VB.NET Language in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

VbTypeName Function

Class

Microsoft. VisualBasic.Information

Syntax

VbTypeName(urtname)

urtname (required; String)

The name of a CTS datatype

Return Value

A String containing the name of a VB.NET datatype

Description

Returns the name of the VB.NET datatype that corresponds to a particular Common Type System (CTS) datatype

Rules at a Glance

• urtname must be the name of a valid CTS datatype, such as Int32, UInt32, String, or DateTime.

• If urtname is not a valid CTS datatype, the function returns Nothing.

• If urtname is a valid CTS datatype that does not directly correspond to a VB.NET datatype, the function returns Nothing.

Example

Public Sub Main

' Displays Short
Dim intNum As Int16 = 1234
Console.WriteLine(VbTypeName(intNum.GetType(  ).ToString))

' Displays ""
Dim uintNum As UInt16 = Convert.ToUInt16(1234)
Console.WriteLine(VbTypeName(uintNum.GetType(  ).ToString))

' Displays Char
Dim chLetter As System.Char = Convert.ToChar("a")
Console.WriteLine(VbTypeName(chLetter.GetType(  ).ToString))

' Displays ""
Dim sbytNum As SByte = Convert.ToSByte(-3)
Console.WriteLine(VbTypeName(sbytNum.GetType(  ).ToString))

End Sub

Programming Tips and Gotchas

• To determine the VB.NET datatype of a particular variable, call the variable’s GetType method to retrieve a Type object, then call the Type object’s ToString method to retrieve its datatype name. This string can then be passed to the VbTypeName function. For example:

  strType = VbTypeName(myVar.GetType(  ).ToString)

• If passed the name of a structure defined ...