Accessing types from loaded assemblies

Hi, I'm trying to use your library but I'm facing a problem. So far I've managed to load an assembly (using the method LoadFile), and inspecting the context with Visual Studio I've seen it's loaded correctly. The problem is that I can't access by code that assembly (like, for instance, using context.Domain.GetAssemblies()).

The scenario I'm using your library for is to be able to load external assemblies and instantiating and using classes inside without knowing what exact type are them (but knowing they're subclasses of other classes I know). So, I can't directly call "new MyClass()" because I don't know what MyClass is, but it's inside the assembly. If I'd be able to access the loaded assembly, I could fetch the type and do something like Type.GetConstructor().

Is there any way to access the Assembly objects loaded in the context?

Thanks.

[jduv]

Hmm. Give me a little time to look into this. I think so.

[poostwoud]

Hi, I could really use this feature as well! Any ideas yet we can reflect on? Thanks!

[jduv]

I think there may be a way to use dynamic and achieve what you're looking for. Or possibly implementing our own dynamic mechanics inside the child domain and invoking them via a RemoteFunc. I'll have some more time this weekend to look into it.

[poostwoud]

Hi Jeremy,

I created a Gist that explains what I'm looking for.

RemoteNoT

What I've basically done is create a Remote class that doesn't use a generic type. I've added a CreateProxy method with parameters for the class name I want to use (the "T" sort of speak) and the assemblies to scan for (to prevent scanning all of them). Also I'm passing the AppDomainContext instead of the AppDomain, as the first has great support for working with the loaded assemblies.

In the method itself I'm simply scanning the specified assemblies for the specified class name. If found it checks if it is based on MarshalByRefObject (the "where T : MarshalByRefObject) and the rest equals Remote.

Of course variants can be made with the parameters, like namespaces, etc. And I'm not sure if passing AppDomainContext can cause any problems.

What do you think?

Best regards,

Peter

[jduv]

At first glance I like it. If you want to fork it, unit test it, and submit a PR I'll give it a look.

[poostwoud]

Hi Jeremy, for my project I didn't get it to work without some severe refactoring. It is quite a complex subject... For now I've used your library as an inspiration for a part of my project. If you have the time I'm curious what you think of it! https://github.com/poostwoud/AppDomainMessaging

[Gonzo345]

Hi there, there is still no way to get loaded Types/assemblies, right? 😢

[jduv]

You should be able to get that through standard framework calls. Sorry, I don't really maintain this project anymore--if anyone wants to submit PRs I'm 100% happy to review them, merge, and release.