Get generic type of class at runtime

Question

How can I achieve this?

public class GenericClass<T>
{
    public Type getMyType()
    {
        //How do I return the type of T?
    }
}

Everything I have tried so far always returns type Object rather than the specific type used.

Answer 1

As others mentioned, it's only possible via reflection in certain circumstances.

If you really need the type, this is the usual (type-safe) workaround pattern:

public class GenericClass<T> {

     private final Class<T> type;

     public GenericClass(Class<T> type) {
          this.type = type;
     }

     public Class<T> getMyType() {
         return this.type;
     }
}

Answer 2

Here is my solution

public class GenericClass<T>
{
    private Class<T> realType;

    public GenericClass() {
        findTypeArguments(getClass());
    }

    private void findTypeArguments(Type t) {
        if (t instanceof ParameterizedType) {
            Type[] typeArgs = ((ParameterizedType) t).getActualTypeArguments();
            realType = (Class<T>) typeArgs[0];
        } else {
            Class c = (Class) t;
            findTypeArguments(c.getGenericSuperclass());
        }
    }

    public Type getMyType()
    {
        // How do I return the type of T? (your question)
        return realType;
    }
}

No matter how many level does your class hierarchy has, this solution still works, for example:

public class FirstLevelChild<T> extends GenericClass<T> {

}

public class SecondLevelChild extends FirstLevelChild<String> {

}

In this case, getMyType() = java.lang.String

Answer 3

public abstract class AbstractDao<T>
{
    private final Class<T> persistentClass;

    public AbstractDao()
    {
        this.persistentClass = (Class<T>) ((ParameterizedType) this.getClass().getGenericSuperclass())
                .getActualTypeArguments()[0];
    }
}

Answer 4

Technique described in this article by Ian Robertson works for me.

In short quick and dirty example:

 public abstract class AbstractDAO<T extends EntityInterface, U extends QueryCriteria, V>
 {
    /**
     * Method returns class implementing EntityInterface which was used in class
     * extending AbstractDAO
     *
     * @return Class<T extends EntityInterface>
     */
    public Class<T> returnedClass()
    {
        return (Class<T>) getTypeArguments(AbstractDAO.class, getClass()).get(0);
    }

    /**
     * Get the underlying class for a type, or null if the type is a variable
     * type.
     *
     * @param type the type
     * @return the underlying class
     */
    public static Class<?> getClass(Type type)
    {
        if (type instanceof Class) {
            return (Class) type;
        } else if (type instanceof ParameterizedType) {
            return getClass(((ParameterizedType) type).getRawType());
        } else if (type instanceof GenericArrayType) {
            Type componentType = ((GenericArrayType) type).getGenericComponentType();
            Class<?> componentClass = getClass(componentType);
            if (componentClass != null) {
                return Array.newInstance(componentClass, 0).getClass();
            } else {
                return null;
            }
        } else {
            return null;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Get the actual type arguments a child class has used to extend a generic
     * base class.
     *
     * @param baseClass the base class
     * @param childClass the child class
     * @return a list of the raw classes for the actual type arguments.
     */
    public static <T> List<Class<?>> getTypeArguments(
            Class<T> baseClass, Class<? extends T> childClass)
    {
        Map<Type, Type> resolvedTypes = new HashMap<Type, Type>();
        Type type = childClass;
        // start walking up the inheritance hierarchy until we hit baseClass
        while (!getClass(type).equals(baseClass)) {
            if (type instanceof Class) {
                // there is no useful information for us in raw types, so just keep going.
                type = ((Class) type).getGenericSuperclass();
            } else {
                ParameterizedType parameterizedType = (ParameterizedType) type;
                Class<?> rawType = (Class) parameterizedType.getRawType();

                Type[] actualTypeArguments = parameterizedType.getActualTypeArguments();
                TypeVariable<?>[] typeParameters = rawType.getTypeParameters();
                for (int i = 0; i < actualTypeArguments.length; i++) {
                    resolvedTypes.put(typeParameters[i], actualTypeArguments[i]);
                }

                if (!rawType.equals(baseClass)) {
                    type = rawType.getGenericSuperclass();
                }
            }
        }

        // finally, for each actual type argument provided to baseClass, determine (if possible)
        // the raw class for that type argument.
        Type[] actualTypeArguments;
        if (type instanceof Class) {
            actualTypeArguments = ((Class) type).getTypeParameters();
        } else {
            actualTypeArguments = ((ParameterizedType) type).getActualTypeArguments();
        }
        List<Class<?>> typeArgumentsAsClasses = new ArrayList<Class<?>>();
        // resolve types by chasing down type variables.
        for (Type baseType : actualTypeArguments) {
            while (resolvedTypes.containsKey(baseType)) {
                baseType = resolvedTypes.get(baseType);
            }
            typeArgumentsAsClasses.add(getClass(baseType));
        }
        return typeArgumentsAsClasses;
    }
  }

Answer 5

Here is my trick:

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        System.out.println(Main.<String> getClazz());

    }

    static <T> Class getClazz(T... param) {

        return param.getClass().getComponentType();
    }

}

Answer 6

I dont think you can, Java uses type erasure when compiling so your code is compatible with applications and libraries that were created pre-generics.

From the Oracle Docs:

Type Erasure

Generics were introduced to the Java language to provide tighter type checks at compile time and to support generic programming. To implement generics, the Java compiler applies type erasure to:

Replace all type parameters in generic types with their bounds or Object if the type parameters are unbounded. The produced bytecode, therefore, contains only ordinary classes, interfaces, and methods. Insert type casts if necessary to preserve type safety. Generate bridge methods to preserve polymorphism in extended generic types. Type erasure ensures that no new classes are created for parameterized types; consequently, generics incur no runtime overhead.

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/generics/erasure.html