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MethodBody Class

Definition

Provides access to the metadata and MSIL for the body of a method.

C#
public class MethodBody
C#
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public sealed class MethodBody
C#
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public class MethodBody
Inheritance
MethodBody
Attributes

Examples

The following code example defines a test method named MethodBodyExample and displays its local variable information and exception-handling clauses. The MethodBase.GetMethodBody method is used to obtain a MethodBody object for the test method.

The example uses the LocalVariables property to obtain a list of LocalVariableInfo objects and then displays their types and index order. The ExceptionHandlingClauses property is used to obtain a list of exception-handling clauses.

C#
using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Get method body information.
        MethodInfo mi = typeof(Example).GetMethod("MethodBodyExample");
        MethodBody mb = mi.GetMethodBody();
        Console.WriteLine("\r\nMethod: {0}", mi);

        // Display the general information included in the
        // MethodBody object.
        Console.WriteLine("    Local variables are initialized: {0}",
            mb.InitLocals);
        Console.WriteLine("    Maximum number of items on the operand stack: {0}",
            mb.MaxStackSize);

        // Display information about the local variables in the
        // method body.
        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach (LocalVariableInfo lvi in mb.LocalVariables)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Local variable: {0}", lvi);
        }

        // Display exception handling clauses.
        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach (ExceptionHandlingClause ehc in mb.ExceptionHandlingClauses)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ehc.Flags.ToString());

            // The FilterOffset property is meaningful only for Filter
            // clauses. The CatchType property is not meaningful for
            // Filter or Finally clauses.
            switch (ehc.Flags)
            {
                case ExceptionHandlingClauseOptions.Filter:
                    Console.WriteLine("        Filter Offset: {0}",
                        ehc.FilterOffset);
                    break;
                case ExceptionHandlingClauseOptions.Finally:
                    break;
                default:
                    Console.WriteLine("    Type of exception: {0}",
                        ehc.CatchType);
                    break;
            }

            Console.WriteLine("       Handler Length: {0}", ehc.HandlerLength);
            Console.WriteLine("       Handler Offset: {0}", ehc.HandlerOffset);
            Console.WriteLine("     Try Block Length: {0}", ehc.TryLength);
            Console.WriteLine("     Try Block Offset: {0}", ehc.TryOffset);
        }
    }

    // The Main method contains code to analyze this method, using
    // the properties and methods of the MethodBody class.
    public void MethodBodyExample(object arg)
    {
        // Define some local variables. In addition to these variables,
        // the local variable list includes the variables scoped to
        // the catch clauses.
        int var1 = 42;
        string var2 = "Forty-two";

        try
        {
            // Depending on the input value, throw an ArgumentException or
            // an ArgumentNullException to test the Catch clauses.
            if (arg == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("The argument cannot be null.");
            }
            if (arg.GetType() == typeof(string))
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("The argument cannot be a string.");
            }
        }

        // This filter clause selects only exceptions that derive
        // from the ArgumentException class.
        // Other exceptions, including ArgumentException itself,
        // are not handled by this filter clause.
        catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.GetType().IsSubclassOf(typeof(ArgumentException)))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Filter clause caught: {0}", ex.GetType());
        }

        // This catch clause handles the ArgumentException class, and
        // any other class derived from Exception.
        catch(Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Ordinary exception-handling clause caught: {0}",
                ex.GetType());
        }
        finally
        {
            var1 = 3033;
            var2 = "Another string.";
        }
    }
}

// This code example produces output similar to the following:
//
//Method: Void MethodBodyExample(System.Object)
//    Local variables are initialized: True
//    Maximum number of items on the operand stack: 2
//
//Local variable: System.Int32 (0)
//Local variable: System.String (1)
//Local variable: System.Exception (2)
//Local variable: System.Boolean (3)
//
//Filter
//      Filter Offset: 71
//      Handler Length: 23
//      Handler Offset: 116
//      Try Block Length: 61
//      Try Block Offset: 10
//Clause
//    Type of exception: System.Exception
//       Handler Length: 21
//       Handler Offset: 70
//     Try Block Length: 61
//     Try Block Offset: 9
//Finally
//       Handler Length: 14
//       Handler Offset: 94
//     Try Block Length: 85
//     Try Block Offset: 9

Remarks

The MethodBody class provides access to information about the local variables and exception-handling clauses in a method body, and to the Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) that makes up the method body.

You can use the token-resolution methods of the module class, such as ResolveType, ResolveMethod, and ResolveType, to resolve the tokens in the method body to Type objects, MethodInfo objects, and FieldInfo objects that provide detailed information about the types, methods, and fields accessed by the MSIL in the method body.

Note

Parsing method bodies requires a thorough understanding of metadata and MSIL instruction formats. Information can be found in the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) documentation, especially "Partition II: Metadata Definition and Semantics".

To obtain a MethodBody object for a given method, first obtain a MethodInfo object for the method, then call the MethodInfo object's GetMethodBody method.

Constructors

MethodBody()

Initializes a new instance of the MethodBody class.

Properties

ExceptionHandlingClauses

Gets a list that includes all the exception-handling clauses in the method body.

InitLocals

Gets a value indicating whether local variables in the method body are initialized to the default values for their types.

LocalSignatureMetadataToken

Gets a metadata token for the signature that describes the local variables for the method in metadata.

LocalVariables

Gets the list of local variables declared in the method body.

MaxStackSize

Gets the maximum number of items on the operand stack when the method is executing.

Methods

Equals(Object)

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
GetHashCode()

Serves as the default hash function.

(Inherited from Object)
GetILAsByteArray()

Returns the MSIL for the method body, as an array of bytes.

GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 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 2.0, 2.1