Binaryworld - How to find all base classes of any type in .Net ... [ VB.net -> .Net Framework ]

The following code shows how to print all base classes for a specified object.

Function PrintBaseClasses(ByVal obj As Object)
  Dim t As System.Type
  t = obj.GetType

  Do While Not t Is Nothing
    Debug.Write(t.Name)
    t = t.BaseType
    If Not t Is Nothing Then
      Debug.Write("->")
    End If
  Loop
End Function

You can call this function as below

Click here to copy the following block

Dim ex As New OverflowException
PrintBaseClasses(ex)

Output

OverflowException->ArithmeticException->SystemException->Exception->Object

You can modify the PrintBaseClasses routine to make it more useful so you can check any object to find out its base class.

Click here to copy the following block

Function IsTypeOf(ByVal obj As Object, ByVal TypeName As String) As Boolean
  Dim t As System.Type
  t = obj.GetType

  Do While Not t Is Nothing
    If t.Name.ToLower = TypeName.ToLower Then
      Return True
      Exit Function
    End If
    t = t.BaseType
  Loop
  Return False
End Function

You can call the above routine as shown below

Click here to copy the following block

Dim ex As New OverflowException

If IsTypeOf(ex, "Exception")=True Then
Debug.Write("Yes this object is type of [Exception]")
Else
Debug.Write("No this object is not type of [Exception]")
End If

Output

Yes this object is type of [Exception]