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Type.TypeHandle Property

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Gets the handle for the current Type.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Overridable ReadOnly Property TypeHandle As RuntimeTypeHandle

public virtual RuntimeTypeHandle TypeHandle { get; }

Property Value

Type: System.RuntimeTypeHandle
The handle for the current Type.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
NotSupportedException

The .NET Compact Framework does not currently support this property.

Remarks

TypeHandle encapsulates a pointer to an internal data structure that represents the type. This handle is unique during the process lifetime. The handle is valid only in the application ___domain in which it was obtained.

Examples

The following example returns the handle of the corresponding type and passes the handle to a method that gets the type from the handle and displays it.

NoteNote:

To run this example, see Building Examples That Use a Demo Method and a TextBlock Control.

 
Imports System.Reflection
Class [MyClass]
   Public myField As Integer = 10
End Class '[MyClass]
Class Example
   Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Try
         Dim [myClass] As New [MyClass]()

         ' Get the type of MyClass.
         Dim myClassType As Type = [myClass].GetType()

         ' Get the runtime handle of MyClass.
         Dim myClassHandle As RuntimeTypeHandle = myClassType.TypeHandle

         DisplayTypeHandle(outputBlock, myClassHandle)
      Catch e As Exception
         outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Exception: {0}", e.Message.ToString()) & vbCrLf
      End Try
   End Sub 'Main

   Public Shared Sub DisplayTypeHandle(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock, ByVal myTypeHandle As RuntimeTypeHandle)
      ' Get the type from the handle.
      Dim myType As Type = Type.GetTypeFromHandle(myTypeHandle)
      ' Display the type.
      outputBlock.Text &= ControlChars.NewLine + "Displaying the type from the handle:" + ControlChars.NewLine & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("The type is {0}.", myType.ToString()) & vbCrLf
   End Sub 'DisplayTypeHandle
End Class 'Type_TypeHandle

using System;
using System.Reflection;
class MyClass
{
   public int myField = 10;
}

class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      try
      {
         MyClass myClass = new MyClass();

         // Get the type of MyClass.
         Type myClassType = myClass.GetType();

         // Get the runtime handle of MyClass.
         RuntimeTypeHandle myClassHandle = myClassType.TypeHandle;

         DisplayTypeHandle(outputBlock, myClassHandle);
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
         outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Exception: {0}", e.Message) + "\n";
      }
   }

   public static void DisplayTypeHandle(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock, RuntimeTypeHandle myTypeHandle)
   {
      // Get the type from the handle.
      Type myType = Type.GetTypeFromHandle(myTypeHandle);
      // Display the type.
      outputBlock.Text += "\nDisplaying the type from the handle:\n" + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("The type is {0}.", myType.ToString()) + "\n";
   }
}

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.