Enum.GetUnderlyingType Method (System)

.NET Framework Class Library

Enum..::.GetUnderlyingType Method

Returns the underlying type of the specified enumeration.

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

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Shared Function GetUnderlyingType ( _
    enumType As Type _
) As Type

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim enumType As Type
Dim returnValue As Type

returnValue = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(enumType)

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public static Type GetUnderlyingType(
    Type enumType
)

Visual C++

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public:
static Type^ GetUnderlyingType(
    Type^ enumType
)

JScript

public static function GetUnderlyingType(
    enumType : Type
) : Type

Parameters

enumType: Type: System..::.Type
An enumeration type.

Return Value

Type: System..::.Type
The underlying Type of enumType.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
ArgumentNullException	enumType is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
ArgumentException	enumType is not an Enum.

Remarks

The following code sample illustrates the use of GetUnderlyingType :

Visual Basic

Shared Function GetAsUnderlyingType(enval As [Enum]) As Object
   Dim entype As Type = enval.GetType()

   Dim undertype As Type = [Enum].GetUnderlyingType(entype)

   Return Convert.ChangeType(enval, undertype)
End Function

        static object GetAsUnderlyingType(Enum enval)
        {
            Type entype = enval.GetType();

            Type undertype = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(entype);

            return Convert.ChangeType( enval, undertype );
        }

Visual C++

Object^ GetAsUnderlyingType( Enum ^ enval )
{
   Console::WriteLine(  "GetAsUnderlying" );
   Type^ entype = enval->GetType();
   Type^ undertype = Enum::GetUnderlyingType( entype );
   return Convert::ChangeType( (Object^)(enval), undertype );
}

JScript

        static function GetAsUnderlyingType(enval : Enum) : Object
        {
            var entype : Type = enval.GetType();

            var undertype : Type = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(entype);

            return Convert.ChangeType( enval, undertype );
        }

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

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

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0

Reference