Live samples on how to read the metadatas of .NET solutions, projects and assemblies with C#

assembly_metadata.cs

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Security.Permissions;

[assembly:AssemblyVersionAttribute("1.0.2000.0")]

public class Metadata
{
    private int factor;
    
    public Metadata(int f)
    {
        factor = f;
    }

    public int SampleMethod(int x) 
    { 
        Console.WriteLine("\nMetadata.SampleMethod({0}) executes.", x);
        return x * factor;
    }

    public static void Main()
    {
        Assembly assem = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
        
        Console.WriteLine("Assembly Full Name:");
        Console.WriteLine(assem.FullName);

        // The AssemblyName type can be used to parse the full name.
        AssemblyName assemName = assem.GetName();
        Console.WriteLine("\nName: {0}", assemName.Name);
        Console.WriteLine("Version: {0}.{1}", 
            assemName.Version.Major, assemName.Version.Minor);

        Console.WriteLine("\nAssembly CodeBase:");
        Console.WriteLine(assem.CodeBase);

        // Create an object from the assembly, passing in the correct number
        // and type of arguments for the constructor.
        Object o = assem.CreateInstance("Metadata", false, 
            BindingFlags.ExactBinding, 
            null, new Object[] { 2 }, null, null);

        // Make a late-bound call to an instance method of the object.    
        MethodInfo m = assem.GetType("Metadata").GetMethod("SampleMethod");
        Object ret = m.Invoke(o, new Object[] { 42 });
        Console.WriteLine("SampleMethod returned {0}.", ret);

        Console.WriteLine("\nAssembly entry point:");
        Console.WriteLine(assem.EntryPoint);
    }
}

assembly_reference.cs

using System;
using System.Reflection;

class ReferencedAssemblies
{

    public static void Main()
    {
        Assembly a = Assembly.LoadFrom("/opt/sqlite-dotnet/bin/ManagedOnly/System.Data.SQLite.dll");
        Console.WriteLine("Assembly identity={0}", a.FullName);
        Console.WriteLine("Codebase={0}", a.CodeBase);

        // Display the set of assemblies our assemblies reference.

        Console.WriteLine("Referenced assemblies:");
        
        foreach (AssemblyName an in a.GetReferencedAssemblies() )
        {
             Console.WriteLine("  Name={0}, Version={1}, Culture={2}, PublicKey token={3}", an.Name, an.Version, an.CultureInfo.Name, (BitConverter.ToString (an.GetPublicKeyToken())));
        }
    }
}

assembly_self_metadata.cs

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Security.Permissions;

[assembly:AssemblyVersionAttribute("1.0.2000.0")]

public class SelfMetadata
{
    private int factor;
    
    public SelfMetadata(int f)
    {
        factor = f;
    }

    public int SampleMethod(int x) 
    { 
        Console.WriteLine("\nSelfMetadata.SampleMethod({0}) executes.", x);
        return x * factor;
    }

    public static void Main()
    {
        Assembly assem = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

        Console.WriteLine("Assembly Full Name:");
        Console.WriteLine(assem.FullName);

        // The AssemblyName type can be used to parse the full name.
        AssemblyName assemName = assem.GetName();
        Console.WriteLine("\nName: {0}", assemName.Name);
        Console.WriteLine("Version: {0}.{1}", 
            assemName.Version.Major, assemName.Version.Minor);

        Console.WriteLine("\nAssembly CodeBase:");
        Console.WriteLine(assem.CodeBase);

        // Create an object from the assembly, passing in the correct number
        // and type of arguments for the constructor.
        Object o = assem.CreateInstance("SelfMetadata", false, 
            BindingFlags.ExactBinding, 
            null, new Object[] { 2 }, null, null);

        // Make a late-bound call to an instance method of the object.    
        MethodInfo m = assem.GetType("SelfMetadata").GetMethod("SampleMethod");
        Object ret = m.Invoke(o, new Object[] { 42 });
        Console.WriteLine("SampleMethod returned {0}.", ret);

        Console.WriteLine("\nAssembly entry point:");
        Console.WriteLine(assem.EntryPoint);
    }
}

project_info.cs

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine;

class Tester
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Engine.GlobalEngine.BinPath = RuntimeEnvironment.GetRuntimeDirectory();

        Console.WriteLine("Runtime directory: {0}", RuntimeEnvironment.GetRuntimeDirectory());
        Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------");

        // Create a new empty project
        Project project = new Project();

        // Load a project
        project.Load("../ASPNetMVCOne/Tests/Tests.csproj");

        Console.WriteLine("Project Properties");
        Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------");

        // Iterate through the various property groups and subsequently 
        // through teh various properties
        foreach (BuildPropertyGroup propertyGroup in project.PropertyGroups)
        {
            foreach (BuildProperty prop in propertyGroup)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", prop.Name, prop.Value);
            }
        }

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Project Items");
        Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------");

        // Iterate through the various itemgroups
        // and subsequently through the items
        foreach (BuildItemGroup itemGroup in project.ItemGroups)
        {
            foreach (BuildItem item in itemGroup)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", item.Name, item.Include);
            }
        }            
    }
}

referenced_assemblies.cs

using System;
using System.Reflection;

class ReferencedAssemblies
{

    public static void Main()
    {
        // This variable holds the amount of indenting that 
        // should be used when displaying each line of information.
        Int32 indent = 0;
        // Display information about the EXE assembly.
        Assembly a = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
        Display(indent, "Assembly identity={0}", a.FullName);
        Display(indent+1, "Codebase={0}", a.CodeBase);

        // Display the set of assemblies our assemblies reference.

        Display(indent, "Referenced assemblies:");
        foreach (AssemblyName an in a.GetReferencedAssemblies() )
        {
             Display(indent + 1, "Name={0}, Version={1}, Culture={2}, PublicKey token={3}", an.Name, an.Version, an.CultureInfo.Name, (BitConverter.ToString (an.GetPublicKeyToken())));
        }
        Display(indent, "");

        // Display information about each assembly loading into this AppDomain.
        foreach (Assembly b in AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies())
        {
            Display(indent, "Assembly: {0}", b);

            // Display information about each module of this assembly.
            foreach ( Module m in b.GetModules(true) )
            {
                Display(indent+1, "Module: {0}", m.Name);
            }

            // Display information about each type exported from this assembly.

            indent += 1;
            foreach ( Type t in b.GetExportedTypes() )
            {
                Display(0, "");
                Display(indent, "Type: {0}", t);

                // For each type, show its members & their custom attributes.

                indent += 1;
                foreach (MemberInfo mi in t.GetMembers() )
                {
                    Display(indent, "Member: {0}", mi.Name);
                    DisplayAttributes(indent, mi);

                    // If the member is a method, display information about its parameters.

                    if (mi.MemberType==MemberTypes.Method)
                    {
                        foreach ( ParameterInfo pi in ((MethodInfo) mi).GetParameters() )
                        {
                            Display(indent+1, "Parameter: Type={0}, Name={1}", pi.ParameterType, pi.Name);
                        }
                    }

                    // If the member is a property, display information about the property's accessor methods.
                    if (mi.MemberType==MemberTypes.Property)
                    {
                        foreach ( MethodInfo am in ((PropertyInfo) mi).GetAccessors() )
                        {
                            Display(indent+1, "Accessor method: {0}", am);
                        }
                    }
                }
                indent -= 1;
            }
            indent -= 1;
        }
    }

    // Displays the custom attributes applied to the specified member.
    public static void DisplayAttributes(Int32 indent, MemberInfo mi)
    {
        // Get the set of custom attributes; if none exist, just return.
        object[] attrs = mi.GetCustomAttributes(false);
        if (attrs.Length==0) {return;}

        // Display the custom attributes applied to this member.
        Display(indent+1, "Attributes:");
        foreach ( object o in attrs )
        {
            Display(indent+2, "{0}", o.ToString());
        }
    }

    // Display a formatted string indented by the specified amount.
    public static void Display(Int32 indent, string format, params object[] param) 

    {
        Console.Write(new string(' ', indent*2));
        Console.WriteLine(format, param);
    }
}

solution_projects.cs

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class SolutionProjects
{
    public static IEnumerable<string> GetAllProjectFileNames(string solutionFile)
	{
		string guidExpression = "{[A-Fa-f0-9]{8}-[A-Fa-f0-9]{4}-[A-Fa-f0-9]{4}-[A-Fa-f0-9]{4}-[A-Fa-f0-9]{12}}";
		Regex projectRegex = new Regex ("Project\\(\"(" + guidExpression + ")\"\\) = \"(.*?)\", \"(.*?)\", \"(" + guidExpression + ")\"(\\s*?)((\\s*?)ProjectSection\\((.*?)\\) = (.*?)EndProjectSection(\\s*?))*(\\s*?)(EndProject)?", RegexOptions.Singleline);
		string solutionFolderGuid = "{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}";

        StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(solutionFile);
		string line = reader.ReadToEnd();
		line = line.Replace ("\r\n", "\n");
		string soln_dir = Path.GetDirectoryName(solutionFile);

		Match m = projectRegex.Match(line);
		while (m.Success)
		{
			if (String.Compare(m.Groups[1].Value, solutionFolderGuid, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) != 0)
			{
				yield return Path.Combine(soln_dir, m.Groups[3].Value).Replace ("\\", "/");
			}

			m = m.NextMatch ();
		}
	}
	
    public static void Main()
    {
        foreach (var project in GetAllProjectFileNames("../ASPNetMVCOne/ASPNetMVCOne.sln"))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Project: {0}", project);
        }
    }
}