Assembly.LoadFile Method

Definition

Loads the contents of an assembly file.

Overloads

LoadFile(String, Evidence)
Obsolete.

Loads an assembly given its path, loading the assembly using the supplied evidence.

LoadFile(String)

Loads the contents of an assembly file on the specified path.

LoadFile(String, Evidence)

Caution

This method is obsolete and will be removed in a future release of the .NET Framework. Please use an overload of LoadFile which does not take an Evidence parameter. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=155570 for more information.

Loads an assembly given its path, loading the assembly using the supplied evidence.

C#
public static System.Reflection.Assembly LoadFile (string path, System.Security.Policy.Evidence securityEvidence);
C#
[System.Obsolete("This method is obsolete and will be removed in a future release of the .NET Framework. Please use an overload of LoadFile which does not take an Evidence parameter. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=155570 for more information.")]
public static System.Reflection.Assembly LoadFile (string path, System.Security.Policy.Evidence securityEvidence);

Parameters

path
String

The fully qualified path of the assembly file.

securityEvidence
Evidence

Evidence for loading the assembly.

Returns

The loaded assembly.

Attributes

Exceptions

The path argument is not an absolute path.

The path parameter is null.

The path parameter is an empty string ("") or does not exist.

A file that was found could not be loaded.

-or-

path specifies a location that is disabled based on <loadFromRemoteSources>.

path is not a valid assembly for the currently loaded runtime.

securityEvidence is not null. By default, legacy CAS policy is not enabled in the .NET Framework 4; when it is not enabled, securityEvidence must be null.

Remarks

Use the LoadFile method to load and examine assemblies that have the same identity, but are located in different paths. LoadFile does not load files into the LoadFrom context, and does not resolve dependencies using the load path, as the LoadFrom method does. LoadFile is useful in this limited scenario because LoadFrom cannot be used to load assemblies that have the same identities but different paths; it will load only the first such assembly.

See <loadFromRemoteSources> for loading assemblies from remote locations.

Applies to

.NET Framework 4.8.1 and other versions
Product Versions (Obsolete)
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 (4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1)

LoadFile(String)

Source:
Assembly.cs
Source:
Assembly.cs
Source:
Assembly.cs

Loads the contents of an assembly file on the specified path.

C#
public static System.Reflection.Assembly LoadFile (string path);

Parameters

path
String

The fully qualified path of the file to load.

Returns

The loaded assembly.

Exceptions

The path argument is not an absolute path.

The path parameter is null.

A file that was found could not be loaded.

-or-

.NET Framework only: path specifies a location that is disabled based on <loadFromRemoteSources>.

The path parameter is an empty string ("") or does not exist.

path is not a valid assembly for the currently loaded runtime.

Remarks

This API is present in .NET Core for compatibility, but it is recommended to use AssemblyLoadContext overloads in .NET Core 2.0 and later.

The assembly is loaded into a new AssemblyLoadContext created for this purpose. For more information on assembly loading, see Managed assembly loading algorithm.

Use the LoadFile method to load and examine assemblies that have the same identity, but are located in different paths. LoadFile does not load files into the load-from context, and does not resolve dependencies using the load path, as the LoadFrom method does. LoadFile is useful in this limited scenario because LoadFrom cannot be used to load assemblies that have the same identities but different paths; it will load only the first such assembly.

.NET Framework only: See <loadFromRemoteSources> for loading assemblies from remote locations.

Applies to

.NET 9 and other versions
Product Versions
.NET Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0, 2.1