mono/docs/sources/mono-api-metadata.html

<h1>Metadata Reading</h1>

	<p>The Metadata API gives developers low-level access to the
	information encoded in CLI modules: type and
	methods definitions encoded in metadata as well as access to
	the CIL code and embedded resources.

	<p>Managed developers access this information using either the
	System.Reflection API or a library
	like <a href="http://www.mono-project.com/Cecil">Cecil</a>.

	<p>To start using the Metadata API it is necessary
	to <a href="mono-api-assembly.html#cil_assembly_load">open an
	assembly</a> or a CIL image (a .dll or .exe file) using one of
	the
	<a href="mono-api-image.html#cil_image_open">CIL image
	opening</a> API calls.

<h2>Metadata Heaps</h2>

	<p>ECMA CLI images contain four heaps that store different
	kinds of information, these are:

	<ul>
		<li>GUID heap (called #GUID) contains 128-bit GUIDs,
		you can get pointer to a GUID value by
		calling <a href="#api:mono_metadata_guid_heap">mono_metadata_guid_heap</a>.

		<li>User string heap (called #US), it contains user
		visible strings, you can fetch a string from this heap
		by calling
		<a href="#api:mono_metadata_user_string">mono_metadata_user_string</a>.

		<li>Blob heap (called #blob), it contains binary
		blobs of data, you can get a blob
		by <a href="#api:mono_metadata_blob_heap">mono_metadata_blob_heap</a>.
		You can determine the size of the blob using
		the <a href="#api:mono_metadata_decode_blob_size">mono_metadata_decode_blob_size</a>. 
	
	</ul>

	<p>The ECMA file format also has an extra section called the
	"#~" stream, this stream is the one that holds the metadata
	tables.   There is a high-level API to get access to the
	contents of this API, described in the
	section <a href="#metadata-tables">Metadata Tables</a>.
	
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_guid_heap">mono_metadata_guid_heap</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_string_heap">mono_metadata_string_heap</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_blob_heap">mono_metadata_blob_heap</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_user_string">mono_metadata_user_string</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_decode_blob_size">mono_metadata_decode_blob_size</a></h4>

<a name="metadata-tables"/>
<h2>Metadata Tables</h2>

	<p>Metadata is encoded in a number of tables included on every
	CIL image.   These tables contain type definitions, member
	definitions and so on, these constants are defined in the ECMA 335
	specification Partition II section 22.   The following table
	shows the C constants defined in the Mono runtime and how they
	map to the equivalent ECMA CLI metadata table:

	<center>
	<table border=1>
	  <thead>
	    <td>
	       <b>ECMA CLI Table Name</b>
	    </td>
	    <td>
	    <b>C Constant Name</b>
	    </td>
	    <td>
	       <b>Table Schema (Array Size + Columns Constants)</b>
	    </td>
	  </thead>
<td>Assembly</td><td>MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLY</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_ASSEMBLY_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_HASH_ALG
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_MAJOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_MINOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_BUILD_NUMBER
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_REV_NUMBER
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_PUBLIC_KEY
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_NAME
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_CULTURE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>AssemblyOS</td><td>MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLYOS</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_ASSEMBLYOS_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYOS_PLATFORM
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYOS_MAJOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYOS_MINOR_VERSION
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>AssemblyProcessor</td><td>MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLYPROCESSOR</td><td>Array
size: MONO_ASSEMBLYPROCESSOR_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLY_PROCESSOR
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>AssemblyRef</td><td>MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLYREF</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_MAJOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_MINOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_BUILD_NUMBER
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_REV_NUMBER
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_PUBLIC_KEY
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_NAME
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_CULTURE
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_HASH_VALUE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>AssemblyRefProcessor</td><td>MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLYREFPROCESSOR</td><td>Array
size: MONO_ASSEMBLYREFPROC_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFPROC_PROCESSOR
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFPROC_ASSEMBLYREF
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>AssemblyRefOS</td><td>MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLYREFOS</td><td>
Array size: 
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFOS_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFOS_PLATFORM
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFOS_MAJOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFOS_MINOR_VERSION
	<li>MONO_ASSEMBLYREFOS_ASSEMBLYREF
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>ClassLayout</td><td>MONO_TABLE_CLASSLAYOUT</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_CLASSLAYOUT_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_CLASS_LAYOUT_PACKING_SIZE
	<li>MONO_CLASS_LAYOUT_CLASS_SIZE
	<li>MONO_CLASS_LAYOUT_PARENT
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Constant</td><td>MONO_TABLE_CONSTANT</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_CONSTANT_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_CONSTANT_TYPE
	<li>MONO_CONSTANT_PADDING
	<li>MONO_CONSTANT_PARENT
	<li>MONO_CONSTANT_VALUE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>CustomAttribute</td><td>MONO_TABLE_CUSTOMATTRIBUTE</td><td>
Array size:
MONO_CUSTOM_ATTR_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_CUSTOM_ATTR_PARENT
	<li>MONO_CUSTOM_ATTR_TYPE
	<li>MONO_CUSTOM_ATTR_VALUE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>DeclSecurity</td><td>MONO_TABLE_DECLSECURITY</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_DECL_SECURITY_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_DECL_SECURITY_ACTION
	<li>MONO_DECL_SECURITY_PARENT
	<li>MONO_DECL_SECURITY_PERMISSIONSET
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>EventMap</td><td>MONO_TABLE_EVENTMAP</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_EVENT_MAP_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_EVENT_MAP_PARENT
	<li>MONO_EVENT_MAP_EVENTLIST
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>EventPtr</td><td>MONO_TABLE_EVENT_POINTER</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_EVENT_POINTER_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_EVENT_POINTER_EVENT
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Event</td><td>MONO_TABLE_EVENT</td><td>
Array size:  MONO_EVENT_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_EVENT_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_EVENT_NAME
	<li>MONO_EVENT_TYPE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>ExportedType</td><td>MONO_TABLE_EXPORTEDTYPE</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_EXPORTEDTYPE_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_EXP_TYPE_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_EXP_TYPE_TYPEDEF
	<li>MONO_EXP_TYPE_NAME
	<li>MONO_EXP_TYPE_NAMESPACE
	<li>MONO_EXP_TYPE_IMPLEMENTATION
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Field</td><td>MONO_TABLE_FIELD</td><td>
Array size:  MONO_FIELD_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_FIELD_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_FIELD_NAME
	<li>MONO_FIELD_SIGNATURE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>FieldLayoutt</td><td>MONO_TABLE_FIELDLAYOUT</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_FIELDLAYOUT_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_FIELD_LAYOUT_OFFSET
	<li>MONO_FIELD_LAYOUT_FIELD
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>FieldMarshal</td><td>MONO_TABLE_FIELDMARSHAL</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_FIELD_MARSHAL_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_FIELD_MARSHAL_PARENT
	<li>MONO_FIELD_MARSHAL_NATIVE_TYPE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>FieldPtr</td><td>MONO_TABLE_FIELD_POINTER</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_FIELD_POINTER_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_FIELD_POINTER_FIELD
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>FieldRVA</td><td>MONO_TABLE_FIELDRVA</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_FIELDRVA_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_FIELD_RVA_RVA
	<li>MONO_FIELD_RVA_FIELD
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>File</td><td>MONO_TABLE_FILE</td><td>
Array size:  MONO_FILE_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_FILE_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_FILE_NAME
	<li>MONO_FILE_HASH_VALUE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>GenericParam</td><td>MONO_TABLE_GENERICPARAM</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_GENERICPARAM_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_GENERICPARAM_NUMBER
	<li>MONO_GENERICPARAM_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_GENERICPARAM_OWNER
	<li>MONO_GENERICPARAM_NAME
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>GenericParamConstraint</td><td>MONO_TABLE_GENERICPARAMCONSTRAINT</td><td>Array
size: MONO_GENERICPARAMCONSTRAINT_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_GENPARCONSTRAINT_GENERICPAR
	<li>MONO_GENPARCONSTRAINT_CONSTRAINT
</ul>
</td>

<tr>
<td>ImplMap</td><td>MONO_TABLE_IMPLMAP</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_IMPLMAP_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_IMPLMAP_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_IMPLMAP_MEMBER
	<li>MONO_IMPLMAP_NAME
	<li>MONO_IMPLMAP_SCOPE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>


<td>InterfaceImpl</td><td>MONO_TABLE_INTERFACEIMPL</td><td>
Array size: 
	<li>MONO_INTERFACEIMPL_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_INTERFACEIMPL_CLASS
	<li>MONO_INTERFACEIMPL_INTERFACE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>


<td>ManifestResource</td><td>MONO_TABLE_MANIFESTRESOURCE</td><td>Array
size: MONO_MANIFESTRESOURCE_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_MANIFEST_OFFSET
	<li>MONO_MANIFEST_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_MANIFEST_NAME
	<li>MONO_MANIFEST_IMPLEMENTATION
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>MemberRef</td><td>MONO_TABLE_MEMBERREF</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_MEMBERREF_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_MEMBERREF_CLASS
	<li>MONO_MEMBERREF_NAME
	<li>MONO_MEMBERREF_SIGNATURE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>MethodImpl</td><td>MONO_TABLE_METHODIMPL</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_METHODIMPL_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_METHODIMPL_CLASS
	<li>MONO_METHODIMPL_BODY
	<li>MONO_METHODIMPL_DECLARATION
</ul>
</td>
</tr>


<td>MethodSpec</td><td>MONO_TABLE_METHODSPEC</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_METHODSPEC_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_METHODSPEC_METHOD
	<li>MONO_METHODSPEC_SIGNATURE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>MethodSemantics</td><td>MONO_TABLE_METHODSEMANTICS</td><td>Array
size: MONO_METHOD_SEMA_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_METHOD_SEMA_SEMANTICS
	<li>MONO_METHOD_SEMA_METHOD
	<li>MONO_METHOD_SEMA_ASSOCIATION
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Moduleref</td><td>MONO_TABLE_MODULEREF</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_MODULEREF_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_MODULEREF_NAME
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Module</td><td>MONO_TABLE_MODULE</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_MODULE_SIZE
<br>
Columns:
<ul>
	<li>MONO_MODULE_GENERATION
	<li>MONO_MODULE_NAME
	<li>MONO_MODULE_MVID
	<li>MONO_MODULE_ENC
	<li>MONO_MODULE_ENCBASE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>TypeRef</td><td>MONO_TABLE_TYPEREF</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_TYPEREF_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_TYPEREF_SCOPE
	<li>MONO_TYPEREF_NAME
	<li>MONO_TYPEREF_NAMESPACE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>MethodPtr</td><td>MONO_TABLE_METHOD_POINTER</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_METHOD_POINTER_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_METHOD_POINTER_METHOD
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Method</td><td>MONO_TABLE_METHOD</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_METHOD_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_METHOD_RVA
	<li>MONO_METHOD_IMPLFLAGS
	<li>MONO_METHOD_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_METHOD_NAME
	<li>MONO_METHOD_SIGNATURE
	<li>MONO_METHOD_PARAMLIST
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>NestedClass</td><td>MONO_TABLE_NESTEDCLASS</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_NESTEDCLASS_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_NESTED_CLASS_NESTED
	<li>MONO_NESTED_CLASS_ENCLOSING
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>ParamPtr</td><td>MONO_TABLE_PARAM_POINTER</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_PARAM_POINTER_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_PARAM_POINTER_PARAM
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Param</td><td>MONO_TABLE_PARAM</td><td>
Array size:  MONO_PARAM_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_PARAM_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_PARAM_SEQUENCE
	<li>MONO_PARAM_NAME
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>PropertyMap</td><td>MONO_TABLE_PROPERTYMAP</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_PROPERTY_MAP_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_PROPERTY_MAP_PARENT
	<li>MONO_PROPERTY_MAP_PROPERTY_LIST
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>PropertyPtr</td><td>MONO_TABLE_PROPERTY_POINTER</td><td>Array
size: MONO_PROPERTY_POINTER_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_PROPERTY_POINTER_PROPERTY
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<td>Property</td><td>MONO_TABLE_PROPERTY</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_PROPERTY_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_PROPERTY_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_PROPERTY_NAME
	<li>MONO_PROPERTY_TYPE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>StandaloneSig</td><td>MONO_TABLE_STANDALONESIG</td><td>
Array size: 
	<li>MONO_STAND_ALONE_SIGNATURE_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_STAND_ALONE_SIGNATURE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>TypeDef</td><td>MONO_TABLE_TYPEDEF</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_TYPEDEF_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_TYPEDEF_FLAGS
	<li>MONO_TYPEDEF_NAME
	<li>MONO_TYPEDEF_NAMESPACE
	<li>MONO_TYPEDEF_EXTENDS
	<li>MONO_TYPEDEF_FIELD_LIST
	<li>MONO_TYPEDEF_METHOD_LIST
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>TypeSpec</td><td>MONO_TABLE_TYPESPEC</td><td>
Array size: 
MONO_TYPESPEC_SIZE
<ul>
	<li>MONO_TYPESPEC_SIGNATURE
</ul>
</td>
</tr>

	</table>
	</center>

	<p>Each table can contain zero or more rows, you must call the
	<a href="#api:mono_metadata_table_rows">mono_metadata_table_rows</a>
	to obtain the number of rows in a table, and then you can
	extract individual row values by using
	the <a href="#api:mono_metadata_decode_row">mono_metadata_decode_row</a>
	or
	the <a href="#api:mono_metadata_decode_row_col">mono_metadata_decode_row_col</a>.
	When decoding rows you must provide an guint32 array large
	enough to hold as many columns as the table contains.
	
	<p>The metadata tables are stored in the MonoImage, you obtain
	a pointer to the MonoTableInfo by calling
	the <a href="#api:mono_image_get_table_info">mono_image_get_table_info</a>
	and then you can scan those tables, for example:

	<pre class="prettyprint">
	/*
	 * Dumps a few fields from the AssemblyRef table
	 */
	void DumpAssemblyRefs (MonoImage *image)
	{
		/* Get a pointer to the AssemblyRef metadata table */
		MonoTableInfo *t = mono_image_get_table_info (image, MONO_TABLE_ASSEMBLYREF);

		/* Fetch the number of rows available in the table */
		int rows = mono_table_info_get_rows (t);
		int i;

		/* For each row, print some of its values */
		for (i = 0; i &lt; rows; i++){
			/* Space where we extract one row from the metadata table */
			guint32 cols [MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_SIZE];

			/* Extract the row into the array cols */
			mono_metadata_decode_row (t, i, cols, MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_SIZE);

			fprintf (output, "%d: Version=%d.%d.%d.%d\n\tName=%s\n", i + 1,
                        	cols [MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_MAJOR_VERSION],
                        	cols [MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_MINOR_VERSION],
                        	cols [MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_BUILD_NUMBER],
                        	cols [MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_REV_NUMBER],
                        	mono_metadata_string_heap (image, cols [MONO_ASSEMBLYREF_NAME]));
		}
	}
	</pre>

	<p>The above program shows the following output when ran on
	the C# compiler:

	<pre>
	1: Version=1.0.5000.0
		Name=mscorlib
	2: Version=1.0.5000.0
		Name=System
	3: Version=1.0.5000.0
		Name=System.Xml
	</pre>

	<p>

<h3>Metadata Tables API</h3>

	<p>These are the APIs for dealing with tables:

<h4><a name="api:mono_image_get_table_info">mono_image_get_table_info</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_image_get_table_rows">mono_image_get_table_rows</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_get_table">mono_metadata_get_table</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_meta_table_name">mono_meta_table_name</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_decode_row_col">mono_metadata_decode_row_col</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_decode_row">mono_metadata_decode_row</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_compute_size">mono_metadata_compute_size</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_custom_attrs_from_index">mono_metadata_custom_attrs_from_index</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_decode_signed_value">mono_metadata_decode_signed_value</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_decode_value">mono_metadata_decode_value</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_encode_value">mono_metadata_encode_value</a></h4>
	
<h2>Metadata access API</h2>

	<p>This is the low-level API for accessing the metadata
	images.
	
<h4><a name="api:mono_cli_rva_image_map">mono_cli_rva_image_map</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_pe_file_open">mono_pe_file_open</a></h4> 
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_events_from_typedef">mono_metadata_events_from_typedef</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_field_info">mono_metadata_field_info</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_free_array">mono_metadata_free_array</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_free_marshal_spec">mono_metadata_free_marshal_spec</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_free_mh">mono_metadata_free_mh</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_free_type">mono_metadata_free_type</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_get_constant_index">mono_metadata_get_constant_index</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_get_marshal_info">mono_metadata_get_marshal_info</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_implmap_from_method">mono_metadata_implmap_from_method</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_interfaces_from_typedef_full">mono_metadata_interfaces_from_typedef_full</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_interfaces_from_typedef">mono_metadata_interfaces_from_typedef</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_locate">mono_metadata_locate</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_locate_token">mono_metadata_locate_token</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_methods_from_event">mono_metadata_methods_from_event</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_methods_from_property">mono_metadata_methods_from_property</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_nested_in_typedef">mono_metadata_nested_in_typedef</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_nesting_typedef">mono_metadata_nesting_typedef</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_packing_from_typedef">mono_metadata_packing_from_typedef</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_properties_from_typedef">mono_metadata_properties_from_typedef</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_token_from_dor">mono_metadata_token_from_dor</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_typedef_from_field">mono_metadata_typedef_from_field</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_typedef_from_method">mono_metadata_typedef_from_method</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_type_equal">mono_metadata_type_equal</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_type_hash">mono_metadata_type_hash</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_declsec_from_index">mono_metadata_declsec_from_index</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_free_method_signature">mono_metadata_free_method_signature</a></h4>

<h3>Retrieving Objects from Tokens</h3>

<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_custom_mod">mono_metadata_parse_custom_mod</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_field_type">mono_metadata_parse_field_type</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_marshal_spec">mono_metadata_parse_marshal_spec</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_method_signature_full">mono_metadata_parse_method_signature_full</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_method_signature">mono_metadata_parse_method_signature</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_mh_full">mono_metadata_parse_mh_full</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_mh">mono_metadata_parse_mh</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_param">mono_metadata_parse_param</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_signature_full">mono_metadata_parse_signature_full</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_signature">mono_metadata_parse_signature</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_typedef_or_ref">mono_metadata_parse_typedef_or_ref</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_type_full">mono_metadata_parse_type_full</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_type">mono_metadata_parse_type</a></h4>

<h2>Metadata Loader Locking</h2>

	<p>The locking functions here are used by code in class.c and
	metadata.c to lock access to the shared hashtables inside the
	MonoImage.
	
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_lock">mono_loader_lock</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_unlock">mono_loader_unlock</a></h4>

<h2>Generics Support</h2>

<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_generic_class_is_valuetype">mono_metadata_generic_class_is_valuetype</a></h4> 
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_has_generic_params">mono_metadata_has_generic_params</a></h4> 
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_inflate_generic_inst">mono_metadata_inflate_generic_inst</a></h4> 
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_parse_generic_inst">mono_metadata_parse_generic_inst</a></h4> 
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_generic_inst_equal">mono_metadata_generic_inst_equal</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_generic_inst_hash">mono_metadata_generic_inst_hash</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_load_generic_params">mono_metadata_load_generic_params</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_generic_inst_is_valuetype">mono_metadata_generic_inst_is_valuetype</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_metadata_generic_method_equal">mono_metadata_generic_method_equal</a></h4>

<h2>Tokens</h2>

<h4><a name="api:mono_ldtoken">mono_ldtoken</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_lookup_dynamic_token">mono_lookup_dynamic_token</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_ldstr">mono_ldstr</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_exception_from_token">mono_exception_from_token</a></h4> 
<h4><a name="api:mono_create_jit_trampoline_from_token">mono_create_jit_trampoline_from_token</a></h4> 

<h2>OpCodes</h2>

<h4><a name="api:mono_opcode_name">mono_opcode_name</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_opcode_value">mono_opcode_value</a></h4>

<h2>Metadata Loading Errors</h2>

	<p>The routines in this section are used to cope with errors
	during metadata loading.  Errors in metadata handling can
	happen for many reason, and these include (this is not an
	exhaustive list).

	<ul>
		<li>An assembly referenced is missing.
		<li>Fields referenced are missing.
		<li>Methods referenced are missing.
	</ul>

	<p>The <tt>mono_loader_set_*</tt> routines are invoked during
	metadata loading to flag that an error has happened.  The
	class loading errros are flagged in a per-thread basis.

	<P>In various spots in the runtime the
	<tt>mono_loader_get_last_error</tt> routine is called to check
	if there was a problem, and then errors are propagated upwards
	on the stack until we reach a point where an exception can be
	raised and no runtime locks are held.

	<p>The <tt>mono_loader_error_prepare_exception</tt> takes a
	<tt>MonoLoaderError</tt> structure (the value returned from
	<tt>mono_loader_get_last_error</tt>), turns that into an
	exception and clears the error condition from the current
	thread. 
	
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_set_error_field_load">mono_loader_set_error_field_load</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_set_error_method_load">mono_loader_set_error_method_load</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_set_error_type_load">mono_loader_set_error_type_load</a></h4>

<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_get_last_error">mono_loader_get_last_error</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_clear_error">mono_loader_clear_error</a></h4>
<h4><a name="api:mono_loader_error_prepare_exception">mono_loader_error_prepare_exception</a></h4>