System.Reflection.Metadata 8.0.0

The ID prefix of this package has been reserved for one of the owners of this package by NuGet.org. Prefix Reserved
There is a newer prerelease version of this package available.
See the version list below for details.
dotnet add package System.Reflection.Metadata --version 8.0.0
NuGet\Install-Package System.Reflection.Metadata -Version 8.0.0
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.
<PackageReference Include="System.Reflection.Metadata" Version="8.0.0" />
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.
paket add System.Reflection.Metadata --version 8.0.0
#r "nuget: System.Reflection.Metadata, 8.0.0"
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.
// Install System.Reflection.Metadata as a Cake Addin
#addin nuget:?package=System.Reflection.Metadata&version=8.0.0

// Install System.Reflection.Metadata as a Cake Tool
#tool nuget:?package=System.Reflection.Metadata&version=8.0.0

About

This package provides a low-level .NET (ECMA-335) metadata reader and writer. It's geared for performance and is the ideal choice for building higher-level libraries that intend to provide their own object model, such as compilers. The metadata format is defined by the ECMA-335 - Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) specification and its amendments.

The System.Reflection.Metadata library is included in the .NET Runtime shared framework. The package can be installed when you need to use it in other target frameworks.

How to Use

The following example shows how to read assembly information using PEReader and MetadataReader.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection.Metadata;
using System.Reflection.PortableExecutable;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Open the Portable Executable (PE) file
        using var fs = new FileStream("Example.dll", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite);
        using var peReader = new PEReader(fs);

        // Display PE header information
        PEHeader header = peReader.PEHeaders.PEHeader;
        Console.WriteLine($"Image base:     0x{header.ImageBase:X}");
        Console.WriteLine($"File alignment: 0x{header.FileAlignment:X}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Subsystem:      {header.Subsystem}");

        // Display .NET metadata information
        if (!peReader.HasMetadata)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Image does not contain .NET metadata");
            return;
        }

        MetadataReader mr = peReader.GetMetadataReader();
        AssemblyDefinition ad = mr.GetAssemblyDefinition();
        Console.WriteLine($"Assembly name:  {ad.GetAssemblyName().ToString()}");
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Assembly attributes:");

        foreach (CustomAttributeHandle attrHandle in ad.GetCustomAttributes())
        {
            CustomAttribute attr = mr.GetCustomAttribute(attrHandle);

            // Display the attribute type full name
            if (attr.Constructor.Kind == HandleKind.MethodDefinition)
            {
                MethodDefinition mdef = mr.GetMethodDefinition((MethodDefinitionHandle)attr.Constructor);
                TypeDefinition tdef = mr.GetTypeDefinition(mdef.GetDeclaringType());
                Console.WriteLine($"{mr.GetString(tdef.Namespace)}.{mr.GetString(tdef.Name)}");
            }
            else if (attr.Constructor.Kind == HandleKind.MemberReference)
            {
                MemberReference mref = mr.GetMemberReference((MemberReferenceHandle)attr.Constructor);

                if (mref.Parent.Kind == HandleKind.TypeReference)
                {
                    TypeReference tref = mr.GetTypeReference((TypeReferenceHandle)mref.Parent);
                    Console.WriteLine($"{mr.GetString(tref.Namespace)}.{mr.GetString(tref.Name)}");
                }
                else if (mref.Parent.Kind == HandleKind.TypeDefinition)
                {
                    TypeDefinition tdef = mr.GetTypeDefinition((TypeDefinitionHandle)mref.Parent);
                    Console.WriteLine($"{mr.GetString(tdef.Namespace)}.{mr.GetString(tdef.Name)}");
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Main Types

The main types provided by this library are:

  • System.Reflection.Metadata.MetadataReader
  • System.Reflection.PortableExecutable.PEReader
  • System.Reflection.Metadata.Ecma335.MetadataBuilder
  • System.Reflection.PortableExecutable.PEBuilder
  • System.Reflection.PortableExecutable.ManagedPEBuilder

Additional Documentation

Feedback & Contributing

System.Reflection.Metadata is released as open source under the MIT license. Bug reports and contributions are welcome at the GitHub repository.

Product Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET net5.0 was computed.  net5.0-windows was computed.  net6.0 is compatible.  net6.0-android was computed.  net6.0-ios was computed.  net6.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net6.0-macos was computed.  net6.0-tvos was computed.  net6.0-windows was computed.  net7.0 is compatible.  net7.0-android was computed.  net7.0-ios was computed.  net7.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net7.0-macos was computed.  net7.0-tvos was computed.  net7.0-windows was computed.  net8.0 is compatible.  net8.0-android was computed.  net8.0-browser was computed.  net8.0-ios was computed.  net8.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net8.0-macos was computed.  net8.0-tvos was computed.  net8.0-windows was computed. 
.NET Core netcoreapp2.0 was computed.  netcoreapp2.1 was computed.  netcoreapp2.2 was computed.  netcoreapp3.0 was computed.  netcoreapp3.1 was computed. 
.NET Standard netstandard2.0 is compatible.  netstandard2.1 was computed. 
.NET Framework net461 was computed.  net462 is compatible.  net463 was computed.  net47 was computed.  net471 was computed.  net472 was computed.  net48 was computed.  net481 was computed. 
MonoAndroid monoandroid was computed. 
MonoMac monomac was computed. 
MonoTouch monotouch was computed. 
Tizen tizen40 was computed.  tizen60 was computed. 
Xamarin.iOS xamarinios was computed. 
Xamarin.Mac xamarinmac was computed. 
Xamarin.TVOS xamarintvos was computed. 
Xamarin.WatchOS xamarinwatchos was computed. 
Compatible target framework(s)
Included target framework(s) (in package)
Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.

NuGet packages (270)

Showing the top 5 NuGet packages that depend on System.Reflection.Metadata:

Package Downloads
Microsoft.TestPlatform.ObjectModel The ID prefix of this package has been reserved for one of the owners of this package by NuGet.org.

The Microsoft Test Platform Object Model.

Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common The ID prefix of this package has been reserved for one of the owners of this package by NuGet.org.

A shared package used by the Microsoft .NET Compiler Platform ("Roslyn"). Do not install this package manually, it will be added as a prerequisite by other packages that require it. More details at https://aka.ms/roslyn-packages This package was built from the source at https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/commit/fa72fa61b0d822ea8a3fbeb96f668340419ab5cd.

Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp The ID prefix of this package has been reserved for one of the owners of this package by NuGet.org.

.NET Compiler Platform ("Roslyn") support for C#, Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.dll. More details at https://aka.ms/roslyn-packages This package was built from the source at https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/commit/fa72fa61b0d822ea8a3fbeb96f668340419ab5cd.

System.Diagnostics.StackTrace The ID prefix of this package has been reserved for one of the owners of this package by NuGet.org.

Provides the System.Diagnostics.StackTrace class, which allows interaction with local and remote processes. Commonly Used Types: System.Diagnostics.StackFrame System.Diagnostics.StackTrace When using NuGet 3.x this package requires at least version 3.4.

Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting The ID prefix of this package has been reserved for one of the owners of this package by NuGet.org.

ASP.NET Core hosting infrastructure and startup logic for web applications. This package was built from the source code at https://github.com/aspnet/AspNetCore/tree/be0a4a7f4cf06cbd6ec714bd1d9afee6bdb040a8

GitHub repositories (223)

Showing the top 5 popular GitHub repositories that depend on System.Reflection.Metadata:

Repository Stars
icsharpcode/ILSpy
.NET Decompiler with support for PDB generation, ReadyToRun, Metadata (&more) - cross-platform!
dotnet/roslyn
The Roslyn .NET compiler provides C# and Visual Basic languages with rich code analysis APIs.
dotnet/runtime
.NET is a cross-platform runtime for cloud, mobile, desktop, and IoT apps.
winsw/winsw
A wrapper executable that can run any executable as a Windows service, in a permissive license.
NancyFx/Nancy
Lightweight, low-ceremony, framework for building HTTP based services on .Net and Mono
Version Downloads Last updated
9.0.0-preview.2.24128.5 234 3/12/2024
9.0.0-preview.1.24080.9 769 2/13/2024
8.0.0 674,732 11/14/2023
8.0.0-rc.2.23479.6 2,509 10/10/2023
8.0.0-rc.1.23419.4 2,475 9/12/2023
8.0.0-preview.7.23375.6 1,433 8/8/2023
8.0.0-preview.6.23329.7 1,268 7/11/2023
8.0.0-preview.5.23280.8 2,267 6/13/2023
8.0.0-preview.4.23259.5 809 5/16/2023
8.0.0-preview.3.23174.8 1,228 4/11/2023
8.0.0-preview.2.23128.3 6,500 3/14/2023
8.0.0-preview.1.23110.8 1,412 2/21/2023
7.0.2 672,472 6/13/2023
7.0.1 412,746 3/14/2023
7.0.0 11,135,145 11/7/2022
7.0.0-rc.2.22472.3 27,812 10/11/2022
7.0.0-rc.1.22426.10 1,132 9/14/2022
7.0.0-preview.7.22375.6 3,594 8/9/2022
7.0.0-preview.6.22324.4 1,052 7/12/2022
7.0.0-preview.5.22301.12 674 6/14/2022
7.0.0-preview.4.22229.4 11,467 5/10/2022
7.0.0-preview.3.22175.4 767 4/13/2022
7.0.0-preview.2.22152.2 2,016 3/14/2022
7.0.0-preview.1.22076.8 833 2/17/2022
6.0.2-mauipre.1.22102.15 963 2/15/2022
6.0.2-mauipre.1.22054.8 1,427 1/19/2022
6.0.1 14,142,121 3/8/2022
6.0.0 24,058,406 11/8/2021
6.0.0-rc.2.21480.5 1,188 10/12/2021
6.0.0-rc.1.21451.13 1,992 9/14/2021
6.0.0-preview.7.21377.19 1,500 8/10/2021
6.0.0-preview.6.21352.12 1,069 7/14/2021
6.0.0-preview.5.21301.5 1,000 6/15/2021
6.0.0-preview.4.21253.7 733 5/24/2021
6.0.0-preview.3.21201.4 5,080 4/8/2021
6.0.0-preview.2.21154.6 1,480 3/11/2021
6.0.0-preview.1.21102.12 982 2/12/2021
5.0.0 180,855,464 11/9/2020
5.0.0-rc.2.20475.5 10,421 10/13/2020
5.0.0-rc.1.20451.14 8,922 9/14/2020
5.0.0-preview.8.20407.11 269,767 8/25/2020
5.0.0-preview.7.20364.11 4,467 7/21/2020
5.0.0-preview.6.20305.6 1,732 6/25/2020
5.0.0-preview.5.20278.1 1,289 6/10/2020
5.0.0-preview.4.20251.6 2,742 5/18/2020
5.0.0-preview.3.20214.6 1,843 4/23/2020
5.0.0-preview.2.20160.6 11,175 4/2/2020
5.0.0-preview.1.20120.5 9,036 3/16/2020
1.8.1 11,088,593 5/12/2020
1.8.0 8,598,744 12/3/2019
1.8.0-preview3.19551.4 2,043 11/13/2019
1.8.0-preview2.19523.17 1,146 11/1/2019
1.8.0-preview1.19504.10 2,222 10/15/2019
1.7.0 6,547,746 9/23/2019
1.7.0-rc1.19456.4 3,377 9/16/2019
1.7.0-preview9.19421.4 2,369 9/4/2019
1.7.0-preview9.19416.11 794 9/4/2019
1.7.0-preview8.19405.3 3,900 8/13/2019
1.7.0-preview7.19362.9 3,267 7/23/2019
1.7.0-preview6.19303.8 4,540 6/12/2019
1.7.0-preview6.19264.9 810 9/4/2019
1.7.0-preview5.19224.8 6,939 5/6/2019
1.7.0-preview4.19212.13 7,850 4/18/2019
1.7.0-preview3.19128.7 6,677 3/6/2019
1.7.0-preview.19073.11 2,973 1/29/2019
1.7.0-preview.18571.3 9,579 12/3/2018
1.6.0 540,243,096 5/29/2018
1.6.0-rc1 307,394 5/6/2018
1.6.0-preview2-26406-04 344,236 4/10/2018
1.6.0-preview1-26216-02 270,334 2/26/2018
1.5.0 48,044,098 8/11/2017
1.5.0-preview2-25405-01 6,705 6/27/2017
1.5.0-preview1-25305-02 8,740 5/9/2017
1.4.2 152,985,872 1/3/2017
1.4.1 184,917,958 11/15/2016
1.4.1-preview1-24530-04 105,031 10/24/2016
1.4.1-beta-24430-01 555,142 10/13/2016
1.4.1-beta-24227-04 263,617 6/30/2016
1.3.0 283,783,685 6/27/2016
1.3.0-rc2-24027 10,444,405 5/16/2016
1.2.1-beta-23918 5,290 3/18/2016
1.2.0 2,232,738 3/8/2016
1.2.0-rc3-23811 42,094 3/5/2016
1.2.0-rc2-23826 17,406 3/1/2016
1.1.1-beta-23516 30,997 11/18/2015
1.1.0 3,593,174 10/27/2015
1.1.0-alpha-00015 5,076 10/9/2015
1.1.0-alpha-00014 131,174 9/29/2015
1.1.0-alpha-00012 5,086 9/24/2015
1.1.0-alpha-00009 60,894 9/3/2015
1.0.23-beta-23409 4,176 10/15/2015
1.0.23-beta-23225 119,020 9/2/2015
1.0.22 1,487,029 7/29/2015
1.0.22-beta-23109 3,953 7/27/2015
1.0.22-beta-23019 4,420 6/30/2015
1.0.21 5,120,418 5/11/2015
1.0.19-rc 13,059 3/6/2015
1.0.18-beta 627,806 12/10/2014
1.0.17-beta 144,059 10/10/2014