Object.GetType Method

.NET Framework 4.6 and 4.5

Gets the Type of the current instance.

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

Syntax

public Type GetType()

Return Value

Type: System.Type
The exact runtime type of the current instance.

For two objects x and y that have identical runtime types, Object.ReferenceEquals(x.GetType(),y.GetType()) returns true. The following example uses the GetType method with the ReferenceEquals method to determine whether one numeric value is the same type as two other numeric values.

int n1 = 12;
int n2 = 82;
long n3 = 12;

Console.WriteLine("n1 and n2 are the same type: {0}",
                  Object.ReferenceEquals(n1.GetType(), n2.GetType()));
Console.WriteLine("n1 and n3 are the same type: {0}",
                  Object.ReferenceEquals(n1.GetType(), n3.GetType()));
// The example displays the following output: 
//       n1 and n2 are the same type: True 
//       n1 and n3 are the same type: False

Note
To determine whether an object is a specific type, you can use your language's type comparison keyword or construct. For example, you can use the TypeOf…Is construct in Visual Basic or the is keyword in C#.

The Type object exposes the metadata associated with the class of the current Object.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates that GetType returns the runtime type of the current instance.

C++

using System;

public class MyBaseClass {
}

public class MyDerivedClass: MyBaseClass {
}

public class Test 
{
   public static void Main() 
   {
      MyBaseClass myBase = new MyBaseClass();
      MyDerivedClass myDerived = new MyDerivedClass();
      object o = myDerived;
      MyBaseClass b = myDerived;

      Console.WriteLine("mybase: Type is {0}", myBase.GetType());
      Console.WriteLine("myDerived: Type is {0}", myDerived.GetType());
      Console.WriteLine("object o = myDerived: Type is {0}", o.GetType());
      Console.WriteLine("MyBaseClass b = myDerived: Type is {0}", b.GetType());
   }
}
// The example displays the following output: 
//    mybase: Type is MyBaseClass 
//    myDerived: Type is MyDerivedClass 
//    object o = myDerived: Type is MyDerivedClass 
//    MyBaseClass b = myDerived: Type is MyDerivedClass

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4.6, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0

Portable Class Library

Supported in: Portable Class Library

Supported in: Windows Phone 8.1

Supported in: Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1

Supported in: Windows Phone Silverlight 8