C# get member's type ignoring it's value?

Question

How can I get a Type of member, ignoring its value ?

public static class Program
{

    public static String a {set; get;}

    public static void Main()
    {
         a = null;
         a.GetType(); //Cant do that, it's null, how can i get "String"?
    }

}

The variable `a` hasn't been declared, so you can't use it. If you try to use the `a` property, it won't return anything. — Asad Ali, Aug 30 '14 at 19:17
well it is compilable, apart from a.GetType(); witch i commented — user3325976, Aug 30 '14 at 19:20
`A property is a member that provides a flexible mechanism to read, write, or compute the value of a private field.` The property points to nothing and if compiled as the code is, it throws a `NullReferenceException`. Isn't that wrong? — Asad Ali, Aug 30 '14 at 19:22
@AsadAli https://dotnetfiddle.net/b7ZR6M well what do you say to this ali? — user3325976, Aug 30 '14 at 19:26
well that's what i wrote in comments, i DO require a solution using reflections -.- it's in the tags man — user3325976, Aug 30 '14 at 19:29
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/254461/net-how-do-you-get-the-type-of-a-null-object — Andrej Adamenko, Aug 30 '14 at 19:31

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 30 '14 at 19:19

4

The only way to get it's type without an instance is using the declaring type:

var type = typeof(Program)
     .GetProperty("a", BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public)
     .PropertyType;

answered Aug 30 '14 at 19:19

Selman Genç

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this is nice, can i do that without acessing member with string, but using the member's reference itself instead? – user3325976 Aug 30 '14 at 19:22
Or, can i get referenced member's name? – user3325976 Aug 30 '14 at 19:22
@user3325976: Yes you can, using a lambda (instead of `a`, write `() => a`) and an expression tree. – Ben Voigt Aug 30 '14 at 19:30
@BenVoigt that would be very nice, could you show me how? – user3325976 Aug 30 '14 at 19:38
@user3325976: I marked this as a duplicate of a question and answer showing you how to get the `PropertyInfo`. Then just get the `PropertyType` from the `PropertyInfo`. – Ben Voigt Aug 30 '14 at 19:41
@BenVoigt no, i meant the lambda expression – user3325976 Aug 30 '14 at 19:42
@user3325976: Yeah, the accepted answer on that other question shows a lambda expression, and getting the `PropertyInfo` from it. – Ben Voigt Aug 30 '14 at 19:43

C# get member's type ignoring it's value?

1 Answers1