How to: Build a Remotable Type

This topic is specific to a legacy technology that is retained for backward compatibility with existing applications and is not recommended for new development. Distributed applications should now be developed using the  Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).

To enable objects in other application domains to use an instance of your class, your class must inherit from MarshalByRefObject. The following procedure describes how to create a basic object that can be created and invoked from objects executing in another application domain.

Note

See How to: Compile and Run a Basic Remoting Application for complete instructions on how to build and run this sample.

To build a remotable type

1. Define a class that derives from the MarshalByRefObject class.

      Public Class RemotableType
         Inherits MarshalByRefObject
       …
   End Class
   

   public class RemotableType : MarshalByRefObject
   {
       …
   }
   

2. Implement the methods and properties for that class as you would for a non-remotable type. A call is made to Console.WriteLine to have the listener display a string. This is used later to demonstrate that the remote object was called.

   Public Function SayHello() As String
      Console.WriteLine("RemotableType.SayHello() was called!")
      Return "Hello, world"
   End Function 'StringMethod
   

   public string SayHello(){
      Console.WriteLine("RemotableType.SayHello() was called!");
      return "Hello, world";
   }
   

3. Create a directory named remoting\type and save the class as RemotableType.cs or RemotingType.vb, in the new directory. Open a command-prompt and navigate to the remoting\type directory and type the following command:

   vbc /t:library RemotableType.vb
   

   csc /noconfig /t:library RemotableType.cs
   

Example

' RemotableType.vb
Imports System

Public Class RemotableType
   Inherits MarshalByRefObject 
   Public Function SayHello() As String
      Console.WriteLine("RemotableType.SayHello() was called!")
      Return "Hello, world"
   End Function 
End Class 

// RemotableType.cs
using System;
public class RemotableType : MarshalByRefObject
{
    public string SayHello()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("RemotableType.SayHello() was called!");
        return "Hello, world";
    }
}

See Also

Tasks

How to: Build a Hosting Application
How to: Build a Client Application

Reference

Remoting Settings Schema

Concepts

Configuration of Remote Applications
Server Activation

Other Resources

Building a Basic .NET Framework Remoting Application