AsyncStateMachineAttribute Class

Definition

Indicates whether a method is marked with either the Async or async modifier.

C#
[System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple=false, Inherited=false)]
public sealed class AsyncStateMachineAttribute : System.Runtime.CompilerServices.StateMachineAttribute
C#
[System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple=false, Inherited=false)]
[System.Serializable]
public sealed class AsyncStateMachineAttribute : System.Runtime.CompilerServices.StateMachineAttribute
Inheritance
AsyncStateMachineAttribute
Attributes

Examples

As the following example shows, you can determine whether a method is marked with Async or async modifier. In the example, IsAsyncMethod performs the following steps:

  • Obtains a MethodInfo object for the method name by using Type.GetMethod.

  • Obtains a Type object for the attribute by using GetType Operator or typeof.

  • Obtains an attribute object for the method and attribute type by using MethodInfo.GetCustomAttribute. If GetCustomAttribute returns Nothing (Visual Basic) or null (C#), the method doesn't contain the attribute.

C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{

    // This class is used by the code below to discover method attributes.
    public class TheClass
    {
        public async Task<int> AsyncMethod()
        {
            await Task.Delay(5);
            return 1;
        }

        public int RegularMethod()
        {
            return 0;
        }
    }

    class Program
    {
        private static bool IsAsyncMethod(Type classType, string methodName)
        {
            // Obtain the method with the specified name.
            MethodInfo method = classType.GetMethod(methodName);

            Type attType = typeof(AsyncStateMachineAttribute);

            // Obtain the custom attribute for the method.
            // The value returned contains the StateMachineType property.
            // Null is returned if the attribute isn't present for the method.
            var attrib = (AsyncStateMachineAttribute)method.GetCustomAttribute(attType);

            return (attrib != null);
        }

        private static void ShowResult(Type classType, string methodName)
        {
            Console.Write((methodName + ": ").PadRight(16));

            if (IsAsyncMethod(classType, methodName))
                Console.WriteLine("Async method");
            else
                Console.WriteLine("Regular method");
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ShowResult(classType: typeof(TheClass), methodName: "AsyncMethod");
            ShowResult(classType: typeof(TheClass), methodName: "RegularMethod");

            // Note: The IteratorStateMachineAttribute applies to Visual Basic methods
            // but not C# methods.

            Console.ReadKey();
        }

        // Output:
        //   AsyncMethod:    Async method
        //   RegularMethod:  Regular method
    }
}

Remarks

You shouldn't apply the AsyncStateMachine attribute to methods in your code. For methods that have the async modifier, the compiler will apply the AsyncStateMachine attribute in the IL that the compiler emits.

When a method (MethodName) has the Async or async modifier, the compiler emits IL that includes a state machine structure. This structure contains the code in the method. That IL also contains a stub method (MethodName) that calls into the state machine. The compiler adds the AsyncStateMachine attribute to the stub method so that tools can identify the corresponding state machine. Details of the emitted IL might change in future releases of the compilers.

For information about the Async feature, see Asynchronous programming (C#) or Asynchronous programming with Async and Await (Visual Basic).

Constructors

AsyncStateMachineAttribute(Type)

Initializes a new instance of the AsyncStateMachineAttribute class.

Properties

StateMachineType

Returns the type object for the underlying state machine type that was generated by the compiler to implement the state machine method.

(Inherited from StateMachineAttribute)
TypeId

When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute.

(Inherited from Attribute)

Methods

Equals(Object)

Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object.

(Inherited from Attribute)
GetHashCode()

Returns the hash code for this instance.

(Inherited from Attribute)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
IsDefaultAttribute()

When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class.

(Inherited from Attribute)
Match(Object)

When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object.

(Inherited from Attribute)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Explicit Interface Implementations

_Attribute.GetIDsOfNames(Guid, IntPtr, UInt32, UInt32, IntPtr)

Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers.

(Inherited from Attribute)
_Attribute.GetTypeInfo(UInt32, UInt32, IntPtr)

Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface.

(Inherited from Attribute)
_Attribute.GetTypeInfoCount(UInt32)

Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1).

(Inherited from Attribute)
_Attribute.Invoke(UInt32, Guid, UInt32, Int16, IntPtr, IntPtr, IntPtr, IntPtr)

Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object.

(Inherited from Attribute)

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 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