Forcing class load

Question

Is there a way in C# or .net IL to force a class that has a type initializer (static constructor) to load itself, without accessing any of its parameters?

Assuming I\'ve

Answer 1

I usually create a dummy (empty) Init method on classes with static constructors to force the static constructor execution. ie.

public static void Initialize() 
{ 
  // this will force your static constructor to execute, obviously
}

That said, you can always go for the Type.TypeInitializer with reflection... http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.type.typeinitializer.aspx

EDIT: One other thing I've done in the past, is to create an attribute called RequiresInitializationAttribute then on AssemblyLoad scan the assembly for types with such an attribute and using the type.TypeInitializer to force the static constructor to execute when the containing assembly is loaded.

I guess the real question, as usual, is...what are you trying to accomplish?