Type.GetEvents Method

Definition

Namespace:

System

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Gets the events that are declared or inherited by the current Type.

Overloads

GetEvents()	Returns all the public events that are declared or inherited by the current Type.
GetEvents(BindingFlags)	When overridden in a derived class, searches for events that are declared or inherited by the current Type, using the specified binding constraints.

GetEvents()

Source:

Type.cs

Returns all the public events that are declared or inherited by the current Type.

C#

public virtual System.Reflection.EventInfo[] GetEvents();

Returns

EventInfo[]

An array of EventInfo objects representing all the public events which are declared or inherited by the current Type.

-or-

An empty array of type EventInfo, if the current Type does not have public events.

Examples

The following example obtains an array of EventInfo objects, gets all the events for a Button class, and displays the event names. To compile the Visual Basic example, use the following command line:

vbc type_getevents1.vb /r:System.Windows.Forms.dll /r:System.dll

C#

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Security;

class EventsSample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            // Creates a bitmask based on BindingFlags.
            BindingFlags myBindingFlags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public;
            Type myTypeEvent = typeof(System.Windows.Forms.Button);
            EventInfo[] myEventsBindingFlags = myTypeEvent.GetEvents(myBindingFlags);
            Console.WriteLine("\nThe events on the Button class with the specified BindingFlags are : ");
            for (int index = 0; index < myEventsBindingFlags.Length; index++)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(myEventsBindingFlags[index].ToString());
            }
        }
        catch(SecurityException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("SecurityException :" + e.Message);
        }
        catch(ArgumentNullException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("ArgumentNullException : " + e.Message);
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Exception : " + e.Message);
        }
    }
}

Remarks

An event is considered public to reflection if it has at least one method or accessor that is public. Otherwise the event is considered private, and you must use BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static (in Visual Basic, combine the values using Or) to get it.

In .NET 6 and earlier versions, the GetEvents method does not return events in a particular order, such as alphabetical or declaration order. Your code must not depend on the order in which events are returned, because that order varies. However, starting with .NET 7, the ordering is deterministic based upon the metadata ordering in the assembly.

This method can be overridden by a derived class.

The following table shows what members of a base class are returned by the Get methods when reflecting on a type.

Member Type	Static	Non-Static
Constructor	No	No
Field	No	Yes. A field is always hide-by-name-and-signature.
Event	Not applicable	The common type system rule is that the inheritance is the same as that of the methods that implement the property. Reflection treats properties as hide-by-name-and-signature. See note 2 below.
Method	No	Yes. A method (both virtual and non-virtual) can be hide-by-name or hide-by-name-and-signature.
Nested Type	No	No
Property	Not applicable	The common type system rule is that the inheritance is the same as that of the methods that implement the property. Reflection treats properties as hide-by-name-and-signature. See note 2 below.

1. Hide-by-name-and-signature considers all of the parts of the signature, including custom modifiers, return types, parameter types, sentinels, and unmanaged calling conventions. This is a binary comparison.

2. For reflection, properties and events are hide-by-name-and-signature. If you have a property with both a get and a set accessor in the base class, but the derived class has only a get accessor, the derived class property hides the base class property, and you will not be able to access the setter on the base class.

3. Custom attributes are not part of the common type system.

If the current Type represents a constructed generic type, this method returns the EventInfo objects with the type parameters replaced by the appropriate type arguments.

If the current Type represents a type parameter in the definition of a generic type or generic method, this method searches the events of the class constraint.

See also

• EventInfo
• GetEvent(String)

GetEvents(BindingFlags)

Source:

Type.cs

When overridden in a derived class, searches for events that are declared or inherited by the current Type, using the specified binding constraints.

C#

public abstract System.Reflection.EventInfo[] GetEvents(System.Reflection.BindingFlags bindingAttr);

Parameters

bindingAttr

BindingFlags

A bitwise combination of the enumeration values that specify how the search is conducted.

-or-

Default to return an empty array.

Returns

EventInfo[]

An array of EventInfo objects representing all events that are declared or inherited by the current Type that match the specified binding constraints.

-or-

An empty array of type EventInfo, if the current Type does not have events, or if none of the events match the binding constraints.

Examples

The following example obtains an array of EventInfo objects that match the specified binding flags, gets all the events for a Button class, and displays the event names. To compile the Visual Basic example, use the following command line:

vbc type_getevents2.vb /r:System.Windows.Forms.dll /r:System.dll

C#

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Security;

class EventsSample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            // Create a bitmask based on BindingFlags.
            BindingFlags myBindingFlags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public;
            Type myTypeEvent = typeof(System.Windows.Forms.Button);
            EventInfo[] myEventsBindingFlags = myTypeEvent.GetEvents(myBindingFlags);
            Console.WriteLine("\nThe events on the Button class with the specified BindingFlags are:");
            for (int index = 0; index < myEventsBindingFlags.Length; index++)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(myEventsBindingFlags[index].ToString());
            }
        }
        catch(SecurityException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("SecurityException:" + e.Message);
        }
        catch(ArgumentNullException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("ArgumentNullException: " + e.Message);
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Exception: " + e.Message);
        }
    }
}

Remarks

In .NET 6 and earlier versions, the GetEvents method does not return events in a particular order, such as alphabetical or declaration order. Your code must not depend on the order in which events are returned, because that order varies. However, starting with .NET 7, the ordering is deterministic based upon the metadata ordering in the assembly.

The following BindingFlags filter flags can be used to define which events to include in the search:

• You must specify either BindingFlags.Instance or BindingFlags.Static in order to get a return.

• Specify BindingFlags.Public to include public events in the search.

• Specify BindingFlags.NonPublic to include non-public events (that is, private, internal, and protected events) in the search. Only protected and internal events on base classes are returned; private events on base classes are not returned.

• Specify BindingFlags.FlattenHierarchy to include public and protected static members up the hierarchy; private static members in inherited classes are not included.

The following BindingFlags modifier flags can be used to change how the search works:

• BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly to search only the events declared on the Type, not events that were simply inherited.

See System.Reflection.BindingFlags for more information.

An event is considered public to reflection if it has at least one method or accessor that is public. Otherwise the event is considered private, and you must use BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static (in Visual Basic, combine the values using Or) to get it.

If the current Type represents a constructed generic type, this method returns the EventInfo objects with the type parameters replaced by the appropriate type arguments.

If the current Type represents a type parameter in the definition of a generic type or generic method, this method searches the events of the class constraint.

See also

• EventInfo
• BindingFlags
• DefaultBinder
• GetEvent(String)