CLR SQL Assembly: Get the Bytestream?

Question

I have a SQL CLR dll I want to deploy, but have found you can embed the byte stream/varbinary_literal/ varbinary_expression/assembly bits into a text file to get around the messy hassle of packaging a DLL and making sure it's accessible for the CREATE ASSEMBLY command.

But what I have yet to find is how to get that byte stream/varbinary_literal/ varbinary_expression/assembly bits value. I haven't found any consistent terminology, and what I keep finding in using Load().

Answer 1

It's just a hex representation of the dll. This bit should do the trick:

    static string GetHexString(string assemblyPath)
    {
        if (!Path.IsPathRooted(assemblyPath))
            assemblyPath = Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, assemblyPath);

        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
        builder.Append("0x");

        using (FileStream stream = new FileStream(assemblyPath,
              FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read))
        {
            int currentByte = stream.ReadByte();
            while (currentByte > -1)
            {
                builder.Append(currentByte.ToString("X2", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
                currentByte = stream.ReadByte();
            }
        }

        return builder.ToString();
    }

You should use the resulting string like so:

string hexString = GetHexString(assemblyPath);
string sql = "CREATE ASSEMBLY [" + assemblyName + "] FROM " + hexString + 
             " WITH PERMISSION_SET = " + somePermissionSet;

Answer 2

Found here, the varbinary can be generated without custom code for generating it, only by using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and a local SQL Server instance.

1. create or alter your assembly in your database using its local path on your local SQL Server.

   use yourBase
   go
   create assembly YourAssemblySqlName from N'YourLocalPath\YourAssemblyFile.dll'
   go
   

2. Browse to your assembly in Object Explorer.

   

3. Script its creation.

   

And SSMS gives you the varbinary.