How to get a list of properties with a given attribute?

Question

var props = t.GetProperties().Where(
                prop => Attribute.IsDefined(prop, typeof(MyAttribute)));

This avoids having to materialize any attribute instances (i.e. it is cheaper than GetCustomAttribute[s]().

The solution I end up using most is based off of Tomas Petricek's answer. I usually want to do something with both the attribute and property.

var props = from p in this.GetType().GetProperties()
            let attr = p.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(MyAttribute), true)
            where attr.Length == 1
            select new { Property = p, Attribute = attr.First() as MyAttribute};

As far as I know, there isn't any better way in terms of working with Reflection library in a smarter way. However, you could use LINQ to make the code a bit nicer:

var props = from p in t.GetProperties()
            let attrs = p.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(MyAttribute), true)
            where attrs.Length != 0 select p;

// Do something with the properties in 'props'

I believe this helps you to structure the code in a more readable fashion.

There's always LINQ:

t.GetProperties().Where(
    p=>p.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(MyAttribute), true).Length != 0)

If you deal regularly with Attributes in Reflection, it is very, very practical to define some extension methods. You will see that in many projects out there. This one here is one I often have:

public static bool HasAttribute<T>(this ICustomAttributeProvider provider) where T : Attribute
{
  var atts = provider.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(T), true);
  return atts.Length > 0;
}

which you can use like typeof(Foo).HasAttribute<BarAttribute>();

Other projects (e.g. StructureMap) have full-fledged ReflectionHelper classes that use Expression trees to have a fine syntax to identity e.g. PropertyInfos. Usage then looks like that:

ReflectionHelper.GetProperty<Foo>(x => x.MyProperty).HasAttribute<BarAttribute>()