MethodBase.IsVirtual Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Reflection

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

MethodBase.cs

Gets a value indicating whether the method is virtual.

public:
 property bool IsVirtual { bool get(); };

public bool IsVirtual { get; }

member this.IsVirtual : bool

Public ReadOnly Property IsVirtual As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true if this method is virtual; otherwise, false.

Examples

The following example displays false for IsFinal, which might lead you to think that MyMethod is overridable. The code prints false even though MyMethod is not marked virtual and thus cannot be overridden.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Reflection;

public ref class MyClass
{
public:
   void MyMethod(){}
};

int main()
{
   MethodBase^ m = MyClass::typeid->GetMethod( "MyMethod" );
   Console::WriteLine( "The IsFinal property value of MyMethod is {0}.", m->IsFinal );
   Console::WriteLine( "The IsVirtual property value of MyMethod is {0}.", m->IsVirtual );
}

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class MyClass
{
    public void MyMethod()
    {
    }
    public static void Main()
    {
        MethodBase m = typeof(MyClass).GetMethod("MyMethod");
        Console.WriteLine("The IsFinal property value of MyMethod is {0}.", m.IsFinal);
        Console.WriteLine("The IsVirtual property value of MyMethod is {0}.", m.IsVirtual);
    }
}

Imports System.Reflection

Public Class MyClass1
    
    Public Sub MyMethod()
    End Sub
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim m As MethodBase = GetType(MyClass1).GetMethod("MyMethod")
        Console.WriteLine("The IsFinal property value of MyMethod is {0}.", m.IsFinal)
        Console.WriteLine("The IsVirtual property value of MyMethod is {0}.", m.IsVirtual)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

A virtual member may reference instance data in a class and must be referenced through an instance of the class.

To determine if a method is overridable, it is not sufficient to check that IsVirtual is true. For a method to be overridable, IsVirtual must be true and IsFinal must be false. For example, a method might be non-virtual, but it implements an interface method. The common language runtime requires that all methods that implement interface members must be marked as virtual; therefore, the compiler marks the method virtual final. So there are cases where a method is marked as virtual but is still not overridable.

To establish with certainty whether a method is overridable, use code such as this:

if (MethodInfo.IsVirtual && !MethodInfo.IsFinal)

If MethodInfo.IsVirtual AndAlso Not MethodInfo.IsFinal Then

If IsVirtual is false or IsFinal is true, then the method cannot be overridden.

You can determine whether the current method overrides a method in a base class by calling the MethodInfo.GetBaseDefinition method. The following example implements an IsOverride method that does this.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class ReflectionUtilities
{   
   public static bool IsOverride(MethodInfo method)
   {
      return ! method.Equals(method.GetBaseDefinition());
   }
}

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      MethodInfo equals = typeof(Int32).GetMethod("Equals", 
                                        new Type[] { typeof(Object) } );
      Console.WriteLine("{0}.{1} is inherited: {2}", 
                        equals.ReflectedType.Name, equals.Name,
                        ReflectionUtilities.IsOverride(equals));
      
      equals = typeof(Object).GetMethod("Equals", 
                                        new Type[] { typeof(Object) } );
      Console.WriteLine("{0}.{1} is inherited: {2}", 
                        equals.ReflectedType.Name, equals.Name,
                        ReflectionUtilities.IsOverride(equals));
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       Int32.Equals is inherited: True
//       Object.Equals is inherited: False

Imports System.Reflection

Public Class ReflectionUtilities
   Public Shared Function IsOverride(method As MethodInfo) As Boolean
      Return Not method.Equals(method.GetBaseDefinition())
   End Function
End Class

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim equals As MethodInfo = GetType(Int32).GetMethod("Equals", 
                                         { GetType(Object) } )
      Console.WriteLine("{0}.{1} is inherited: {2}", 
                        equals.ReflectedType.Name, equals.Name,
                        ReflectionUtilities.IsOverride(equals))
      
      equals = GetType(Object).GetMethod("Equals", { GetType(Object) } )
      Console.WriteLine("{0}.{1} is inherited: {2}", 
                        equals.ReflectedType.Name, equals.Name,
                        ReflectionUtilities.IsOverride(equals))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       Int32.Equals is inherited: True
'       Object.Equals is inherited: False