how to load all assemblies from within your /bin directory

mrblah picture mrblah · Aug 17, 2009 · Viewed 54.2k times · Source

In a web application, I want to load all assemblies in the /bin directory.

Since this can be installed anywhere in the file system, I can't gaurantee a specific path where it is stored.

I want a List<> of Assembly assembly objects.

Answer

Wolfwyrd picture Wolfwyrd · Aug 17, 2009

Well, you can hack this together yourself with the following methods, initially use something like:

string path = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);

to get the path to your current assembly. Next, iterate over all DLL's in the path using the Directory.GetFiles method with a suitable filter. Your final code should look like:

List<Assembly> allAssemblies = new List<Assembly>();
string path = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);

foreach (string dll in Directory.GetFiles(path, "*.dll"))
    allAssemblies.Add(Assembly.LoadFile(dll));

Please note that I haven't tested this so you may need to check that dll actually contains the full path (and concatenate path if it doesn't)