C# – Get Property Name Using Reflection

c++reflection

Given this class:

public class MyClass
{
    public int MyProperty {get; set;}
}

How will I be able to extract the name of MyProperty in code?

For example, I am able to get the name of the class like this

typeof(MyClass).Name

How can I do something similar for the property?

The reason for the question is that I want this particular code to be resistant against refactorizations of the names.

EDIT: With resistant I mean that I want the code at the call site to be robust in the face of changes of the propertyname. I have some stuff that is using a string representation of the property name. Sorry for the poor phrasing.
I did not include call site code in order to keep the problem clean and not wander off into other discussions on the nature of the call site code.

Best Answer

In C# 6 we can do it very simply

nameof(MyField);

you can get method\type\propery\field\class\namespace names in the same way ex

 nameof(MyClass);
 nameof(namespacename1)  // returns "namespacename1"
 nameof(TestEnum.FirstValue) // returns enum's first value

MSDN Reference

Look at this post

Related Solutions

.NET – How to Get Class Property Name Using Reflection

If you are using C# 3.0, there is a way to get the name of the property dynamically, without hard coded it.

private string GetPropertyName<TValue>(Expression<Func<BindingSourceType, TValue>> propertySelector)
{
    var memberExpression = propertySelector.Body as MemberExpression;
    return memberExpression != null 
           ? memberExpression.Member.Name 
           : string.empty;
}

Where BindingSourceType is the class name of your datasource object instance.

Then, you could use a lambda expression to select the property you want to bind, in a strongly typed manner :

this.textBox.DataBindings.Add(GetPropertyName(o => o.MyClassProperty),
                              this.myDataSourceObject,
                              "Text");

It will allow you to refactor your code safely, without braking all your databinding stuff. But using expression trees is the same as using reflection, in terms of performance.

The previous code is quite ugly and unchecked, but you get the idea.

C# – How to Get the Name of a Property from a Property

No, there's nothing to do this. The expression whotsit.TestProp will evaluate the property. What you want is the mythical "infoof" operator:

// I wish...
MemberInfo member = infoof(whotsit.TestProp);

As it is, you can only use reflection to get the property by name - not from code. (Or get all the properties, of course. It still doesn't help you with your sample though.)

One alternative is to use an expression tree:

Expression<Func<string>> = () => whotsit.TestProp;

then examine the expression tree to get the property.

If none of this helps, perhaps you could tell us more about why you want this functionality?

Best Answer

Related Solutions

.NET – How to Get Class Property Name Using Reflection

C# – How to Get the Name of a Property from a Property

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