
        inherit Attribute
    end

The MethodImplAttribute type exposes the following members.

Constructors

  Name Description
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework MethodImplAttribute() Initializes a new instance of the MethodImplAttribute class.
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework MethodImplAttribute(Int16) Initializes a new instance of the MethodImplAttribute class with the specified MethodImplOptions value.
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library MethodImplAttribute(MethodImplOptions) Initializes a new instance of the MethodImplAttribute class with the specified MethodImplOptions value.
Top
Properties

  Name Description
Public property TypeId When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public property Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library Value Gets the MethodImplOptions value describing the attributed method.
Top
Methods

  Name Description
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library Equals Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library Finalize Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library GetHashCode Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method IsDefaultAttribute When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework Match When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library MemberwiseClone Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Supported by the XNA Framework Supported by Portable Class Library ToString Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
Top
Fields

  Name Description
Public field Supported by the XNA Framework MethodCodeType A MethodCodeType value indicating what kind of implementation is provided for this method.
Top
Explicit Interface Implementations

  Name Description
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetIDsOfNames Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetTypeInfo Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetTypeInfoCount Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1). (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.Invoke Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Top
Remarks

You can apply this attribute to methods or constructors.

This attribute lets you customize the configuration of the method or constructor to which it applies by supplying a MethodImplOptions value to its class constructor. The members of the MethodImplOptions enumeration correspond to bit fields in the CorMethodImpl metadata table. This means that information on the attribute cannot be retrieved at run time by calling the MemberInfo.GetCustomAttributes method; instead, it is retrieved by calling either the MethodInfo.GetMethodImplementationFlags or the ConstructorInfo.GetMethodImplementationFlags method.

Examples

The following example applies the MethodImplAttribute to the GetCalendarName method to ensure that it is not inlined at run time by the just-in-time (JIT) compiler.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

Public Class Utility
   <MethodImplAttribute(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)>
   Public Shared Function GetCalendarName(cal As Calendar) As String
      Return cal.ToString().Replace("System.Globalization.", "").Replace("Calendar", "")
   End Function
End Class


C#

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

public class Utility
{
   [MethodImplAttribute(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)] 
   public static string GetCalendarName(Calendar cal)
   {
      return cal.ToString().Replace("System.Globalization.", "").
                 Replace("Calendar", "");
   }
}


The following example then calls the MethodInfo.GetMethodImplementationFlags method to determine which flags are set for the GetCalendarName method. It also demonstrates that this information is not retrieved by the MemberInfo.GetCustomAttributes method.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Reflection

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      ' Use reflection to get a reference to the GetCalendarName method.
      Dim assem As Assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(".\Example.dll")
      Dim type As Type = assem.GetType("Utility")
      Dim methodInfo As MethodInfo = type.GetMethod("GetCalendarName")

      ' Determine whether the method has any custom attributes.
      Console.Write("Utility.GetCalendarName custom attributes:")
      Dim attribs() As Object = methodInfo.GetCustomAttributes(False)
      If attribs.Length > 0 Then
         Console.WriteLine()
         For Each attrib As Object In attribs
            Console.WriteLine("   " + attrib.ToString())   
         Next
      Else
         Console.WriteLine("   <None>")
      End If

      ' Get the method's metadata flags.
      Dim flags As MethodImplAttributes = methodInfo.GetMethodImplementationFlags()
      Console.WriteLine("Utility.GetCalendarName flags: {0}", flags.ToString())      
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'     Utility.GetCalendarName custom attributes:   <None>
'     Utility.GetCalendarName flags: NoInlining


C#

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      // Use reflection to get a reference to the GetCalendarName method.
      Assembly assem = Assembly.LoadFrom(@".\Example.dll");
      Type type = assem.GetType("Utility");
      MethodInfo methodInfo = type.GetMethod("GetCalendarName");

      // Determine whether the method has any custom attributes.
      Console.Write("Utility.GetCalendarName custom attributes:");
      object[] attribs = methodInfo.GetCustomAttributes(false);
      if (attribs.Length > 0) {
         Console.WriteLine();
         foreach (var attrib in attribs)
            Console.WriteLine("   " + attrib.ToString());   

      }
      else {
         Console.WriteLine("   <None>");
      }

      // Get the method's metadata flags.
      MethodImplAttributes flags = methodInfo.GetMethodImplementationFlags();
      Console.WriteLine("Utility.GetCalendarName flags: {0}", 
                        flags.ToString());      
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//     Utility.GetCalendarName custom attributes:   <None>
//     Utility.GetCalendarName flags: NoInlining


Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Portable Class Library

Supported in: Portable Class Library
Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
See Also

Reference

Change History

Date

History

Reason

September 2010

Revised extensively.

Customer feedback.