BuildManager.GetReferencedAssemblies equivalent for non-web applications

Question

Compared to AppDomain.GetAssemblies(), BuildManager.GetReferencedAssemblies() (System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager) seems a more reliable way to get th

Answer 1

The only way I currently see is pre-fetching all referenced assemblies manually, just as the BuildManager does under the covers:

var assemblies =
    from file in Directory.GetFiles(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory)
    where Path.GetExtension(file) == ".dll"
    select Assembly.LoadFrom(file);

Answer 2

I've had the same problem. And after doing some research I've still not found a solid answer. The best I've come up with is to combine AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies() with the AppDomain.AssemblyLoad event.

In that way I can process all already loaded assemblies while getting notified for all new assemblies (which I then scan).

Answer 3

This solution is based on @steven's answer. But would work in Web, WinForms, Consoles, and Windows Services.

var binDirectory = String.IsNullOrEmpty(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.RelativeSearchPath) ? AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory : AppDomain.CurrentDomain.RelativeSearchPath;

var assemblies = from file in Directory.GetFiles(binDirectory)
                 where Path.GetExtension(file) == ".dll"
                 select Assembly.LoadFrom(file);