• MSDN Documentation
• .NET
• API Reference
• System
• System.Reflection
• Module

Module Class

Represents a loadable code module (such as a DLL or EXE file) within an assembly. This class cannot be inherited.

Introduction

The System.Reflection.Module class provides a way to inspect and interact with the metadata of a dynamically loaded assembly. It allows you to discover the types, methods, and other elements defined within a module. This class is fundamental for many reflection-based scenarios, such as serialization, ORM frameworks, and dynamic code generation.

Syntax

public sealed class Module

Remarks

A module represents a single Portable Executable (PE) file (.dll or .exe) within an assembly. An assembly can consist of one or more modules. The Module class provides access to the metadata of these modules, allowing you to query for types, methods, fields, and other members defined within that specific module.

You can obtain a Module object through various reflection methods, such as calling Assembly.GetModule or Assembly.GetModules.

Members

• Name

  public string Name { get; }

  Gets the name of the module.

  This property returns the name of the module, typically the filename of the associated PE file.

• ScopeName

  public string ScopeName { get; }

  Gets the scope name of the module.

  The scope name is used for resolving type names within the module's scope.

• FullyQualifiedName

  public string FullyQualifiedName { get; }

  Gets the fully qualified name of the module.

  This property returns the full path or name of the module, which can be useful for identifying the module in the file system.

• Assembly

  public Assembly Assembly { get; }

  Gets the assembly that contains this module.

  This property returns the Assembly object to which this module belongs.

• ModuleHandle

  public ModuleHandle ModuleHandle { get; }

  Gets a handle to the module.

  The ModuleHandle provides low-level access to the module's runtime representation.

• Guid

  public Guid Guid { get; }

  Gets the globally unique identifier (GUID) of the module.

  This GUID is unique across all modules and assemblies.

• MetadataToken

  public int MetadataToken { get; }

  Gets the metadata token for this module.

  The metadata token is a unique identifier for the module within the assembly's metadata stream.

• GetTypes()

  public Type[] GetTypes()

  Returns an array of all the types defined in this module.

  This method enumerates all the types declared within the current module.

  Returns

  An array of Type objects representing the types defined in this module. Returns an empty array if the module is empty.

  Exceptions

  • ReflectionTypeLoadException: If types cannot be loaded from the module.

• GetType(string name)

  public Type GetType(string name)

  Searches for a type with the specified name in this module.

  This method allows you to retrieve a specific Type object by its fully qualified name.

  Parameters

  name

  The full name of the type to search for.

  Returns

  The Type object with the specified name, or null if the type is not found.

• GetCustomAttributes()

  public object[] GetCustomAttributes()

  Returns a collection of custom attributes that are defined for this module.

  This method retrieves all attributes applied directly to the module itself.

  Returns

  An array of objects representing the custom attributes. Returns an empty array if no attributes are defined.

• GetCustomAttributes(Type attributeType)

  public object[] GetCustomAttributes(Type attributeType)

  Returns a collection of custom attributes of a specified type that are defined for this module.

  This method filters custom attributes by a specific attribute type.

  Parameters

  attributeType

  The type of the custom attribute to search for.

  Returns

  An array of objects representing the custom attributes of the specified type. Returns an empty array if no matching attributes are found.

• IsDefined(Type attributeType)

  public bool IsDefined(Type attributeType)

  Indicates whether a custom attribute of a specified type is defined for this module.

  This method efficiently checks for the presence of a specific custom attribute type.

  Parameters

  attributeType

  The type of the custom attribute to search for.

  Returns

  true if the attribute is defined; otherwise, false.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to get the Module objects for an assembly and iterate through their types.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Get the currently executing assembly
        Assembly currentAssembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

        // Get all modules in the assembly
        Module[] modules = currentAssembly.GetModules();

        foreach (Module module in modules)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Module Name: {module.Name}");
            Console.WriteLine($"  Fully Qualified Name: {module.FullyQualifiedName}");
            Console.WriteLine($"  Scope Name: {module.ScopeName}");
            Console.WriteLine($"  GUID: {module.Guid}");

            // Get all types defined in this module
            try
            {
                Type[] types = module.GetTypes();
                Console.WriteLine("  Types defined:");
                foreach (Type type in types)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"    - {type.FullName}");
                }
            }
            catch (ReflectionTypeLoadException ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"  Error loading types: {ex.Message}");
                foreach (Exception loaderException in ex.LoaderExceptions)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"    Loader Exception: {loaderException.Message}");
                }
            }
            Console.WriteLine();
        }
    }
}

See Also

• Assembly
• Type
• ModuleHandle