VB.Net Tutorial/Development/Assembly

Get Assembly: Code base, Full name, Entry point, Assembly Cache, Location

<source lang="vbnet">Imports System.Reflection Module Module1

   Sub Main()
       Dim thisAssembly As [Assembly] = [Assembly].GetExecutingAssembly()
       Console.WriteLine("Code base: " & thisAssembly.CodeBase)
       Console.WriteLine("Full name: " & thisAssembly.FullName)
       Console.WriteLine("Entry point: " & thisAssembly.EntryPoint.ToString())
       Console.WriteLine("From Global Assembly Cache: " & thisAssembly.GlobalAssemblyCache)
       Console.WriteLine("Location: " & thisAssembly.Location)
   End Sub

End Module</source>

Code base: file:///C:/Java_Dev/WEB/dev/VB/main.exe
Full name: main, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
Entry point: Void Main()
From Global Assembly Cache: False
Location: C:\Java_Dev\WEB\dev\VB\main.exe

Get Referenced Assemblies

<source lang="vbnet">Imports System.Reflection Module Module1

   Sub Main()
       Dim thisAssembly As [Assembly] = [Assembly].GetExecutingAssembly()
       Console.WriteLine("Referenced Assemblies: ")
       Dim RefAssembly As AssemblyName
       For Each RefAssembly In thisAssembly.GetReferencedAssemblies()
           Console.WriteLine(RefAssembly.FullName)
       Next
   End Sub

End Module</source>

Referenced Assemblies:
mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089
Microsoft.VisualBasic, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089

Get types from Assembly

<source lang="vbnet">Imports System.Reflection Module Module1

   Sub Main()
       Dim thisAssembly As [Assembly] = [Assembly].GetExecutingAssembly()
       Console.Write("Types: ")
       Dim TypeObj As Type
       For Each TypeObj In thisAssembly.GetTypes()
           Console.Write(TypeObj.Name & " ")
       Next
   End Sub

End Module</source>

Types: MyApplication MyComputer MyProject MyWebServices ThreadSafeObjectProvider`1 Module1 "

Given an assembly, display details from its manifest

<source lang="vbnet">Imports System.Text Imports System.Security.Cryptography Public Class Tester

   Public Shared Sub Main
       Dim useAssembly As System.Reflection.Assembly
       Try
           useAssembly = Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile("YourAssemblyLocation")
       Catch ex As System.Exception
           Console.WriteLine(ex.Message)
           Return
       End Try

       Console.WriteLine("Full Name: " & useAssembly.FullName)
       Console.WriteLine("Resources")
       For Each oneName As String In useAssembly.GetManifestResourceNames()
           Console.WriteLine("   - " & oneName)
       Next oneName
       Console.WriteLine("Exported Types")
       For Each oneType As System.Type In useAssembly.GetExportedTypes()
           Console.WriteLine("   - " & oneType.Name)
       Next oneType
       Console.WriteLine("Modules")
       For Each oneModule As Reflection.Module In useAssembly.GetLoadedModules()
           Console.WriteLine("   - " & oneModule.Name)
           For Each oneType As System.Type In oneModule.GetTypes()
               Console.WriteLine("     Type: " & oneType.Name)
               For Each oneField As Reflection.FieldInfo In oneType.GetFields()
                   Console.WriteLine("        Field: " & oneField.ToString())
               Next oneField
               For Each oneMethod As Reflection.MethodInfo In oneType.GetMethods()
                   Console.WriteLine("        Method: " & oneMethod.ToString())
               Next oneMethod
           Next oneType
       Next oneModule
   End Sub

End Class</source>

Absolute path information is required.

Load Assembly from a url

<source lang="vbnet">imports System.Reflection " necessary for instantiating assemblies Imports System.Windows.Forms Public Class Tester

   Public Shared Sub Main
              try
                      dim strUrl as String = "http" & "://localhost/MultiFileAssyVB/vbDeploy.exe"

" dim strUrl as String = "http" & "://localhost/MultiFileAssy/csDeploy.exe"

                      dim a as [Assembly] = [Assembly].LoadFrom(strUrl)
                      
                      dim t as Type = a.GetType("Form1")

" dim t as Type = a.GetType("csDeploy.Form1")

                      dim o as Object = Activator.CreateInstance(t)
                      
                      dim frm as Form = CType(o, Form)
                      
                      frm.Show()
              
              catch ex as Exception
                      Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString)
              End Try         
   End Sub

End Class</source>

Load Assembly from DLL

<source lang="vbnet">Option Strict On Imports System.IO Imports System.Reflection Public Module Reflection

  Public Sub Main
     Const path As String = "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorlib.dll"
     If File.Exists(path) Then
        Dim ass As Assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(path)
        Dim typ As Type = ass.GetType("System.Array")
        Dim members As MemberInfo() = typ.GetMembers(BindingFlags.Instance _
                                      Or BindingFlags.Public)
        Console.WriteLine(members.Length)
     End If
  End Sub

End Module</source>

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