Is it possible to instantiate an object at runtime if I only have the DLL name and the class name, without adding a reference to the assembly in the project? The class implements a interface, so once I instantiate the class, I will then cast it to the interface.
Assembly name:
library.dll
Type name:
Company.Project.Classname
EDIT: I dont have the absolute path of the DLL, so Assembly.LoadFile won't work. The DLL might be in the application root, system32, or even loaded in the GAC.
This question is related to
c#
assemblies
((ISomeInterface)Activator.CreateInstance(Assembly.LoadFile("somePath").GetTypes()[0])).SomeInterfaceMethod();
You can load an assembly using *Assembly.Load** methods. Using Activator.CreateInstance you can create new instances of the type you want. Keep in mind that you have to use the full type name of the class you want to load (for example Namespace.SubNamespace.ClassName). Using the method InvokeMember of the Type class you can invoke methods on the type.
Also, take into account that once loaded, an assembly cannot be unloaded until the whole AppDomain is unloaded too (this is basically a memory leak).
((ISomeInterface)Activator.CreateInstance(Assembly.LoadFile("somePath").GetTypes()[0])).SomeInterfaceMethod();
Depending how intrinsic this kind of functionality is to your project, you might want to consider something like MEF which will take care of the loading and tying together of components for you.
It's Easy.
Example from MSDN:
public static void Main()
{
// Use the file name to load the assembly into the current
// application domain.
Assembly a = Assembly.Load("example");
// Get the type to use.
Type myType = a.GetType("Example");
// Get the method to call.
MethodInfo myMethod = myType.GetMethod("MethodA");
// Create an instance.
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(myType);
// Execute the method.
myMethod.Invoke(obj, null);
}
Here's a reference link
Depending how intrinsic this kind of functionality is to your project, you might want to consider something like MEF which will take care of the loading and tying together of components for you.
You can load an assembly using *Assembly.Load** methods. Using Activator.CreateInstance you can create new instances of the type you want. Keep in mind that you have to use the full type name of the class you want to load (for example Namespace.SubNamespace.ClassName). Using the method InvokeMember of the Type class you can invoke methods on the type.
Also, take into account that once loaded, an assembly cannot be unloaded until the whole AppDomain is unloaded too (this is basically a memory leak).
Yes, it is, you will want to use the static Load method on the Assembly class, and then call then call the CreateInstance method on the Assembly instance returned to you from the call to Load.
Also, you can call one of the other static methods starting with "Load" on the Assembly class, depending on your needs.
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom("MyAssembly.dll");
Type type = assembly.GetType("MyType");
dynamic instanceOfMyType = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
So in this way you can use functions not with getting methodinfo,and then invoking it.You will do like this instanceOfMyType.MethodName(); But you can't use Intellisense because dynamic types are typed in runtime,not in compile time.
Yes. I don't have any examples that I've done personally available right now. I'll post later when I find some. Basically you'll use reflection to load the assembly and then to pull whatever types you need for it.
In the meantime, this link should get you started:
Yes. You need to use Assembly.LoadFrom to load the assembly into memory, then you can use Activator.CreateInstance to create an instance of your preferred type. You'll need to look the type up first using reflection. Here is a simple example:
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom("MyNice.dll");
Type type = assembly.GetType("MyType");
object instanceOfMyType = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
When you have the assembly file name and the type name, you can use Activator.CreateInstance(assemblyName, typeName) to ask the .NET type resolution to resolve that into a type. You could wrap that with a try/catch so that if it fails, you can perform a search of directories where you may specifically store additional assemblies that otherwise might not be searched. This would use the preceding method at that point.
Depending how intrinsic this kind of functionality is to your project, you might want to consider something like MEF which will take care of the loading and tying together of components for you.
Activator.CreateInstance ought to work.
IFace object = (IFace)Activator.CreateInstance( "AssemblyName",
"TypeName" )
.Unwrap();
Note: The type name must be the fully qualified type.
Example:
var aray = (IList)Activator.CreateInstance("mscorlib","System.Collections.ArrayList").Unwrap();
aray.Add(10);
foreach (object obj in aray)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj);
}
I found this question and some answers very useful, however I did have path problems, so this answer would cover loading library by finding bin directory path.
First solution:
string assemblyName = "library.dll";
string assemblyPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/bin/" + assemblyName);
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(assemblyPath);
Type T = assembly.GetType("Company.Project.Classname");
Company.Project.Classname instance = (Company.Project.Classname) Activator.CreateInstance(T);
Second solution
string assemblyName = "library.dll";
string assemblyPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/bin/" + assemblyName);
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFile(assemblyPath);
(Company.Project.Classname) instance = (Company.Project.Classname) assembly.CreateInstance("Company.Project.Classname");
You can use same principle for interfaces (you would be creating a class but casting to interface), such as:
(Company.Project.Interfacename) instance = (Company.Project.Interfacename) assembly.CreateInstance("Company.Project.Classname");
This example is for web application but similar could be used for Desktop application, only path is resolved in different way, for example
Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath)
Yes. I don't have any examples that I've done personally available right now. I'll post later when I find some. Basically you'll use reflection to load the assembly and then to pull whatever types you need for it.
In the meantime, this link should get you started:
((ISomeInterface)Activator.CreateInstance(Assembly.LoadFile("somePath").GetTypes()[0])).SomeInterfaceMethod();
Starting from Framework v4.5 you can use Activator.CreateInstanceFrom() to easily instantiate classes within assemblies. The following example shows how to use it and how to call a method passing parameters and getting return value.
// Assuming moduleFileName contains full or valid relative path to assembly
var moduleInstance = Activator.CreateInstanceFrom(moduleFileName, "MyNamespace.MyClass");
MethodInfo mi = moduleInstance.Unwrap().GetType().GetMethod("MyMethod");
// Assuming the method returns a boolean and accepts a single string parameter
bool rc = Convert.ToBoolean(mi.Invoke(moduleInstance.Unwrap(), new object[] { "MyParamValue" } ));
Activator.CreateInstance ought to work.
IFace object = (IFace)Activator.CreateInstance( "AssemblyName",
"TypeName" )
.Unwrap();
Note: The type name must be the fully qualified type.
Example:
var aray = (IList)Activator.CreateInstance("mscorlib","System.Collections.ArrayList").Unwrap();
aray.Add(10);
foreach (object obj in aray)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj);
}
You can do this things on this way:
using System.Reflection;
Assembly MyDALL = Assembly.Load("DALL"); //DALL name of your assembly
Type MyLoadClass = MyDALL.GetType("DALL.LoadClass"); // name of your class
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(MyLoadClass);
((ISomeInterface)Activator.CreateInstance(Assembly.LoadFile("somePath").GetTypes()[0])).SomeInterfaceMethod();
You can load an assembly using *Assembly.Load** methods. Using Activator.CreateInstance you can create new instances of the type you want. Keep in mind that you have to use the full type name of the class you want to load (for example Namespace.SubNamespace.ClassName). Using the method InvokeMember of the Type class you can invoke methods on the type.
Also, take into account that once loaded, an assembly cannot be unloaded until the whole AppDomain is unloaded too (this is basically a memory leak).
Depending how intrinsic this kind of functionality is to your project, you might want to consider something like MEF which will take care of the loading and tying together of components for you.
Activator.CreateInstance ought to work.
IFace object = (IFace)Activator.CreateInstance( "AssemblyName",
"TypeName" )
.Unwrap();
Note: The type name must be the fully qualified type.
Example:
var aray = (IList)Activator.CreateInstance("mscorlib","System.Collections.ArrayList").Unwrap();
aray.Add(10);
foreach (object obj in aray)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj);
}
It's Easy.
Example from MSDN:
public static void Main()
{
// Use the file name to load the assembly into the current
// application domain.
Assembly a = Assembly.Load("example");
// Get the type to use.
Type myType = a.GetType("Example");
// Get the method to call.
MethodInfo myMethod = myType.GetMethod("MethodA");
// Create an instance.
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(myType);
// Execute the method.
myMethod.Invoke(obj, null);
}
Here's a reference link
Yes. I don't have any examples that I've done personally available right now. I'll post later when I find some. Basically you'll use reflection to load the assembly and then to pull whatever types you need for it.
In the meantime, this link should get you started:
You can do this things on this way:
using System.Reflection;
Assembly MyDALL = Assembly.Load("DALL"); //DALL name of your assembly
Type MyLoadClass = MyDALL.GetType("DALL.LoadClass"); // name of your class
object obj = Activator.CreateInstance(MyLoadClass);
Yes, it is, you will want to use the static Load method on the Assembly class, and then call then call the CreateInstance method on the Assembly instance returned to you from the call to Load.
Also, you can call one of the other static methods starting with "Load" on the Assembly class, depending on your needs.
Yes. You need to use Assembly.LoadFrom to load the assembly into memory, then you can use Activator.CreateInstance to create an instance of your preferred type. You'll need to look the type up first using reflection. Here is a simple example:
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom("MyNice.dll");
Type type = assembly.GetType("MyType");
object instanceOfMyType = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
When you have the assembly file name and the type name, you can use Activator.CreateInstance(assemblyName, typeName) to ask the .NET type resolution to resolve that into a type. You could wrap that with a try/catch so that if it fails, you can perform a search of directories where you may specifically store additional assemblies that otherwise might not be searched. This would use the preceding method at that point.
I found this question and some answers very useful, however I did have path problems, so this answer would cover loading library by finding bin directory path.
First solution:
string assemblyName = "library.dll";
string assemblyPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/bin/" + assemblyName);
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(assemblyPath);
Type T = assembly.GetType("Company.Project.Classname");
Company.Project.Classname instance = (Company.Project.Classname) Activator.CreateInstance(T);
Second solution
string assemblyName = "library.dll";
string assemblyPath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/bin/" + assemblyName);
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFile(assemblyPath);
(Company.Project.Classname) instance = (Company.Project.Classname) assembly.CreateInstance("Company.Project.Classname");
You can use same principle for interfaces (you would be creating a class but casting to interface), such as:
(Company.Project.Interfacename) instance = (Company.Project.Interfacename) assembly.CreateInstance("Company.Project.Classname");
This example is for web application but similar could be used for Desktop application, only path is resolved in different way, for example
Path.GetDirectoryName(Application.ExecutablePath)
Starting from Framework v4.5 you can use Activator.CreateInstanceFrom() to easily instantiate classes within assemblies. The following example shows how to use it and how to call a method passing parameters and getting return value.
// Assuming moduleFileName contains full or valid relative path to assembly
var moduleInstance = Activator.CreateInstanceFrom(moduleFileName, "MyNamespace.MyClass");
MethodInfo mi = moduleInstance.Unwrap().GetType().GetMethod("MyMethod");
// Assuming the method returns a boolean and accepts a single string parameter
bool rc = Convert.ToBoolean(mi.Invoke(moduleInstance.Unwrap(), new object[] { "MyParamValue" } ));
You can load an assembly using *Assembly.Load** methods. Using Activator.CreateInstance you can create new instances of the type you want. Keep in mind that you have to use the full type name of the class you want to load (for example Namespace.SubNamespace.ClassName). Using the method InvokeMember of the Type class you can invoke methods on the type.
Also, take into account that once loaded, an assembly cannot be unloaded until the whole AppDomain is unloaded too (this is basically a memory leak).
Yes. I don't have any examples that I've done personally available right now. I'll post later when I find some. Basically you'll use reflection to load the assembly and then to pull whatever types you need for it.
In the meantime, this link should get you started:
Activator.CreateInstance ought to work.
IFace object = (IFace)Activator.CreateInstance( "AssemblyName",
"TypeName" )
.Unwrap();
Note: The type name must be the fully qualified type.
Example:
var aray = (IList)Activator.CreateInstance("mscorlib","System.Collections.ArrayList").Unwrap();
aray.Add(10);
foreach (object obj in aray)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj);
}
Yes. You need to use Assembly.LoadFrom to load the assembly into memory, then you can use Activator.CreateInstance to create an instance of your preferred type. You'll need to look the type up first using reflection. Here is a simple example:
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom("MyNice.dll");
Type type = assembly.GetType("MyType");
object instanceOfMyType = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
When you have the assembly file name and the type name, you can use Activator.CreateInstance(assemblyName, typeName) to ask the .NET type resolution to resolve that into a type. You could wrap that with a try/catch so that if it fails, you can perform a search of directories where you may specifically store additional assemblies that otherwise might not be searched. This would use the preceding method at that point.
Yes, it is, you will want to use the static Load method on the Assembly class, and then call then call the CreateInstance method on the Assembly instance returned to you from the call to Load.
Also, you can call one of the other static methods starting with "Load" on the Assembly class, depending on your needs.
Yes. You need to use Assembly.LoadFrom to load the assembly into memory, then you can use Activator.CreateInstance to create an instance of your preferred type. You'll need to look the type up first using reflection. Here is a simple example:
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom("MyNice.dll");
Type type = assembly.GetType("MyType");
object instanceOfMyType = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
When you have the assembly file name and the type name, you can use Activator.CreateInstance(assemblyName, typeName) to ask the .NET type resolution to resolve that into a type. You could wrap that with a try/catch so that if it fails, you can perform a search of directories where you may specifically store additional assemblies that otherwise might not be searched. This would use the preceding method at that point.
Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom("MyAssembly.dll");
Type type = assembly.GetType("MyType");
dynamic instanceOfMyType = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
So in this way you can use functions not with getting methodinfo,and then invoking it.You will do like this instanceOfMyType.MethodName(); But you can't use Intellisense because dynamic types are typed in runtime,not in compile time.
Source: Stackoverflow.com