Type.GetEvents Method (BindingFlags)

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When overridden in a derived class, searches for events that are declared or inherited by the current Type, using the specified binding constraints.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Public MustOverride Function GetEvents ( _
    bindingAttr As BindingFlags _
) As EventInfo()
public abstract EventInfo[] GetEvents(
    BindingFlags bindingAttr
)

Parameters

Return Value

Type: array<System.Reflection.EventInfo[]
An array of EventInfo objects representing all events which are declared or inherited by the current Type that match the specified binding constraints.
-or-
An empty array of type EventInfo, if the current Type does not have events, or if none of the events match the binding constraints.

Remarks

The GetEvents method does not return events in a particular order, such as alphabetical or declaration order. Your code must not depend on the order in which events are returned, because that order varies.

The following BindingFlags filter flags can be used to define which events to include in the search:

  • You must specify either BindingFlags.Instance or BindingFlags.Static in order to get a return.

  • Specify BindingFlags.Public to include public events in the search.

  • Specify BindingFlags.NonPublic to include non-public events (that is, private, internal, and protected events) in the search. Only protected and internal events on base classes are returned; private events on base classes are not returned.

  • Specify BindingFlags.FlattenHierarchy to include public and protected static members up the hierarchy; private static members in inherited classes are not included.

The following BindingFlags modifier flags can be used to change how the search works:

  • BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly to search only the events declared on the Type, not events that were simply inherited.

See System.Reflection.BindingFlags for more information.

An event is considered public to reflection if it has at least one method or accessor that is public. Otherwise the event is considered private, and you must use BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static (in Visual Basic, combine the values using Or) to get it.

If the current Type represents a constructed generic type, this method returns the EventInfo objects with the type parameters replaced by the appropriate type arguments.

If the current Type represents a type parameter in the definition of a generic type or generic method, this method searches the events of the class constraint.

Examples

The following example obtains an array of EventInfo objects that match the specified binding flags, gets all the events for a class, and displays the event names.

Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel

Public Class Example

   Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)

      ' The parameterless overload of GetEvents returns all the public
      ' events on the Example class, whether those events are instance
      ' or static events.
      outputBlock.Text &= "All Public Events of Example:" & vbLf
      For Each evi As EventInfo In GetType(Example).GetEvents()

         outputBlock.Text &= evi.ToString() & vbLf

      Next evi

      outputBlock.Text &= vbLf & "All Non-Public Events of Example:" & vbLf
      Dim allNonPublic As BindingFlags = _
         BindingFlags.NonPublic Or BindingFlags.Instance Or BindingFlags.Static

      For Each evi As EventInfo In GetType(Example).GetEvents(allNonPublic)

         outputBlock.Text &= evi.ToString() & vbLf

      Next evi

      outputBlock.Text &= vbLf & "All Instance Events of Example:" & vbLf
      Dim allInstance As BindingFlags = _
         BindingFlags.Public Or BindingFlags.NonPublic Or BindingFlags.Instance 

      For Each evi As EventInfo In GetType(Example).GetEvents(allInstance)

         outputBlock.Text &= evi.ToString() & vbLf

      Next evi

   End Sub

   Public Shared Event MyMouseEvent As System.Windows.Input.MouseEventHandler
   Public Event MyEvent As MyEventHandler
   Friend Event MyOtherEvent As EventHandler

   Public Delegate Sub MyEventHandler(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As MyEventArgs)

   Public Class MyEventArgs 
      Inherits EventArgs

      Private eventData As List(Of String)
      Private Sub New(ByVal eventData As List(Of String))
         Me.eventData = eventData
      End Sub

      Public ReadOnly Property Data As ReadOnlyCollection(Of String)
         Get
            Return New ReadOnlyCollection(Of String)(eventData)
         End Get
      End Property
   End Class

End Class

' This example produces output similar to the following:
'
'All Public Events of Example:
'System.Windows.Input.MouseEventHandler MyMouseEvent
'MyEventHandler MyEvent
'
'All Non-Public Events of Example:
'System.EventHandler MyOtherEvent
'
'All Instance Events of Example:
'MyEventHandler MyEvent
'System.EventHandler MyOtherEvent
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      // The parameterless overload of GetEvents returns all the public
      // events on the Example class, whether those events are instance
      // or static events.
      outputBlock.Text += "All Public Events of Example:\n";
      foreach( EventInfo evi in typeof(Example).GetEvents() )
      {
         outputBlock.Text += evi.ToString() + "\n";
      }

      outputBlock.Text += "\nAll Non-Public Events of Example:\n";
      BindingFlags allNonPublic = 
         BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static;

      foreach( EventInfo evi in typeof(Example).GetEvents(allNonPublic) )
      {
         outputBlock.Text += evi.ToString() + "\n";
      }

      outputBlock.Text += "\nAll Instance Events of Example:\n";
      BindingFlags allInstance = 
         BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance;

      foreach( EventInfo evi in typeof(Example).GetEvents(allInstance) )
      {
         outputBlock.Text += evi.ToString() + "\n";
      }
   }

   public static event System.Windows.Input.MouseEventHandler MyMouseEvent;
   public event MyEventHandler MyEvent;
   internal event EventHandler MyOtherEvent;

   public delegate void MyEventHandler(object sender, MyEventArgs e);

   public class MyEventArgs : EventArgs
   {
      private List<string> eventData;
      private MyEventArgs(List<string> eventData)
      {
         this.eventData = eventData;
      }

      public ReadOnlyCollection<string> Data
      {
         get { return new ReadOnlyCollection<String>(eventData); }
      }
   }
}

/* This example produces output similar to the following:

All Public Events of Example:
System.Windows.Input.MouseEventHandler MyMouseEvent 
MyEventHandler MyEvent 

All Non-Public Events of Example:
System.EventHandler MyOtherEvent

All Instance Events of Example:
System.Windows.Input.MouseEventHandler MyMouseEvent 
MyEventHandler MyEvent 
 */

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.