Reflection in .NET

Namespace: System.Reflection

Reflection is used to interrogate, invoke and generate .Net code on the fly. Code in the CLR is packaged in an assembly, which is a logical container for different type of CLR data. It includes:

Assembly Metadata

It provides information about the Name, version, Strong name, culture information. It’s also known as Manifest information.

Type Metadata

Type information, namespace, name, exposed members, properties, & methods.

Code (Intermediate Language Code)

Code is the part that is compiled and executed.

Resources

String, images, or files that are used from the code are the part of resources.

MultiFile Assembly:

            VS does not support multifile assemblies, one can use Command Line or MSBuild to create multifile assembly.

 

Assembly:

                It defines an Assembly, which is a reusable, versionable, and self-describing building block of a common language runtime application.

Assembly class:

CreateInstance	Overloaded. Locates a type from this assembly and creates an instance of it using the system activator.
CreateQualifiedName	Creates the name of a type qualified by the display name of its assembly.
Equals	Overloaded. Determines whether two Object instances are equal. (Inherited from Object.)
GetAssembly	Gets the currently loaded assembly in which the specified class is defined.
[S] GetCallingAssembly	Returns the Assembly of the method that invoked the currently executing method.
GetCustomAttributes	Overloaded. Gets the custom attributes for this assembly.
GetEntryAssembly	Gets the process executable in the default application domain. In other application domains, this is the first executable that was executed by AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly.
[S] GetExecutingAssembly	Gets the assembly that contains the code that is currently executing.
GetExportedTypes	Gets the exported types defined in this assembly that are visible outside the assembly.
GetFile	Gets a FileStream for the specified file in the file table of the manifest of this assembly.
GetFiles	Overloaded. Gets the files in the file table of an assembly manifest.
GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. GetHashCode is suitable for use in hashing algorithms and data structures like a hash table. (Inherited from Object.)
GetLoadedModules	Overloaded. Gets all the loaded modules that are part of this assembly.
GetManifestResourceInfo	Returns information about how the given resource has been persisted.
GetManifestResourceNames	Returns the names of all the resources in this assembly.
GetManifestResourceStream	Overloaded. Loads the specified manifest resource from this assembly.
GetModule	Gets the specified module in this assembly.
GetModules	Overloaded. Gets all the modules that are part of this assembly.
GetName	Overloaded. Gets an AssemblyName for this assembly.
GetObjectData	Gets serialization information with all of the data needed to reinstantiate this assembly.
GetReferencedAssemblies	Gets the AssemblyName objects for all the assemblies referenced by this assembly.
GetSatelliteAssembly	Overloaded. Gets the satellite assembly.
GetType	Overloaded. Gets the Type object that represents the specified type.
GetTypes	Gets the types defined in this assembly.
IsDefined	Indicates whether a custom attribute identified by the specified Type is defined.
[S]Load	Overloaded. Loads an assembly.
LoadFile	Overloaded. Loads the contents of an assembly file.
[S] LoadFrom	Overloaded. Loads an assembly.
LoadModule	Overloaded. Loads the module internal to this assembly.
LoadWithPartialName	Overloaded. Loads an assembly from the application directory or from the global assembly cache using a partial name.
[S] ReferenceEquals	Determines whether the specified Object instances are the same instance. (Inherited from Object.)
ReflectionOnlyLoad	Overloaded. Loads an assembly into the reflection-only context, where it can be examined but not executed.
ReflectionOnlyLoadFrom	Loads an assembly into the reflection-only context, given its path.
ToString	Overridden. Returns the full name of the assembly, also known as the display name.

[S] Static Method

Module: A module is a portable executable file of type.dll or .exe consisting of one or more classes and interfaces. There may be multiple namespaces contained in a single module, and a namespace may span multiple modules.

One or more modules deployed as a unit compose an assembly.

Public Properties:

Name	Description
Assembly	Gets the appropriate Assembly for this instance of Module.
FullyQualifiedName	Gets a string representing the fully qualified name and path to this module.
MDStreamVersion	Gets the metadata stream version.
MetadataToken	Gets a token that identifies the module in metadata.
ModuleHandle	Gets a handle for the module.
ModuleVersionId	Gets a universally unique identifier (UUID) that can be used to distinguish between two versions of a module.
Name	Gets a String representing the name of the module with the path removed.

Public Methods:

Name	Description
Equals	Overloaded. Determines whether two Object instances are equal. (Inherited from Object.)
FindTypes	Returns an array of classes accepted by the given filter and filter criteria.
GetCustomAttributes	Overloaded. Returns custom attributes.
GetField	Overloaded. Returns a specified field.
GetFields	Overloaded. Returns the global fields defined on the module.
GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. GetHashCode is suitable for use in hashing algorithms and data structures like a hash table. (Inherited from Object.)
GetType	Overloaded. Returns the specified type.
GetTypes	Returns all the types defined within this module.
IsDefined	Determines if the specified attributeType is defined on this module.
IsResource	Gets a value indicating whether the object is a resource.
ReferenceEquals	Determines whether the specified Object instances are the same instance. (Inherited from Object.)
ResolveField	Overloaded. Returns the field identified by a metadata token.
ResolveMember	Overloaded. Returns the type or member identified by a metadata token.
ResolveMethod	Overloaded. Returns the method identified by a metadata token.