c# - Avoid giving namespace name in Type.GetType()

Question

Type.GetType("TheClass");

Returns null if the namespace is not present like:

Type.GetType("SomeNamespace.TheClass"); // returns a Type object 

Is there any way to avoid giving the namespace name?

Answer 1

I've used a helper method that searches all loaded Assemblys for a Type matching the specified name. Even though in my code only one Type result was expected it supports multiple. I verify that only one result is returned every time I used it and suggest you do the same.

/// <summary>
/// Gets a all Type instances matching the specified class name with just non-namespace qualified class name.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="className">Name of the class sought.</param>
/// <returns>Types that have the class name specified. They may not be in the same namespace.</returns>
public static Type[] getTypeByName(string className)
{
    List<Type> returnVal = new List<Type>();

    foreach (Assembly a in AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies())
    {
        Type[] assemblyTypes = a.GetTypes();
        for (int j = 0; j < assemblyTypes.Length; j++)
        {
            if (assemblyTypes[j].Name == className)
            {
                returnVal.Add(assemblyTypes[j]);
            }
        }
    }

    return returnVal.ToArray();
}