Get the fields of the current Type in C#

To get the fields of the current Type in C#, you can use the GetFields() method from the System.Reflection namespace. This method allows you to retrieve field information using various BindingFlags to specify which types of fields to include.

Reflection in C# provides the ability to inspect and manipulate types, methods, properties, and fields at runtime. The Type.GetFields() method is particularly useful for examining the internal structure of classes.

Syntax

Following is the basic syntax for getting fields using reflection −

Type type = typeof(ClassName);
FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields();

To get specific types of fields, use BindingFlags −

FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.NonPublic);

Using GetFields() with String Type

The following example demonstrates how to retrieve non-public static fields from the String type −

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Demo {
    public static void Main() {
        Type type = typeof(System.String);
        FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
        Console.WriteLine("Following are the non-public fields=");
        foreach (FieldInfo myField in fields) {
            Console.WriteLine(myField.ToString());
        }
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Following are the non-public fields=
Int32 TrimHead
Int32 TrimTail
Int32 TrimBoth
Int32 charPtrAlignConst
Int32 alignConst

Using GetFields() with Char Type

Here's another example that retrieves non-public static fields from the Char type −

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Demo {
    public static void Main() {
        Type type = typeof(System.Char);
        FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
        Console.WriteLine("Following are the non-public fields=");
        foreach (FieldInfo myField in fields) {
            Console.WriteLine(myField.ToString());
        }
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Following are the non-public fields=
Byte[] categoryForLatin1
Int32 UNICODE_PLANE00_END
Int32 UNICODE_PLANE01_START
Int32 UNICODE_PLANE16_END
Int32 HIGH_SURROGATE_START
Int32 LOW_SURROGATE_END

Using GetFields() with Custom Class

The following example shows how to get fields from a custom class −

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Student {
    public string name;
    private int age;
    public static string school = "ABC School";
}

public class Demo {
    public static void Main() {
        Type type = typeof(Student);
        
        Console.WriteLine("All Public Fields:");
        FieldInfo[] publicFields = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static);
        foreach (FieldInfo field in publicFields) {
            Console.WriteLine(field.Name + " - " + field.FieldType);
        }
        
        Console.WriteLine("\nAll Fields (including private):");
        FieldInfo[] allFields = type.GetFields(BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Static);
        foreach (FieldInfo field in allFields) {
            Console.WriteLine(field.Name + " - " + field.FieldType);
        }
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

All Public Fields:
name - System.String
school - System.String

All Fields (including private):
name - System.String
age - System.Int32
school - System.String

Common BindingFlags

Conclusion

The GetFields() method with appropriate BindingFlags allows you to inspect any type's field structure at runtime. This is particularly useful for debugging, serialization, or building generic utilities that work with unknown types dynamically.