How Can I Dynamically Load and Use DLLs in C#?

C# dynamic loading of DLL

Loading and using DLLs at runtime is a common scenario in C# applications. This allows developers to load external code and extend the functionality of their programs.

Usually use Assembly.LoadFile() to load DLLs at runtime. However, simply loading the DLL does not provide immediate access to its methods. This is where the concepts of reflection and dynamic objects come into play.

Reflection

Reflection involves checking and manipulating types at runtime. It is able to access members and call methods that are unknown at compile time. In the example provided, you can use reflection to call the "Output" method from a loaded DLL:

<code class="language-csharp">foreach (Type type in DLL.GetExportedTypes())
{
    var c = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
    type.InvokeMember("Output", BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, null, c, new object[] {@"Hello"});
}</code>

Dynamic (.NET 4.0 and above)

Dynamic objects allow greater flexibility in dynamically accessing members and calling methods. Using the dynamic keyword you can cast an instance of a loaded type to dynamic and access its members directly:

<code class="language-csharp">foreach (Type type in DLL.GetExportedTypes())
{
    dynamic c = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
    c.Output(@"Hello");
}</code>

In both cases, the code successfully calls the "Output" method from the loaded DLL at runtime, allowing you to access its functionality in your C# application.

The above is the detailed content of How Can I Dynamically Load and Use DLLs in C#?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!