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ii.7.3-references-to-user-defined-types-typereference.md

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II.7.3 References to user-defined types (TypeReference)

User-defined types are referenced either using their full name and a resolution scope or, if one is available in the same module, a type definition (§II.10). A TypeReference is used to capture the full name and resolution scope:

TypeReference ::=
[ ResolutionScope ] DottedName [ '/' DottedName ]*
ResolutionScope ::=
'[' .module Filename ']'
AssemblyRefName ::= Clause
DottedName §II.5.1

The following resolution scopes are specified for un-nested types:

  • Current module (and, hence, assembly). This is the most common case and is the default if no resolution scope is specified. The type shall be resolved to a definition only if the definition occurs in the same module as the reference.

[Note: A type reference that refers to a type in the same module and assembly is better represented using a type definition. Where this is not possible (e.g., when referencing a nested type that has compilercontrolled accessibility) or convenient (e.g., in some one-pass compilers) a type reference is equivalent and can be used. end note]

  • Different module, current assembly. The resolution scope shall be a module reference syntactically represented using the notation [ .module Filename ]. The type shall be resolved to a definition only if the referenced module (§II.6.4) and type (§II.6.7) have been declared by the current assembly and hence have entries in the assembly's manifest. Note that in this case the manifest is not physically stored with the referencing module.

  • Different assembly. The resolution scope shall be an assembly reference syntactically represented using the notation [ AssemblyRefName ]. The referenced assembly shall be declared in the manifest for the current assembly (§II.6.3), the type shall be declared in the referenced assembly's manifest, and the type shall be marked as exported from that assembly (§II.6.7 and §II.10.1.1).

  • For nested types, the resolution scope is always the enclosing type. (See §II.10.6). This is indicated syntactically by using a slash ("/") to separate the enclosing type name from the nested type's name.

[Example: The type System.Console defined in the base class library (found in the assembly named mscorlib):

.assembly extern mscorlib { }
.class [mscorlib]System.Console

A reference to the type named C.D in the module named x in the current assembly:

.module extern x
.class [.module x]C.D

A reference to the type named C nested inside of the type named Foo.Bar in another assembly, named MyAssembly:

.assembly extern MyAssembly { }
.class [MyAssembly]Foo.Bar/C

end example]