How can I call MemberwiseClone()?

Question

I'm confused about how to use the MemberwiseClone() method. I looked the example in MSDN and they use it trough the this keyword.

Why I can not call it directly as other objects' methods like GetType() or ToString()? Another related method that does not appear is ShallowCopy().

If they are part of the Object class why can't I see them?

Answer 1

The MemberwiseClone() function is protected, so you can only access it through a qualifier of your own type.

Answer 2

Here is an example, this is what I did and no problems so far.

public class ModelBase
{
    public T ShallowCopy<T>() where T : ModelBase
    {
        return (T)(MemberwiseClone());
    }
}

And call it like:

var cloned = User.ShallowCopy<User>();