Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Reflection

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

Assembly.CoreCLR.cs

Gets the assembly that contains the code that is currently executing.

public:
 static System::Reflection::Assembly ^ GetExecutingAssembly();

public static System.Reflection.Assembly GetExecutingAssembly ();

static member GetExecutingAssembly : unit -> System.Reflection.Assembly

Public Shared Function GetExecutingAssembly () As Assembly

Returns

Assembly

The assembly that contains the code that is currently executing.

Examples

The following example uses the Type.Assembly property to get the currently executing assembly based on a type contained in that assembly. It also calls the GetExecutingAssembly method to show that it returns an Assembly object that represents the same assembly.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Reflection;

ref class Example
{};

void main()
{
   // Get the assembly from a known type in that assembly.
   Type^ t = Example::typeid;
   Assembly^ assemFromType = t->Assembly;
   Console::WriteLine("Assembly that contains Example:");
   Console::WriteLine("   {0}\n", assemFromType->FullName);

   // Get the currently executing assembly.
   Assembly^ currentAssem = Assembly::GetExecutingAssembly();
   Console::WriteLine("Currently executing assembly:");
   Console::WriteLine("   {0}\n", currentAssem->FullName);

   Console::WriteLine("The two Assembly objects are equal: {0}",
                      assemFromType->Equals(currentAssem));
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Assembly that contains Example:
//       GetExecutingAssembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
//
//    Currently executing assembly:
//       GetExecutingAssembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
//
//    The two Assembly objects are equal: True

using System;
using System.Reflection;

class Example
{
   static void Main()
   {
      // Get the assembly from a known type in that assembly.
      Type t = typeof(Example);
      Assembly assemFromType = t.Assembly;
      Console.WriteLine("Assembly that contains Example:");
      Console.WriteLine("   {0}\n", assemFromType.FullName);

      // Get the currently executing assembly.
      Assembly currentAssem = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
      Console.WriteLine("Currently executing assembly:");
      Console.WriteLine("   {0}\n", currentAssem.FullName);

      Console.WriteLine("The two Assembly objects are equal: {0}",
                        assemFromType.Equals(currentAssem));
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Assembly that contains Example:
//       GetExecutingAssembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
//
//    Currently executing assembly:
//       GetExecutingAssembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
//
//    The two Assembly objects are equal: True

Imports System.Reflection

Public Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      ' Get the assembly from a known type in that assembly.
      Dim t As Type = GetType(Example)
      Dim assemFromType As Assembly = t.Assembly
      Console.WriteLine("Assembly that contains Example:")
      Console.WriteLine("   {0}", assemFromType.FullName)
      Console.WriteLine()
      
      ' Get the currently executing assembly.
      Dim currentAssem As Assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
      Console.WriteLine("Currently executing assembly:")
      Console.WriteLine("   {0}", currentAssem.FullName)
      Console.WriteLine()
      
      Console.WriteLine("The two Assembly objects are equal: {0}",
                        assemFromType.Equals(currentAssem))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'    Assembly that contains Example:
'       GetExecutingAssembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
'
'    Currently executing assembly:
'       GetExecutingAssembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
'
'    The two Assembly objects are equal: True

Remarks

For performance reasons, you should call this method only when you do not know at design time what assembly is currently executing. The recommended way to retrieve an Assembly object that represents the current assembly is to use the Type.Assembly property of a type found in the assembly, as the following example illustrates.

using System;
using System.Reflection;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Assembly assem = typeof(Example).Assembly;
      Console.WriteLine("Assembly name: {0}", assem.FullName);
   }
}
// The example displays output like the following:
//    Assembly name: Assembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null

Imports System.Reflection

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim assem As Assembly = GetType(Example).Assembly
      Console.WriteLine("Assembly name: {0}", assem.FullName)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'   Assembly name: Assembly1, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null

To get the assembly that contains the method that called the currently executing code, use GetCallingAssembly.