Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(Type) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

Nullable.cs

Returns the underlying type argument of the specified nullable type.

public:
 static Type ^ GetUnderlyingType(Type ^ nullableType);

public static Type? GetUnderlyingType (Type nullableType);

static member GetUnderlyingType : Type -> Type

Public Shared Function GetUnderlyingType (nullableType As Type) As Type

Parameters

nullableType

Type

A Type object that describes a closed generic nullable type.

Returns

Type

The type argument of the nullableType parameter, if the nullableType parameter is a closed generic nullable type; otherwise, null.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

nullableType is null.

Examples

The following code example defines a method whose return value is of type Nullable<T> of Int32. The code example uses the GetUnderlyingType method to display the type argument of the return value.

// This code example demonstrates the
// Nullable.GetUnderlyingType() method.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

class Sample
{
// Declare a type named Example.
// The MyMethod member of Example returns a Nullable of Int32.

    public class Example
    {
        public int? MyMethod()
        {
        return 0;
        }
    }

/*
   Use reflection to obtain a Type object for the Example type.
   Use the Type object to obtain a MethodInfo object for the MyMethod method.
   Use the MethodInfo object to obtain the type of the return value of
     MyMethod, which is Nullable of Int32.
   Use the GetUnderlyingType method to obtain the type argument of the
     return value type, which is Int32.
*/
    public static void Main()
    {
        Type t = typeof(Example);
        MethodInfo mi = t.GetMethod("MyMethod");
        Type retval = mi.ReturnType;
        Console.WriteLine("Return value type ... {0}", retval);
        Type answer = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(retval);
        Console.WriteLine("Underlying type ..... {0}", answer);
    }
}
/*
This code example produces the following results:

Return value type ... System.Nullable`1[System.Int32]
Underlying type ..... System.Int32

*/

// This code example demonstrates the
// Nullable.GetUnderlyingType() method.
open System

// Declare a type named Example.
// The MyMethod member of Example returns a Nullable of Int32.

type Example() =
    member _.MyMethod() =
        Nullable 0

(*
   Use reflection to obtain a Type object for the Example type.
   Use the Type object to obtain a MethodInfo object for the MyMethod method.
   Use the MethodInfo object to obtain the type of the return value of
     MyMethod, which is Nullable of Int32.
   Use the GetUnderlyingType method to obtain the type argument of the
     return value type, which is Int32.
*)
let t = typeof<Example>
let mi = t.GetMethod "MyMethod"
let retval = mi.ReturnType
printfn $"Return value type ... {retval}"
let answer = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType retval
printfn $"Underlying type ..... {answer}"

// This code example produces the following results:
//     Return value type ... System.Nullable`1[System.Int32]
//     Underlying type ..... System.Int32

' This code example demonstrates the 
' Nullable.GetUnderlyingType() method.

Imports System.Reflection

Class Sample
    ' Declare a type named Example. 
    ' The MyMethod member of Example returns a Nullable of Int32.
    
    Public Class Example
        Public Function MyMethod() As Nullable(Of Integer)
            Return 0
        End Function
    End Class
    
' 
'   Use reflection to obtain a Type object for the Example type.
'   Use the Type object to obtain a MethodInfo object for the MyMethod method.
'   Use the MethodInfo object to obtain the type of the return value of 
'     MyMethod, which is Nullable of Int32.
'   Use the GetUnderlyingType method to obtain the type argument of the 
'     return value type, which is Int32.
'
    Public Shared Sub Main() 
        Dim t As Type = GetType(Example)
        Dim mi As MethodInfo = t.GetMethod("MyMethod")
        Dim retval As Type = mi.ReturnType
        Console.WriteLine("Return value type ... {0}", retval)
        Dim answer As Type = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(retval)
        Console.WriteLine("Underlying type ..... {0}", answer)
    
    End Sub
End Class
'
'This code example produces the following results:
'
'Return value type ... System.Nullable`1[System.Int32]
'Underlying type ..... System.Int32
'

Remarks

A generic type definition is a type declaration, such as Nullable<T>, that contains a type parameter list, and the type parameter list declares one or more type parameters. A closed generic type is a type declaration where a particular type is specified for a type parameter.

For example, if the nullableType parameter is the type of Nullable<Int32> in C# (Nullable(Of Int32) in Visual Basic), the return value is the type of Int32 (that is, the type argument of the closed generic type).