This tutorial shows how to create custom attribute classes, use them in code, and query them through reflection.
See Attributes Sample to download and build the sample files discussed in this tutorial.
Attributesprovide a powerful method of associating declarative information withC# code (types, methods, properties, and so forth). Once associatedwith a program entity, the attribute can be queried at run time andused in any number of ways.
Example usage of attributes includes:
Help attribute).ValueEditor attribute).In addition to a complete example, this tutorial includes the following topics:
The first thing you need to be able to do is declare an attribute.
Once the attribute has been created, you then associate the attribute with a particular program element.
Once the attribute has been associated with a program element, you use reflection to query its existence and its value.
Declaring an attribute in C# is simple — it takes the form of a class declaration that inherits from System.Attribute and has been marked with the AttributeUsage attribute as shown below:
using System;
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.All)]
public class HelpAttribute : System.Attribute
{
public readonly string Url;
public string Topic // Topic is a named parameter
{
get
{
return topic;
}
set
{
topic = value;
}
}
public HelpAttribute(string url) // url is a positional parameter
{
this.Url = url;
}
private string topic;
}
url is a positional parameter.Topic is a named parameter. The attribute AttributeUsage provides the underlying mechanism by which attributes are declared.
AttributeUsage has one positional parameter:
AttributeUsage has one named parameter:
Here's a simple example of using the attribute declared in the previous section:
[HelpAttribute("http://localhost/MyClassInfo")]
class MyClass
{
}In this example, the HelpAttribute attribute is associated with MyClass.
Note Byconvention, all attribute names end with the word "Attribute" todistinguish them from other items in the .NET Framework. However, youdo not need to specify the attribute suffix when using attributes incode. For example, you can specify HelpAttribute as follows: [Help("http://localhost/MyClassInfo")] // [Help] == [HelpAttribute] class MyClass { }Onceattributes have been associated with program elements, reflection canbe used to query their existence and values. The main reflectionmethods to query attributes are contained in the System.Reflection.MemberInfo class (GetCustomAttributes family of methods). The following example demonstrates the basic way of using reflection to get access to attributes:
class MainClass
{
public static void Main()
{
System.Reflection.MemberInfo info = typeof(MyClass);
object[] attributes = info.GetCustomAttributes(true);
for (int i = 0; i < attributes.Length; i ++)
{
System.Console.WriteLine(attributes[i]);
}
}
}
The following is a complete example where all pieces are brought together.
// AttributesTutorial.cs
// This example shows the use of class and method attributes.
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Collections;
// The IsTested class is a user-defined custom attribute class.
// It can be applied to any declaration including
// - types (struct, class, enum, delegate)
// - members (methods, fields, events, properties, indexers)
// It is used with no arguments.
public class IsTestedAttribute : Attribute
{
public override string ToString()
{
return "Is Tested";
}
}
// The AuthorAttribute class is a user-defined attribute class.
// It can be applied to classes and struct declarations only.
// It takes one unnamed string argument (the author's name).
// It has one optional named argument Version, which is of type int.
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class | AttributeTargets.Struct)]
public class AuthorAttribute : Attribute
{
// This constructor specifies the unnamed arguments to the attribute class.
public AuthorAttribute(string name)
{
this.name = name;
this.version = 0;
}
// This property is readonly (it has no set accessor)
// so it cannot be used as a named argument to this attribute.
public string Name
{
get
{
return name;
}
}
// This property is read-write (it has a set accessor)
// so it can be used as a named argument when using this
// class as an attribute class.
public int Version
{
get
{
return version;
}
set
{
version = value;
}
}
public override string ToString()
{
string value = "Author : " + Name;
if (version != 0)
{
value += " Version : " + Version.ToString();
}
return value;
}
private string name;
private int version;
}
// Here you attach the AuthorAttribute user-defined custom attribute to
// the Account class. The unnamed string argument is passed to the
// AuthorAttribute class's constructor when creating the attributes.
[Author("Joe Programmer")]
class Account
{
// Attach the IsTestedAttribute custom attribute to this method.
[IsTested]
public void AddOrder(Order orderToAdd)
{
orders.Add(orderToAdd);
}
private ArrayList orders = new ArrayList();
}
// Attach the AuthorAttribute and IsTestedAttribute custom attributes
// to this class.
// Note the use of the 'Version' named argument to the AuthorAttribute.
[Author("Jane Programmer", Version = 2), IsTested()]
class Order
{
// add stuff here ...
}
class MainClass
{
private static bool IsMemberTested(MemberInfo member)
{
foreach (object attribute in member.GetCustomAttributes(true))
{
if (attribute is IsTestedAttribute)
{
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
private static void DumpAttributes(MemberInfo member)
{
Console.WriteLine("Attributes for : " + member.Name);
foreach (object attribute in member.GetCustomAttributes(true))
{
Console.WriteLine(attribute);
}
}
public static void Main()
{
// display attributes for Account class
DumpAttributes(typeof(Account));
// display list of tested members
foreach (MethodInfo method in (typeof(Account)).GetMethods())
{
if (IsMemberTested(method))
{
Console.WriteLine("Member {0} is tested!", method.Name);
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("Member {0} is NOT tested!", method.Name);
}
}
Console.WriteLine();
// display attributes for Order class
DumpAttributes(typeof(Order));
// display attributes for methods on the Order class
foreach (MethodInfo method in (typeof(Order)).GetMethods())
{
if (IsMemberTested(method))
{
Console.WriteLine("Member {0} is tested!", method.Name);
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("Member {0} is NOT tested!", method.Name);
}
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
}
Attributes for : Account
Author : Joe Programmer
Member GetHashCode is NOT tested!
Member Equals is NOT tested!
Member ToString is NOT tested!
Member AddOrder is tested!
Member GetType is NOT tested!
Attributes for : Order
Author : Jane Programmer Version : 2
Is Tested
Member GetHashCode is NOT tested!
Member Equals is NOT tested!
Member ToString is NOT tested!
Member GetType is NOT tested!
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