ValueType Class (System)

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.NET Framework Class Library

ValueType Class

Updated: August 2011

Provides the base class for value types.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
System.ValueType
System.Enum

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic

<SerializableAttribute> _
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public MustInherit Class ValueType

[SerializableAttribute]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public abstract class ValueType

Visual C++

[SerializableAttribute]
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public ref class ValueType abstract

[<AbstractClass>]
[<SerializableAttribute>]
[<ComVisibleAttribute(true)>]
type ValueType =  class end

The ValueType type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	ValueType	Initializes a new instance of the ValueType class.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	Equals	Indicates whether this instance and a specified object are equal. (Overrides Object.Equals(Object).)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetHashCode	Returns the hash code for this instance. (Overrides Object.GetHashCode().)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	ToString	Returns the fully qualified type name of this instance. (Overrides Object.ToString().) In XNA Framework 3.0, this member is inherited from Object.ToString(). In Portable Class Library Portable Class Library, this member is inherited from Object.ToString().

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Remarks

ValueType overrides the virtual methods from Object with more appropriate implementations for value types. See also Enum, which inherits from ValueType.

Data types are separated into value types and reference types. Value types are either stack-allocated or allocated inline in a structure. Reference types are heap-allocated. Both reference and value types are derived from the ultimate base class Object. In cases where it is necessary for a value type to behave like an object, a wrapper that makes the value type look like a reference object is allocated on the heap, and the value type's value is copied into it. The wrapper is marked so the system knows that it contains a value type. This process is known as boxing, and the reverse process is known as unboxing. Boxing and unboxing allow any type to be treated as an object.

Although ValueType is the implicit base class for value types, you cannot create a class that inherits from ValueType directly. Instead, individual compilers provide a language keyword or construct (such as struct in C# and Structure…End Structure in Visual Basic) to support the creation of value types.

Except for serving as the base class for value types in the .NET Framework, the ValueType structure is generally not used directly in code. However, it can be used as a parameter in method calls to restrict possible arguments to value types instead of all objects, or to permit a method to handle a number of different value types. The following example illustrates how ValueType prevents reference types from being passed to methods. It defines a class named Utility that contains four methods: IsNumeric, which indicates whether its argument is a number; IsInteger, which indicates whether its argument is an integer; IsFloat, which indicates whether its argument is a floating-point number; and Compare, which indicates the relationship between two numeric values. In each case, the method parameters are of type ValueType, and reference types are prevented from being passed to the methods.

Visual Basic


Imports System.Numerics

Public Class Utility
   Public Enum NumericRelationship As Integer
      GreaterThan = 1
      EqualTo = 0
      LessThan = -1
   End Enum

   Public Shared Function Compare(value1 As ValueType, value2 As ValueType) _
                                  As NumericRelationship
      If Not IsNumeric(value1) Then 
         Throw New ArgumentException("value1 is not a number.")
      Else If Not IsNumeric(value2) Then
         Throw New ArgumentException("value2 is not a number.")
      Else
         ' Use BigInteger as common integral type
         If isInteger(value1) And IsInteger(value2) Then
            Dim bigint1 As BigInteger = CType(value1, BigInteger)
            Dim bigInt2 As BigInteger = CType(value2, BigInteger)
            Return CType(BigInteger.Compare(bigint1, bigint2), NumericRelationship)
         ' At least one value is floating point; use Double.
         Else   
            Dim dbl1, dbl2 As Double
            Try
               dbl1 = CDbl(value1)
            Catch e As OverflowException
               Console.WriteLine("value1 is outside the range of a Double.")
            End Try

            Try
               dbl2 = CDbl(value2)
            Catch e As OverflowException
               Console.WriteLine("value2 is outside the range of a Double.")
            End Try
            Return CType(dbl1.CompareTo(dbl2), NumericRelationship)
         End If
      End If
   End Function

   Public Shared Function IsInteger(value As ValueType) As Boolean         
      Return (TypeOf value Is SByte Or TypeOf value Is Int16 Or TypeOf value Is Int32 _
                 Or TypeOf value Is Int64 Or TypeOf value Is Byte Or TypeOf value Is UInt16 _ 
                 Or TypeOf value Is UInt32 Or TypeOf value Is UInt64 _
                 Or TypeOf value Is BigInteger) 
   End Function

   Public Shared Function IsFloat(value As ValueType) As Boolean         
      Return (TypeOf value Is Single Or TypeOf value Is Double Or TypeOf value Is Decimal)
   End Function

   Public Shared Function IsNumeric(value As ValueType) As Boolean
      If Not (typeof value Is Byte OrElse
         typeof value Is Int16 OrElse
         typeof value Is Int32 OrElse
         TypeOf value Is Int64 OrElse
         TypeOf value Is SByte OrElse
         TypeOf value Is UInt16 OrElse
         TypeOf value Is UInt32 OrElse
         TypeOf value Is UInt64 OrElse
         TypeOf value Is BigInteger OrElse
         TypeOf value Is Decimal OrElse
         TypeOf value Is Double OrElse
         TypeOf value Is Single) Then
            Return False
      Else
         Return True
      End If    
   End Function
End Class


using System;
using System.Numerics;


public class Utility
{
   public enum NumericRelationship {
      GreaterThan = 1, 
      EqualTo = 0,
      LessThan = -1
   };

   public static NumericRelationship Compare(ValueType value1, ValueType value2)
   {
      if (! IsNumeric(value1)) 
         throw new ArgumentException("value1 is not a number.");
      else if (! IsNumeric(value2))
         throw new ArgumentException("value1 is not a number.");

      // Use BigInteger as common integral type
      if (IsInteger(value1) && IsInteger(value2)) {
         BigInteger bigint1 = (BigInteger) value1;
         BigInteger bigint2 = (BigInteger) value2;
         return (NumericRelationship) BigInteger.Compare(bigint1, bigint2);
      }
      // At least one value is floating point; use Double.
      else {
         Double dbl1 = 0;
         Double dbl2 = 0;
         try {
            dbl1 = Convert.ToDouble(value1);
         }
         catch (OverflowException) {
            Console.WriteLine("value1 is outside the range of a Double.");
         }
         try {
            dbl2 = Convert.ToDouble(value2);
         }
         catch (OverflowException) {
            Console.WriteLine("value2 is outside the range of a Double.");
         }
         return (NumericRelationship) dbl1.CompareTo(dbl2);
      }
   }

   public static bool IsInteger(ValueType value)
   {         
      return (value is SByte || value is Int16 || value is Int32 
              || value is Int64 || value is Byte || value is UInt16  
              || value is UInt32 || value is UInt64 
              || value is BigInteger); 
   }

   public static bool IsFloat(ValueType value) 
   {         
      return (value is float | value is double | value is Decimal);
   }

   public static bool IsNumeric(ValueType value)
   {
      if ( ! (value is Byte ||
              value is Int16 ||
              value is Int32 ||
              value is Int64 ||
              value is SByte ||
              value is UInt16 ||
              value is UInt32 ||
              value is UInt64 ||
              value is BigInteger ||
              value is Decimal ||
              value is Double ||
              value is Single))
            return false;
      else
         return true;
   }
}

The following example illustrates calls to the methods of the Utility class.

Visual Basic


Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric(12))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric(True))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric("c"c))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric(#01/01/2012#))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsInteger(12.2))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsInteger(123456789))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsFloat(True))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsFloat(12.2))
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsFloat(12))
      Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", 12.1, Utility.Compare(12.1, 12), 12)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       True
'       False
'       False
'       False
'       False
'       True
'       False
'       True
'       False
'       12.1 GreaterThan 12


public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric(12));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric(true));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric('c'));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsNumeric(new DateTime(2012, 1, 1)));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsInteger(12.2));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsInteger(123456789));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsFloat(true));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsFloat(12.2));
      Console.WriteLine(Utility.IsFloat(12));
      Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", 12.1, Utility.Compare(12.1, 12), 12);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       True
//       False
//       False
//       False
//       False
//       True
//       False
//       True
//       False
//       12.1 GreaterThan 12

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.

Reference

System Namespace

Object

Enum

Change History

Date	History	Reason
August 2011	Expanded the Remarks section.	Customer feedback.
October 2010	Added an example.	Customer feedback.

Date

History

Reason

August 2011

Expanded the Remarks section.

Customer feedback.

October 2010

Added an example.

Customer feedback.