[C#] Getting Attribute's Target Name..?

[Ianmac45]

is it possible to retrieve the name of the target ... member that an attribute is applied to?

for ex,

[STAThread] void Main() { }

[Obsolete] int OldMethod() { }

[SomeAttr] private int AField;

[SomeAttr] private int AProperty { get; set; }

i would like to get the name "Main" / "OldMethod" / "AField" / "AProperty" from code

but the attributes themselves don't directly reference their targets

any suggestions?

[Linkinfamous]

You need to use Reflection to do it. (using System.Reflection needs to be at the top for this)

Create a Type object corresponding to your class, then iterate through each member of GetMembers()

		class SomethingAttribute : Attribute { }
		class Test
		{
			[Obsolete]
			public void DoSomething() { }
			[Something]
			public void DoSomethingElse() { }
		}
		static void Main()
		{
			Type t = typeof(Test);
			foreach (MemberInfo m in t.GetMembers())
			{
				object[] a = m.GetCustomAttributes(false);
				if (a.Length != 0)
				{
					Console.WriteLine("Member {0} has the following attributes: ", m.Name);
					foreach (Attribute x in a)
					{
						Console.WriteLine(x.ToString());
					}
				}
			}
			Console.ReadLine();
		}

You can fine tune it by saying m.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ObsoleteAttribute), false), that will ensure that it only returns Attributes that are Obsolete. So, for example. you can write:

if (m.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ObsoleteAttribute), false).Length != 0) 
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} is obsolete.", m.Name);
}

[Ianmac45]

...

what i want to do is have the name of the target in a variable in the attribute

like, the attribute would figure out by itself the name of its target

[Linkinfamous]

Sorry. I don't follow what you're trying to do. I thought you wanted the name of a member based on attributes....and your description isn't helping me.

[Ianmac45]

this is what i've got. i want the attribute itself to be able to figure out the name of its target

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class DbParamAttribute : Attribute
{
	public readonly string ParameterName;
	public readonly bool IsUpdatable;

	public DbParamAttribute() : this(true) { }
	public DbParamAttribute(bool updatable)
	{
		throw new NotImplementedException();

		//how do i have the attribute figure
		//out the name of its target?
		ParameterName = null;
		IsUpdatable = updatable;
	}

	//provides explicit setting of db parameter name
	public DbParamAttribute(string parameter) : this(parameter, true) { }
	public DbParamAttribute(string parameter, bool updatable)
	{
		ParameterName = parameter;
		IsUpdatable = updatable;
	}
}

[Linkinfamous]

I'm so sorry. I still don't follow what you need, exactly.

Your code won't work because of the 'readonly' modifier on the variables. This should help there....but I'm sorry. I still can't figure out what you need here:

		//how do i have the attribute figure
		//out the name of its target?
		ParameterName = null;
		IsUpdatable = updatable;

private int x;
public int X
{
get
{
return x;
}
private set
{
x = value;
}
}