TypeFinder Sample

Sample Overview

This sample tool provides the user with a command-line interface to provide information about types in the environment. Locating a specific type can be difficult. This tool provides a simple way o determine what types are available, what module they are in and what interfaces, methods, fields, properties and events are available on the type.

This sample demonstrates the use of the following classes:

Reflection
- Assembly
  - Used to load assemblies into the application domain so that they can be searched for types.
- Module
  - Used to get types from the assembly or module for comparison to the search string.
- Type
  - Used to get type information such as its name, namespace, and members.
- PropertyInfo
  - Used to find information about properties in types.
- EventInfo
  - Used to find information about events in types.
- FieldInfo
  - Used to find information about fields in types.
- MethodInfo
  - Used to find information about methods in types.
IO
- TextWriter
  - Used by the IndentedWriter sample type to output (to the console, by default) in a generic fashion.
Text
- StringBuilder
  - Used by the IndentedWriter sample type to create a string.
- String
  - Used throughout the sample to find format strings, sub-strings, upper-case strings, and so on.
Collections
- ArrayList
  - Used by the sample to manage a growable list of strings.
Registry
- Registry
  - Used to create an instance of the RegistryKey type for a subkey of the LocalMachine key.
- RegistryKey
  - Used to read values from a key in the registry.

Usage

typefinder -d:directory [MatchOptions] [ShowOptions] [MiscOptions] typename

Where typename is the name of the type to search for.

Option	Description
-d:directory	Specifies additional directory to search.
MatchOptions	-n	Specifies namespace name.
	-w	Matches the name anywhere in the namespace.
	-x	Specifies exact type name (including namespace).
ShowOptions	-a	Shows all information.
	-e	Shows events.
	-f	Shows fields.
	-i	Shows interfaces.
	-l	Shows module information.
	-m	Shows methods.
	-p	Shows properties.
MiscOptions	-?	Prints usage information.
	-r	Displays base type information for every type.
	-v	Specifies verbose mode.

Sample Source and Build Output Locations

The sample source is found in sscli\samples\utilities\typefinder.

The source file is:

typefinder.cs

The build output location is %TARGETCOMPLUS%\samples\utilities\typefinder. The output file is an executable assembly named typefinder.exe.

Building the Sample

All samples are built from the buildall script.

You can also build all the samples by switching to the root of the sample directory, sscli\samples, and typing build -c.

You can build this specific sample by switching to the sample directory and typing build -c.

Running the Sample

These steps require that the Shared Source CLI (SSCLI) be already built and functional.

Run env.bat or source the env.csh or env.sh script files, depending on your platform.
Switch to the %TARGETCOMPLUS%\samples\utilities\typefinder directory.
Type the following command:

clix typefinder.exe