MSIL Disassembler (Ildasm.exe)

  • Article

You can explore the namespaces in files — those that come with the common language runtime or those created by yourself or others — by using the MSIL Disassembler (Ildasm.exe) to create Windows-based output. The following command line shows how to run Ildasm.exe.

C:\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.XXXX> ildasm System.XML.dll

Each of the namespace nodes represents a separate namespace that can be expanded to explore the class objects and their methods and properties. Doing so produces the following figure.

Ildasm.exe also features a number of command-line options, which are particularly useful when redirecting output to the console or a text file for subsequent analysis. One tip for developers is to put a shortcut to Ildasm.exe in the SendTo folder.

For more information on this tool, please refer to the MSIL Disassembler (Ildasm.exe) documentation and the ILDASM Tutorial.