FieldInfo.GetValue(Object) Method

Definition

When overridden in a derived class, returns the value of a field supported by a given object.

public abstract object GetValue (object obj);
public abstract object? GetValue (object? obj);

Parameters

obj
Object

The object whose field value will be returned.

Returns

An object containing the value of the field reflected by this instance.

Implements

Exceptions

The field is non-static and obj is null.

Note: In .NET for Windows Store apps or the Portable Class Library, catch Exception instead.

A field is marked literal, but the field does not have one of the accepted literal types.

The caller does not have permission to access this field.

Note: In .NET for Windows Store apps or the Portable Class Library, catch the base class exception, MemberAccessException, instead.

The method is neither declared nor inherited by the class of obj.

Examples

The following example uses the GetValue method to retrieve the value of a static field. Note that the value of the obj argument is null.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

class Example
{
    public static String val = "test";

    public static void Main()
    {
        FieldInfo fld = typeof(Example).GetField("val");
        Console.WriteLine(fld.GetValue(null));
        val = "hi";
        Console.WriteLine(fld.GetValue(null));
    }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//     test
//     hi

The following example retrieves an array of FieldInfo objects that represents the fields of the FieldsClass type, and then calls the GetValue to display the value of each field for the fieldsInst object.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class FieldsClass
{
    public string fieldA;
    public string fieldB;

    public FieldsClass()
    {
        fieldA = "A public field";
        fieldB = "Another public field";
    }
}

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        FieldsClass fieldsInst = new FieldsClass();
        // Get the type of FieldsClass.
        Type fieldsType = typeof(FieldsClass);

        // Get an array of FieldInfo objects.
        FieldInfo[] fields = fieldsType.GetFields(BindingFlags.Public
            | BindingFlags.Instance);
        // Display the values of the fields.
        Console.WriteLine("Displaying the values of the fields of {0}:",
            fieldsType);
        for(int i = 0; i < fields.Length; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("   {0}:\t'{1}'",
                fields[i].Name, fields[i].GetValue(fieldsInst));
        }
    }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//     Displaying the values of the fields of FieldsClass:
//        fieldA:      'A public field'
//        fieldB:      'Another public field'

Remarks

If the field is static, obj is ignored. For non-static fields, obj should be an instance of a class that inherits or declares the field. Note that the return type of GetValue is Object. For example, if the field holds a Boolean primitive value, an instance of Object with the appropriate Boolean value is returned. Before returning the value, GetValue checks to see if the user has access permission.

Note

Access restrictions are ignored for fully trusted code. That is, private constructors, methods, fields, and properties can be accessed and invoked through reflection whenever the code is fully trusted.

Note

Starting with the .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1, this method can be used to access non-public members if the caller has been granted ReflectionPermission with the ReflectionPermissionFlag.RestrictedMemberAccess flag and if the grant set of the non-public members is restricted to the caller's grant set, or a subset thereof. (See Security Considerations for Reflection.)

To use this functionality, your application should target the .NET Framework 3.5 or later.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

See also