C# 3.0 Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

Attributes

You’re already familiar with the notion of attributing code elements of a program with modifiers, such as virtual or ref. These constructs are built into the language. Attributes are an extensible mechanism for adding custom information to code elements (assemblies, types, members, return values, and parameters). This extensibility is useful for services that integrate deeply into the type system, without requiring special keywords or constructs in the C# language.

A good scenario for attributes is serialization—the process of converting arbitrary objects to and from a particular format.

In this scenario, an attribute on a field can specify the translation between C#’s representation of the field and the format’s representation of the field.

Attribute Classes

An attribute is defined by a class that inherits (directly or indirectly) from the abstract class System.Attribute. To attach an attribute to a code element, you specify the attribute’s type name in square brackets, before the code element. For example, the following attaches the ObsoleteAttribute to the Foo class:

[ObsoleteAttribute]
	public class Foo { ... }

This attribute is recognized by the compiler and will cause compiler warnings if a type or member marked obsolete is referenced. By convention, all attribute types end in the word “Attribute.” C# recognizes this and allows you to omit the suffix when attaching an attribute:

[Obsolete]
	public class Foo { ... }

ObsoleteAttribute is a type declared in the System namespace ...