Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method - C# Discussion Boards

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

21-Dec-05 0:57

Hello,

I am looking to find a way to retrieve the name of the method that called the current method. At first I thought there would be something within System.Reflection but unfortunately the only thing I can find is MethodInfo.GetCurrentMethod() which retrieves the name of the method I am currently in.

The reason for this is that I am in the process of creating a logging class, one of the logging functions allows the caller to log that a particular method has been called/exited. For ease and control I would prefer not to have to pass the function name/namespace as parameters. i.e.

private void MyFunction()
{
 LogFunctionEntry(MethodInfo.GetCurrentMethod())
}

public static void FunctionEntry(MethodInfo mi)
{
 string message = string.Format(
  System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
  "{0}.{1}",
  mi.ReflectedType,
  mi);

  Console.WriteLine(message);
}

At the moment the only other way I think of doing this is to parse through Environment.StackTrace but to be honest this is something I would rather not do.

Guffa21-Dec-05 1:08

Guffa

21-Dec-05 1:08

The information is in the call stack, so it's from there that you have to get it.

Perhaps there are some other methods that you can use that does some of the work for you. For an example, if you throw an exception and catch it, it will contain a stack trace. Throwing exceptions is quite expensive, though.

---
b { font-weight: normal; }

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

MrEyes21-Dec-05 1:12

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

21-Dec-05 1:12

Typically I have found the answer to my question within minutes of making the post Blush | :O

Annoyingly it was right here on CP

http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/MethodName.asp[^]

Solution:

StackTrace stackTrace = new StackTrace();
StackFrame stackFrame = stackTrace.GetFrame(1);
MethodBase methodBase = stackFrame.GetMethod();
			
string message = string.Format(
 System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
 "{0}|{1}",
 methodBase.ReflectedType,
 methodBase);
			
Console.WriteLine(message);

This will output

namespace.function(params)

MyNameSpace.Foo.Bar|MyFunction(object a, object b)

Vikram A Punathambekar21-Dec-05 1:17

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

21-Dec-05 1:17

Aaah, thanks for sharing the info. Smile | :)

I found it interesting too.

Did you vote for that kind soul's article? Wink | ;)

Cheers,
Vikram.

"When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton.

MrEyes21-Dec-05 1:21

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

21-Dec-05 1:21

oh yes

Voting is good and I get to feel all warm and fluffy inside

leppie21-Dec-05 4:10

leppie

21-Dec-05 4:10

Although this nice, it an expensive operation. Either used that only in a special mode or use conditional compilation.

^{xacc.ide-0.1.1 released! :) Download and screenshots}

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

MrEyes21-Dec-05 4:15

Re: Getting the Namespace/Name of the calling method

21-Dec-05 4:15

This is very true, and a good piece of advice

These logging functions will only ever be called if the application is configured to output "uber developer debug logging"

leppie21-Dec-05 4:28

leppie

21-Dec-05 4:28

This is what I got Smile | :)

[Conditional(<FONT color=maroon>"TRACE"</FONT>)]
<FONT color=blue>public static void</FONT> WriteLine(<FONT color=blue>string</FONT> category, <FONT color=blue>string</FONT> format, <FONT color=blue>params object</FONT><FONT color=darkblue>[]</FONT> args)
{
  <FONT color=blue>if</FONT> (debugmode)
  {
    <FONT color=darkgreen>// get the caller</FONT>
    StackTrace st = <FONT color=blue>new</FONT> StackTrace(<FONT color=blue>false</FONT>);
    StackFrame sf = st.GetFrame(<FONT color=red>2</FONT>);
    <FONT color=blue>string</FONT> msg = <FONT color=blue>string</FONT>.Format(<FONT color=maroon>"{0,-15}:{1,-60}:{2}"</FONT>, category,
      sf.GetMethod(), <FONT color=blue>string</FONT>.Format(format, args).Replace(<FONT color=maroon>"\n"</FONT>, <FONT color=maroon>"\\n"</FONT>).Replace(<FONT color=maroon>"\t"</FONT>,<FONT color=maroon>"\\t"</FONT>));
    System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(msg);
  }
  <FONT color=blue>else</FONT>
  {
    <FONT color=blue>string</FONT> msg = category + <FONT color=maroon>" : "</FONT> + <FONT color=blue>string</FONT>.Format(format, args);
    System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(msg);
  }
}

^{xacc.ide-0.1.1 released! :) Download and screenshots}

Executable

charbelasmar21-Dec-05 0:33

charbelasmar

21-Dec-05 0:33

Dear all

I have executable that can execute more than once in the same time (you 'll have more than window of it in the same it )how can i change the setting to make it make hin execute once

thx for helping

Best Regards
Charbel

Vikram A Punathambekar21-Dec-05 1:19

21-Dec-05 1:19

Where does the first link lead you?[^]

Cheers,
Vikram.

"When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton.

Vikram A Punathambekar21-Dec-05 1:19

21-Dec-05 1:19

Where does the first link lead you?[^]

Cheers,
Vikram.

"When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton.

J4amieC21-Dec-05 3:23

J4amieC

21-Dec-05 3:23

I really like your "Where does the first link lead you?" response much more than my boring old "Google is your friend" response... Can I use it?

Big Grin | :-D

Vikram A Punathambekar21-Dec-05 16:17