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DisplayNameAttribute Class

.NET Framework 4

Specifies the display name for a property, event, or public void method which takes no arguments.

System.Object
  System.Attribute
    System.ComponentModel.DisplayNameAttribute

Namespace:  System.ComponentModel
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)
C#
C++
F#
VB
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[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Method|AttributeTargets.Property|AttributeTargets.Event)]
public class DisplayNameAttribute : Attribute

The DisplayNameAttribute type exposes the following members.

  Name Description
Public method DisplayNameAttribute Initializes a new instance of the DisplayNameAttribute class.
Public method DisplayNameAttribute(String) Initializes a new instance of the DisplayNameAttribute class using the display name.
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  Name Description
Public property DisplayName Gets the display name for a property, event, or public void method that takes no arguments stored in this attribute.
Protected property DisplayNameValue Gets or sets the display name.
Public property TypeId When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.)
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  Name Description
Public method Equals Determines whether two DisplayNameAttribute instances are equal. (Overrides Attribute.Equals(Object).)
Protected method 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 GetHashCode Returns the hash code for this instance. (Overrides Attribute.GetHashCode.)
Public method GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method IsDefaultAttribute Determines if this attribute is the default. (Overrides Attribute.IsDefaultAttribute.)
Public method Match When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method MemberwiseClone Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method ToString Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
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  Name Description
Public field Static member Default Specifies the default value for the DisplayNameAttribute. This field is read-only.
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  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.)
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The default is the name of the property or event. The default implementation of GetSortedActionItems uses reflection to search the public properties and public void methods that take no arguments. GetSortedActionItems searches for the DisplayNameAttribute on each property and method and, if found, uses that string instead of the property or method name.

The following code example demonstrates using the DisplayNameAttribute class to change the name of a property called MisnamedProperty to RenamedProperty in a PropertyGrid control. For a full code listing, see How to: Apply Attributes in Windows Forms Controls.

C#
VB
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// This property exists only to demonstrate the 
// DisplayName attribute. When this control 
// is attached to a PropertyGrid control, the
// property will be appear as "RenamedProperty"
// instead of "MisnamedProperty".
[Description("Demonstrates DisplayNameAttribute.")]
[DisplayName("RenamedProperty")]
public bool MisnamedProperty
{
    get
    {
        return true;
    }
}

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

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.
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
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Enum member usage - added connect ticket
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/679511/system-componentmodel-displaynameattribute-should-be-allowed-on-enum-members

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Enum member usage
This attribute should be allowed on enum members as well. Consider a scenario where you have an enum with a series of members that you want to display in a ComboBox in a user application. It would be intuitive to add a DisplayNameAttribute on these values for display to the user. Currently, people typically use the DescriptionAttribute in this scenario, which is less intuitive and correct usage.
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