Get executing assembly name from referenced DLL in C#

Question

What is the best way to get the application name (i.e MyApplication.exe) of the executing assembly from a referenced class library in C#?

I need to open the application's app.config to retrieve some appSettings variables for the referenced DLL.

Answer 1

To get the answer to the question title:

// Full-name, e.g. MyApplication, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
string exeAssembly = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().FullName;

// or just the "assembly name" part (e.g. "MyApplication")
string exeAssemblyName = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetName().Name;

As mentioned by @Ben, since you mention wanting to get the configuration information, use the ConfigurationManager class.

Answer 2

If you want to get the current appdomain's config file, then all you need to do is:

ConfigurationManager.AppSettings....

(this requires a reference to System.Configuration of course).

To answer your question, you can do it as Ray said (or use Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().FullName) but I think the problem is easier solved using ConfigurationManager.

Answer 3

To get the exact name without versions, etc. use:

string appName = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetName().Name;

Works with .NET v1.1 and later.

Answer 4

You can get the assembly through the class type...

typeof(MyClass).Assembly

Answer 5

If you want the name of the parent EXE and not the referenced DLL assembly - you will need to use this:

Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetName().Name

This will return the EXE name (minus the .EXE part).

Using GetExecutingAssembly() is not right as per the OP's question (first paragraph of it!) as it will return the DLL name.

Answer 6

You should never couple your libraries to a consumer (in this case Web, WinForm or WCF app). If your library needs configuration settings, then GIVE it to the library.

Don't code the library to pull that data from a consumer's config file. Provide overloaded constructors for this (that's what they are for).

If you've ever looked at the ConfigurationManager.AppSettings object, it is simply a NameValueCollection. So create a constructor in your library to accept a NameValueCollection and have your consumer GIVE that data to the library.

//Library
public class MyComponent
{
  //Constructor
  public MyComponent(NameValueCollection settings)
  {
     //do something with your settings now, like assign to a local collection
  }
}

//Consumer
class Program
{
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
    MyComponent component = new MyComponent(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings);
  }
}

Answer 7

If you want to read (and display) version number:

  Assembly ass = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
  AssemblyName assname = ass.GetName();

  Version ver=assname.Version;

Somewhere in application (ie Title block in a Windows form)

 this.Text = "Your title    Version " + ver;

Answer 8

For the short name of an assembly from a class instance:

Me.GetType ().Assembly.GetName().Name