How do you get the Element Type of an Empty Array in C#?

Question

Int32[] myArray = new Int32[0];

//Somewhere else in code: 
Type t = myArray.GetType();

//t == Int32[]
//element type of t == ???

How do I find out the element type that t was created to store.

The only example I've found works on arrays that aren't empty, where you simply do myArray[i].GetType(). So what do you do for array length 0?

FYI: I did the following and it works fine, but wow... it uses string conversion and is super ugly. There's got to be a better way:

Type t = myArray.GetType();
string strT = t.ToString();
string strArrayBase = strT.Substring(0, strT.Length - 2);
Type elementType = Type.GetType(strArrayBase);

There is so many duplicates on stack overflow

vasily.sib
– vasily.sib

2019-07-08 03:25:35 +00:00
Commented Jul 8, 2019 at 3:25 — vasily.sib
– vasily.sib, Commented Jul 8, 2019 at 3:25

Loocid · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-08 03:15:33Z

1

You can use .GetElementType()

Eg:

> int[] arr = new int[0];
> arr.GetType().GetElementType()
[System.Int32]

Documentation

answered Jul 8, 2019 at 3:15

Loocid

6,5111 gold badge30 silver badges46 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

JamesHoux Over a year ago

Wow. Fail. I actually looked at the doc on GetElementType(), but the explanation for it seemed kind of confusing. And on some other thread, someone was actually saying not to use it for a similar purpose. So I wasn't sure what to make of it. I just tried it and it works! I feel dumb now. Thanks!

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How do you get the Element Type of an Empty Array in C#?

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related