how do I iterate through internal properties in c#

Question

public class TestClass
{
        public string property1 { get; set; }
        public string property2 { get; set; }

        internal string property3 { get; set; }
        internal string property4 { get; set; }
        internal string property5 { get; set; }
}

I can iterate through the properties with the following loop, but it only shows public properties. I need all the properties.

foreach (PropertyInfo property in typeof(TestClass).GetProperties())
{
    //do something
}

Solution 1

You need to specify that you don't just need the public properties, using the overload accepting BindingFlags:

foreach (PropertyInfo property in typeof(TestClass)
             .GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | 
                            BindingFlags.NonPublic |
                            BindingFlags.Public))
{
    //do something
}

Add BindingFlags.Static if you want to include static properties.

The parameterless overload only returns public properties.

Solution 2

You need to change the BindingFlags on your call to Type.GetProperties

Try:

var instanceProperties = typeof(TestClass).GetProperties(
    BindingFlags.Public |
    BindingFlags.NonPublic | 
    BindingFlags.Instance
);
foreach(var instanceProperty in instanceProperties) {
    // a little something something for the instanceProperty
}

Solution 3

According to MSDN, private and internal are not recognized in Reflection API.

To identify an internal method using Reflection, use the IsAssembly property. To identify a protected internal method, use the IsFamilyOrAssembly.

If You are writing some test units You might want to take a look at InternalsVisibleTo attribute. It allows you to specify which assembly can see internal properties.

And finally, do You really need to have internal properties...

Solution 4

by specifying what bindingflags in GetProperties:

foreach (PropertyInfo property in typeof(TestClass).GetProperties(
      BindingFlags.Instance|
      BindingFlags.Public|
      BindingFlags.NonPublic))

Solution 5

Use BindingFlags

foreach (PropertyInfo property in typeof(TestClass)
        .GetProperties(
            BindingFlags.Public |
            BindingFlags.NonPublic |
            BindingFlags.Instance))
{
    //do something
}

View more solutions

Comments

[Marcin Deptuła]

Giving NonPublic and Instance will hide prop 1 and prop 2, you need both, NonPublic | Public for all properties

[coder]

yeah, I had to add BindingFlags.Public as well

[coder]

yeah I do, it's wcf service class, I want the client to fill in some properties before sending it to the server, and rest of the properties to be filled in on the service.

[Neville Nazerane]

anyway to select only protected or internal?

[Jon Skeet]

@NevilleNazerane: Not with binding flags, that I'm aware of. Just filter afterwards.