C# GetMethod doesn't return a parent method

Sebastián Vansteenkiste picture Sebastián Vansteenkiste · Sep 11, 2012 · Viewed 9.8k times · Source

I have the following class tree:

public class A
{
    public static object GetMe(SomeOtherClass something)
    {
        return something.Foo();
    }
}

public class B:A
{
    public static new object GetMe(SomeOtherClass something)
    {
        return something.Bar();
    }
}

public class C:B
{

}

public class SomeOtherClass
{

}

Given SomeOtherClass parameter = new SomeOtherClass()) this works:

typeof(B).GetMethod("GetMe", new Type[] { typeof(SomeOtherClass) })).Invoke(null, parameter));

But this:

typeof(C).GetMethod("GetMe", new Type[] { typeof(SomeOtherClass) })).Invoke(null, parameter));

throws a NullReferenceException, while I wish it would call the exact same method than above.

I've tried several binding flags to no avail. Any help?

Answer

Jon Skeet picture Jon Skeet · Sep 11, 2012

You should use one the overloads taking a BindingFlags parameter, and include FlattenHierarchy.

Specifies that public and protected static members up the hierarchy should be returned. Private static members in inherited classes are not returned. Static members include fields, methods, events, and properties. Nested types are not returned.

(Edited to remove the point about private static methods, now the question has been changed to make them public.)