Declarative Security Used with Class and Member Scope
Declarative security can be performed on classes, members, and nested classes. This section outlines the rules used to evaluate declarative security when applied to multiple levels of the same class.
Classes, Members, and Declarative Security
When there is declarative security for the same security action on both the class level and the method level, the declarative security will be applied according to the following table.
| Security action | .NET Framework version 1.0 and 1.1 behavior | NET Framework version 2.0 behavior |
|---|---|---|
Demand |
Method-level attributes override class-level attributes. (If a declarative demand is placed on the method level, a class-level declarative demand will be ignored.) |
Method-level attributes and class-level attributes are unioned together into a single permission set for both levels. |
Link demand |
Method-level attributes and class-level attributes are unioned. |
No change in behavior. |
Inheritance demand |
Class-level attributes require the specified permission in order to derive from the class. Method-level attributes require the specified permission in order to override the method in a derived class. Because inheritance demands have different meanings for classes and methods, declarations can be applied to both the class and method levels independently. |
No change in behavior. |
Assert |
Method-level attributes override class-level attributes. |
Method-level attributes and class-level attributes are unioned together into a single permission set for both levels. |
Deny |
Method-level attributes override class-level attributes. |
Method-level attributes and class-level attributes are unioned together into a single permission set for both levels. |
Permit only |
Method-level attributes override class-level attributes. |
Method-level attributes and class-level attributes are intersected together into a single permission set for both levels. |
If the security actions are different (for example, a demand at class level with an assert at method level), there is no interaction whatsoever and both are evaluated.
Nested Classes and Declarative Security
When you apply declarative security to classes, it does not propagate to any nested classes or methods of nested classes. Conversely, when you apply declarative security to nested classes or methods of a nested class, it does not propagate to the parent classes either. You should apply declarative security to nested classes as if they were separate classes.
The following example shows a hypothetical permission demanded on the class level of a class called Main. Within that class, a nested class called Nested is defined. In this example, the demand does not apply to the nested class.
<SomePermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, Unrestricted:=True)> _
Public Class Main
' This nested class is not influenced by the demand.
Public Class Nested
' This method is not influenced by the demand.
Public Sub MyMethod()
End Sub
End Class
End Class
[SomePermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, Unrestricted = true)]
class Main
{
// This nested class is not influenced by the demand.
class Nested
{
// This method is not influenced by the demand.
public void MyMethod()
{
}
}
}