Loading from GAC without all information

[EmeraldShield]

Ok, this is what I am trying to do...

I am trying to build a CheckForUpdates type feature into my app.

I want to enumerate all the versions of my DLL that are in the GAC (It has
to be in the GAC for reasons too long to go into here).
Then I just want to pull out the version numbers and call my site over SOAP
to see if any of them need updates.

It would appear that there are NO functions to enumerate all the versions of
your DLL installed. Or am I missing something?

This could will work if it is local, but not from the GAC.

Assembly vdb = Assembly.Load("MyDll.DLL");
Console.WriteLine(vdb.GetName().Version.ToString());
Console.WriteLine(vdb.GlobalAssemblyCache ? "GAC" : "Local");
Console.WriteLine(vdb.Location.ToString());

If I give it all the specifics of my DLL:

Assembly vdb = Assembly.Load("MyDLL, Version=3.21.3.18, Culture=Neutral,
PublicKeyToken=dfc935gge21123461");

It will load THAT ONE version, but no others. If I add an app.config file
to map them all together:

<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-3.21" newVersion="3.21.3.18"/>

It still will not work.

How does Explorer do it? If I navigate to C:\windows\assembly I can see
each and every version of the DLL that is installed.

MyDll 3.10.x.x
MyDll 3.11.x.x
MyDll 3.13.x.x
MyDll 3.18.x.x

Whatever. I can't figure out how to do this...

 

[Walter Wang [MSFT]]

Hi,

I believe you can do this with GAC API. You can find an example in C# here:

#GAC API Interface - The Code Project - C# Programming
http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/GacApi.asp

Please also refer to following articles for more information on the GAC API:

#Junfeng Zhang's Windows Programming Notes : Fusion GAC API Samples
http://blogs.msdn.com/junfeng/articles/229648.aspx

#DOC: Global Assembly Cache (GAC) APIs Are Not Documented in the .NET
Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) Documentation
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;317540

Please feel free to let me know if there's anything unclear. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Walter Wang ([email protected], remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

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[EmeraldShield]

Thank you Walter...

I believe you can do this with GAC API. You can find an example in C#
here:

#GAC API Interface - The Code Project - C# Programming
http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/GacApi.asp

This one did the trick for me. I had read some of the other ones, but this
one was new to me. It solved my problem.