How to check if variable's type matches Type stored in a variable

c# reflection types
Karan picture Karan · May 2, 2012 · Viewed 110k times · Source 
User u = new User();
Type t = typeof(User);

u is User -> returns true

u is t -> compilation error

How do I test if some variable is of some type in this way?

Answer

Eric Lippert picture Eric Lippert · May 2, 2012

The other answers all contain significant omissions.

The is operator does not check if the runtime type of the operand is exactly the given type; rather, it checks to see if the runtime type is compatible with the given type:

class Animal {}
class Tiger : Animal {}
...
object x = new Tiger();
bool b1 = x is Tiger; // true
bool b2 = x is Animal; // true also! Every tiger is an animal.

But checking for type identity with reflection checks for identity, not for compatibility

bool b5 = x.GetType() == typeof(Tiger); // true
bool b6 = x.GetType() == typeof(Animal); // false! even though x is an animal

or with the type variable
bool b7 = t == typeof(Tiger); // true
bool b8 = t == typeof(Animal); // false! even though x is an

If that's not what you want, then you probably want IsAssignableFrom:

bool b9 = typeof(Tiger).IsAssignableFrom(x.GetType()); // true
bool b10 = typeof(Animal).IsAssignableFrom(x.GetType()); // true! A variable of type Animal may be assigned a Tiger.

or with the type variable
bool b11 = t.IsAssignableFrom(x.GetType()); // true
bool b12 = t.IsAssignableFrom(x.GetType()); // true! A

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