Type.DeclaringMethod Property
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
Gets a MethodBase that represents the declaring method, if the current Type represents a type parameter of a generic method.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Property Value
Type: System.Reflection.MethodBaseIf the current Type represents a type parameter of a generic method, a MethodBase that represents declaring method; otherwise, Nothing.
The declaring method is a generic method definition. That is, if DeclaringMethod does not return Nothing, then DeclaringMethod.IsGenericMethodDefinition returns true.
The DeclaringType and DeclaringMethod properties identify the generic type definition or generic method definition in which the generic type parameter was originally defined:
If the DeclaringMethod property returns a MethodInfo, that MethodInfo represents a generic method definition, and the current Type object represents a type parameter of that generic method definition.
If the DeclaringMethod property returns Nothing, then the DeclaringType property always returns a Type object representing a generic type definition, and the current Type object represents a type parameter of that generic type definition.
Getting the DeclaringMethod property on a type whose IsGenericParameter property is false throws an InvalidOperationException.
The MethodBase that is returned by the DeclaringMethod property is either a MethodInfo in the case of a generic method, or a ConstructorInfo in the case of a generic constructor.
For a list of the invariant conditions for terms used in generic reflection, see the IsGenericType property remarks.
The following code example defines a class that has a generic method, assigns a type argument to the method, and invokes the resulting constructed generic method. It also displays information about the generic method definition and the constructed method. When displaying information about the type parameters of the generic method definition, in the DisplayGenericMethodInfo method, the example code shows the value of the DeclaringMethod property for the method's generic type parameter.
Imports System.Reflection ' Define a class with a generic method. Public Class Test Public Shared Sub Generic(Of T)(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock, ByVal toDisplay As T) outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbCrLf & "Here it is: {0}", toDisplay) & vbCrLf End Sub End Class Public Class Example Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock) outputBlock.Text &= vbCrLf & "--- Examine a generic method." & vbCrLf ' Create a Type object representing class Test, and ' get a MethodInfo representing the generic method. ' Dim ex As Type = GetType(Test) Dim mi As MethodInfo = ex.GetMethod("Generic") DisplayGenericMethodInfo(outputBlock, mi) ' Assign the Integer type to the type parameter of the Example ' method. ' Dim arguments() As Type = {GetType(Integer)} Dim miConstructed As MethodInfo = mi.MakeGenericMethod(arguments) DisplayGenericMethodInfo(outputBlock, miConstructed) ' Invoke the method. Dim args() As Object = {outputBlock, 42} miConstructed.Invoke(Nothing, args) ' Invoke the method normally. Test.Generic(Of Integer)(outputBlock, 42) ' Get the generic type definition from the constructed method, ' and show that it's the same as the original definition. ' Dim miDef As MethodInfo = miConstructed.GetGenericMethodDefinition() outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbCrLf & "The definition is the same: {0}", _ miDef Is mi) & vbCrLf End Sub 'Main Private Shared Sub DisplayGenericMethodInfo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock, ByVal mi As MethodInfo) outputBlock.Text &= vbCrLf & mi.ToString() & vbCrLf outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbTab _ & "Is this a generic method definition? {0}", _ mi.IsGenericMethodDefinition) & vbCrLf outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbTab & "Is it a generic method? {0}", _ mi.IsGenericMethod) & vbCrLf outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbTab _ & "Does it have unassigned generic parameters? {0}", _ mi.ContainsGenericParameters) & vbCrLf ' If this is a generic method, display its type arguments. ' If mi.IsGenericMethod Then Dim typeArguments As Type() = mi.GetGenericArguments() outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbTab & "List type arguments ({0}) & vbCrLf:", _ typeArguments.Length) For Each tParam As Type In typeArguments ' IsGenericParameter is true only for generic type ' parameters. ' If tParam.IsGenericParameter Then outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(vbTab & vbTab _ & "{0} parameter position: {1}" _ & vbCrLf & vbTab & vbTab _ & " declaring method: {2}", _ tParam, _ tParam.GenericParameterPosition, _ tParam.DeclaringMethod) & vbCrLf Else outputBlock.Text &= vbTab & vbTab & tParam.ToString() & vbCrLf End If Next tParam End If End Sub End Class ' This example produces the following output: ' '--- Examine a generic method. ' 'Void Generic[T](T) ' Is this a generic method definition? True ' Is it a generic method? True ' Does it have unassigned generic parameters? True ' List type arguments (1): ' T parameter position: 0 ' declaring method: Void Generic[T](T) ' 'Void Generic[Int32](Int32) ' Is this a generic method definition? False ' Is it a generic method? True ' Does it have unassigned generic parameters? False ' List type arguments (1): ' System.Int32 ' 'Here it is: 42 ' 'Here it is: 42 ' 'The definition is the same: True '