CompilerParameters.ReferencedAssemblies -- Add reference to System.Web.UI.WebControls

Question

I am compiling classes at run-time using the CodeDomProvider class. This works fine for classes only using the System namespace:

using System;

public class Test
{
    public String HelloWorld()
    {
        return "Hello World!";
    }
}

If I try to compile a class using System.Web.UI.WebControls though, I get this error:

{error CS0006: Metadata file 'System.Web.UI.WebControls' could not be found} System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerError

Here's a snippet of my code:

var cp = new CompilerParameters();

cp.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Web.UI.WebControls");

How do I reference the System.Web.UI.WebControls namespace?

Matthew Murdoch · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-01 16:33:28Z

44

You can loop through all the currently loaded assemblies:

var assemblies = AppDomain.CurrentDomain
                            .GetAssemblies()
                            .Where(a => !a.IsDynamic)
                            .Select(a => a.Location);   

cp.ReferencedAssemblies.AddRange(assemblies.ToArray());

edited Mar 1, 2013 at 16:33

Matthew Murdoch

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answered Jun 20, 2009 at 0:03

Dan Nuffer

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3 Comments

epitka Over a year ago

Why catch try/catch when .Where(a => !a.IsDynamic ) would do it?

Dan Nuffer Over a year ago

My original answer worked with .net 2.0 which is what I was using at the time I wrote the code. Neither LINQ nor the Assembly.IsDynamic property exist in .net 2.0.

phillipwei Over a year ago

Note that it's AddRange not Add (would fix but can't make <6 char edit).

Tim Robinson · Accepted Answer · 2009-04-27 14:19:10Z

16

You reference assemblies, not namespaces. You should use MSDN to look up the name of the assembly that contains the classes you need to use: in this case it's going to be:

var cp = new CompilerParameters();
cp.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Web.dll");

edited Apr 27, 2009 at 14:19

answered Apr 27, 2009 at 14:03

Tim Robinson

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2 Comments

cllpse Over a year ago

Doesn't work for me. Do you think I should supply the full path to the assembly? If yes; how might I do that dynamically?

Tim Robinson Over a year ago

Ah, System.Web.UI.WebControls.dll doesn't exist -- the classes in that namespace live in System.Web.dll instead.

jwize · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-15 21:18:44Z

6

This proved to be a little less brute force in my case. I was building an addin and there were 730 assemblies loaded in the current domain so there was major lag involved.

var assemblies = someType.Assembly.GetReferencedAssemblies().ToList();
   var assemblyLocations =  
assemblies.Select(a => 
     Assembly.ReflectionOnlyLoad(a.FullName).Location).ToList();

assemblyLocations.Add(someType.Assembly.Location);

cp.ReferencedAssemblies.AddRange(assemblyLocations.ToArray());

edited Mar 15, 2014 at 21:18

answered Aug 30, 2011 at 18:16

jwize

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1 Comment

Luis Quijada Over a year ago

+1. I used your proposal and worked great. Just you need to edit the last line and write cp.ReferencedAssemblies.AddRange(assemblyLocations.ToArray()); instead.

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