How to display the name of an object instance?

[John]

Hi,

I have a ToolbarButton and I want to print out the instance name. This
is easy to do with objects that inherit from Control because there is
a .Name property. However, with other objects like ToolbarButton I
don't see how to do this.

Advice? Ideas? THANKS!

ToolbarButton tbbMyButton;

public static void ShowName(object o)
{
if ( o is ToolbarButton )
{
Console.Writeline(tbbMyButton.Name); // Doesn't work, no Name
property
}
}

Maybe something with reflection?

Thanks!!!

John

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

John <jo********@hotmail.com> wrote:

I have a ToolbarButton and I want to print out the instance name. This
is easy to do with objects that inherit from Control because there is
a .Name property. However, with other objects like ToolbarButton I
don't see how to do this.

Advice? Ideas? THANKS!

ToolbarButton tbbMyButton;

public static void ShowName(object o)
{
if ( o is ToolbarButton )
{
Console.Writeline(tbbMyButton.Name); // Doesn't work, no Name
property
}
}

Maybe something with reflection?

Objects don't *have* names usually. What do you actually want to see?

Don't forget that there's a big difference between an object and a
variable containing a reference to an object. A variable has a name,
but there could be lots of variables with references to a specific
object - or none!

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.com>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

John,

The Name property of a Control instance isn't really applicable. Say
you had a button, which was named mobjButton. What happens when you do
this?

// Assign the button locally.
Button pobjButton = mobjButton;

What should the name be then? mobjButton or pobjButton? Both are
legitimate names for the object instance.

If you want to get the name of the field for an object instance, then
you can call the GetFields method on the Type class. Since all instances
will have the same field names, you can just use these.

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"John" <jo********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d8**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi,

I have a ToolbarButton and I want to print out the instance name. This
is easy to do with objects that inherit from Control because there is
a .Name property. However, with other objects like ToolbarButton I
don't see how to do this.

Advice? Ideas? THANKS!

ToolbarButton tbbMyButton;

public static void ShowName(object o)
{
if ( o is ToolbarButton )
{
Console.Writeline(tbbMyButton.Name); // Doesn't work, no Name
property
}
}

Maybe something with reflection?

Thanks!!!

John

[John]

That helps a lot. Thank you!

I was so focused on the reference to the instance that I forgot to
consider the FieldInfo that I get from the type. FieldInfo has exactly
what I need.

THANKS!!!
John

"Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]" <mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com> wrote in message news:<#r**************@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl>...

John,

The Name property of a Control instance isn't really applicable. Say
you had a button, which was named mobjButton. What happens when you do
this?

// Assign the button locally.
Button pobjButton = mobjButton;

What should the name be then? mobjButton or pobjButton? Both are
legitimate names for the object instance.

If you want to get the name of the field for an object instance, then
you can call the GetFields method on the Type class. Since all instances
will have the same field names, you can just use these.

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"John" <jo********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d8**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi,

I have a ToolbarButton and I want to print out the instance name. This
is easy to do with objects that inherit from Control because there is
a .Name property. However, with other objects like ToolbarButton I
don't see how to do this.

Advice? Ideas? THANKS!

ToolbarButton tbbMyButton;

public static void ShowName(object o)
{
if ( o is ToolbarButton )
{
Console.Writeline(tbbMyButton.Name); // Doesn't work, no Name
property
}
}

Maybe something with reflection?

Thanks!!!

John