Obtaining classes from a namespace

Question

I'm trying to get the Class and Methods from a assembly, it works when the assembly is the same where the class is, but when it does not work when the assembly is in other project. I already add the reference from the project I want to obtain the Class and Methods but the var theList returns null. I want get the class and methods from one proyect to another , the 2 proyects are in the same solution. I need some help

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {

        var theList = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes().ToList().Where(t => t.Namespace == "____mvc4.Models").ToList();

        Console.WriteLine("--List of Classes with his respective namescpace  : ");
        foreach (var item in theList)
        {

            Console.WriteLine(item);

        }
        Console.WriteLine("------List of classes: ");
        foreach (var item in theList)
        {

            Console.WriteLine("*****************" + item.Name + "*****************");
            MemberInfo[] memberInfo = item.GetMethods(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Instance);
            for (int i = 0; i < memberInfo.Length; i++)
            {
                if (!(memberInfo[i].Name.Contains("get_") || memberInfo[i].Name.Contains("set_")))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0}", memberInfo[i].Name);
                }

            }

        }

        Console.ReadLine();
    }

the asembly where are the classes that I want obtain does not appear in AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies().ToList();

Answer 1

Here...

var theList = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes()...etc

you are referring to the current ("executing") assembly. If you want to get types from another assembly, you need to get a reference to that assembly. A simple way to do so is to reference some type from that referenced assembly:

var otherAssembly = typeof(SomeTypeDefinedInAReferencedAssembly).Assembly;
var theList = otherAssembly.GetTypes()...etc

Answer 2

If you're trying to do this generically as possible, without knowing or caring which assemblies contain this namespaces, you need to check the loaded modules:

var theList = new List<Type>();
BuildManager.GetReferencedAssemblies();
var modules = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetLoadedModules();
theList.AddRange(modules.SelectMany(x => x.Assembly.GetTypes().Where(t => t.Namespace == "____mvc4.Models")));

Answer 3

If you want to do it dynamically, then you need to get all the assemblies in the current domain or iterate the /bin/ directory. The domain will get you all kinds of assemblies, including your standard ones, like System. /bin/ will restrict you to just your custom stuff.

Here's a utility method I use. You pass in the evaluation -- i.e. the filter -- and it spits back a list of Types.

    public static List<Type> GetClassesWhere(Func<Type, bool> evaluator)
    {
        var assemblies = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies().ToList();

        var types = new List<Type>();

        foreach(var assembly in assemblies)
        {
            try
            {
                types.AddRange(assembly.GetTypes().Where(evaluator).ToList());
            }
            catch
            {
            }
        }

        return types;
    }

I try/catch each assembly individually because I found that sometimes I get some weird permission denied errors, especially in shared environments such as Azure and AppHarbor. It was always on assemblies I didn't care about anyway, so that's why I take no action on catch. For my custom assemblies, it always works for me.

In your example, you'd use it thusly (assuming you put it in a static class called Utilities)

var types = Utilities.GetClassesWhere(t => t.Namespace == "____mvc4.Models");

Answer 4

AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies()
                       .SelectMany(am => am.GetTypes())
                       .Select(a => a.Namespace == "Name of your namespace")
                       .Distinct();