c# regex - select class properties names, methods name and fields from class file (.cs)

Question

I want to match (select from class file) methodsname, properties name and fields name.

This is example class:

class Perl
{
    string _name;
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public Perl()
    {
    // Assign this._name
    this._name = "Perl";
    // Assign _name
    _name = "Sam";

    // The two forms reference the same field.
    Console.WriteLine(this._name);
    Console.WriteLine(_name);
    }
    public static string doSomething(string test)
    {
        bla test;
    }
}

I got code for the methods:

(?:public|private|protected)([\s\w]*)\s+(\w+)\s*\(\s*(?:\w+\s+(\w+)\s*,?\s*)+\)

And i got questions:

this above regex code gets all methods and it works pretty well but also i want it to select method name but without parameters and accessors. So from exaplmce class using my code result will be: public Perl() and public static doSomething(string test) but i want that kind of result: Perl() and doSomething(). So - my code matches good but i want result to be displayed just like I wrote in previous sentence.
how to select properties ? with result displayed: type and property name. So from exaple class result will be: string Name
how to select fields with result: type field_name. In out case it will be: string _name

Might it make sense to use reflection on the compiled class instead of regex on the code file? You'd get much more reliable results (i.e. you don't have to worry about if your regex command covers every possible case), and it could be used with any .NET language, not just C#. — Tim S.
– Tim S., Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 12:06
so i got folder with .cs class files. Can i compile it "in air" and then use reflection ? How to compile class dynamically for example is there is a function that i can use ? for example. on button click comile all cs files in selected folder ? — born2fr4g
– born2fr4g, Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 12:30

Ria · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-13 05:04:38Z

3

Use this Regex

for methods

(?:public\s|private\s|protected\s|internal\s)?[\s\w]*\s+(?<methodName>\w+)\s*\(\s*(?:(ref\s|/in\s|out\s)?\s*(?<parameterType>\w+)\s+(?<parameter>\w+)\s*,?\s*)+\)

and get groups named methodName and parameterType and parameter.

and for fields:

(?:public\s|private\s|protected\s)\s*(?:readonly\s+)?(?<type>\w+)\s+(?<name>\w+)

and get groups named type and name.

for example your code for methods can be like this:

var inputString0 = "public void test(string name, out int value)\r\nvoid test(string name, int value)";
foreach (Match match in Regex.Matches(inputString0, @"(?:public\s|private\s|protected\s)?[\s\w]*\s+(?<methodName>\w+)\s*\(\s*(?:(ref\s|/in\s|out\s)?\s*(?<parameterType>[\w\?\[\]]+)\s+(?<parameter>\w+)\s*,?\s*)+\)"))
{
    var methodName = match.Groups["methodName"].Value;
    var typeParameterPair = new Dictionary<string, string>();
    int i = 0;
    foreach (var capture in match.Groups["parameterType"].Captures)
    {
        typeParameterPair.Add(match.Groups["parameterType"].Captures[i].Value, match.Groups["parameter"].Captures[i].Value);
        i++;
    }
}

You can use Irony - .NET Language Implementation Kit from codeplex too.

edited Aug 13, 2012 at 5:04

answered Aug 11, 2012 at 12:02

Ria

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4 Comments

born2fr4g Over a year ago

but what about properties and fileds ? ;)

Johannes Egger Over a year ago

what about visibility scope internal?

born2fr4g Over a year ago

I cant use irony ;). Im using NET 2.0 in my application. Thanks for the fields regex code. I will try to modify it to match properties (with get or set inside {})

born2fr4g Over a year ago

@Ria what about fields ? Thats the hardest part. I just cant figure it out how to read fields from .cs files using regex. I always get all variables even that ones declared in methods.

Nikola Anusev · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-12 07:04:14Z

2

As stated in comments to your answer, much more reliable method is to compile your .cs files and then use reflection to interrogate types for members you are interested in. It will involve the following:

Use C# compiler (csc.exe) to compile your files. MSDN contains helpful examples and hints. You could do this manually, or, if you want to automatize the whole thing, you could execute csc.exe programmatically with Process class.
Use Assembly.LoadFile() method to load the resulting assembly.
You can now employ reflection to get types from the assembly and interrogate them.

EDIT: As an alternative to csc.exe, you could use CodeDOM - there is an example that contains all you need.

edited Aug 12, 2012 at 7:04

answered Aug 11, 2012 at 14:43

Nikola Anusev

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4 Comments

formatc Over a year ago

I asked similar question a while ago on how to get parametar values used with method using reflection but sadly there were no useful answers. Is that even possible? Because that would be the way to to go instead of regex.

Nikola Anusev Over a year ago

@user1010609 I don't see how is that related to this question - but post the link and I can take a look at it.

formatc Over a year ago

It is not relevant, but lets say he wanted to do something like this Console.WriteLine(_name);, is there way to get what the what the _name value was? And if it was hardcoded like Console.WriteLine("John");? Because regex can do that with ease, but makes other things lot more complicated, just wanted to point him to right direction.

born2fr4g Over a year ago

I want to use it in my program (so i cant just start an another program) it must by done automatically ;). I need to write to xml all methods, properites and fields names. IT looks pretty complicated with csc.exe

Serge Wautier · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-12 06:33:25Z

0

A language such as C# accepts too many variations in statements syntax to be parsed using regular expressions only. On top of regexes, you need a contextual grammar parser.

I would give Roslyn a try: It's a C# compiler whose internals are accessible from your code. Ask Roslyn to parse the code and query it about whatever info you need.

edited Aug 12, 2012 at 6:33

answered Aug 12, 2012 at 6:28

Serge Wautier

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Comments

AMissico · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-12 06:53:03Z

0

I suggest looking at Microsoft.VisualStudio.CSharp.Services.Language namespace and other Visual Studio Extensibility functionality. This would eliminate the need to compile.

answered Aug 12, 2012 at 6:53

AMissico

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