InternalsVisibleToAttribute Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.Runtime.CompilerServices

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

InternalsVisibleToAttribute.cs

Specifies that types that are ordinarily visible only within the current assembly are visible to a specified assembly.

public ref class InternalsVisibleToAttribute sealed : Attribute

[System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Assembly, AllowMultiple=true, Inherited=false)]
public sealed class InternalsVisibleToAttribute : Attribute

[<System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Assembly, AllowMultiple=true, Inherited=false)>]
type InternalsVisibleToAttribute = class
    inherit Attribute

Public NotInheritable Class InternalsVisibleToAttribute
Inherits Attribute

Inheritance

Object

Attribute

InternalsVisibleToAttribute

Attributes

AttributeUsageAttribute

Examples

Signed assemblies

The following example uses the InternalsVisibleToAttribute attribute to make an internal method named AppendDirectorySeparator in a signed assembly visible to another signed assembly. It defines a FileUtilities class that includes an internal AppendDirectorySeparator method. The InternalsVisibleToAttribute attribute is applied to the assembly that contains the FileUtilities class. The attribute allows an assembly named Friend1 to access this internal member.

//
// The source code should be saved in a file named Example1.cs. It 
// can be compiled at the command line as follows:
//
//    csc /t:library /keyfile:<snkfilename> Assembly1.cs
//
// The public key of the Friend1 file should be changed to the full
// public key stored in your strong-named key file.
//
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("Friend1, PublicKey=002400000480000094" + 
                              "0000000602000000240000525341310004000" +
                              "001000100bf8c25fcd44838d87e245ab35bf7" +
                              "3ba2615707feea295709559b3de903fb95a93" +
                              "3d2729967c3184a97d7b84c7547cd87e435b5" +
                              "6bdf8621bcb62b59c00c88bd83aa62c4fcdd4" +
                              "712da72eec2533dc00f8529c3a0bbb4103282" +
                              "f0d894d5f34e9f0103c473dce9f4b457a5dee" +
                              "fd8f920d8681ed6dfcb0a81e96bd9b176525a" +
                              "26e0b3")]

public class FileUtilities
{
   internal static string AppendDirectorySeparator(string dir)
   {
      if (!dir.Trim().EndsWith(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString()))
         return dir.Trim() + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
      else
         return dir;
   }
}

'
' The source code should be saved in a file named Example1.cs. It 
' can be compiled at the command line as follows:
'
'    vbc Assembly1.vb /t:library /keyfile:<snkfilename> 
'
' The public key of the Friend1 file should be changed to the full
' public key stored in your strong-named key file.
'
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

<Assembly:InternalsVisibleTo("Friend1, PublicKey=002400000480000094" + _
                             "0000000602000000240000525341310004000" + _
                             "001000100bf8c25fcd44838d87e245ab35bf7" + _
                             "3ba2615707feea295709559b3de903fb95a93" + _
                             "3d2729967c3184a97d7b84c7547cd87e435b5" + _
                             "6bdf8621bcb62b59c00c88bd83aa62c4fcdd4" + _
                             "712da72eec2533dc00f8529c3a0bbb4103282" + _
                             "f0d894d5f34e9f0103c473dce9f4b457a5dee" + _
                             "fd8f920d8681ed6dfcb0a81e96bd9b176525a" + _
                             "26e0b3")>

Public Class FileUtilities
   Friend Shared Function AppendDirectorySeparator(dir As String) As String
      If Not dir.Trim().EndsWith(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar) Then
         Return dir.Trim() + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar
      Else
         Return dir
      End If   
   End Function
End Class

If the following example is compiled into a strong-named assembly named Friend1, the Example.Main method in Friend1 can successfully call the FileUtilities.AppendDirectorySeparator method, although the method is internal to the Assembly1 assembly. Note that if you are compiling in C# from the command line, you must use the /out compiler switch to ensure that the name of the friend assembly is available when the compiler binds to external references.

//
// The assembly that exposes its internal types to this assembly should be
// named Assembly1.dll.
//
// The public key of this assembly should correspond to the public key
// specified in the class constructor of the InternalsVisibleTo attribute in the
// Assembly1 assembly.
//
#using <Assembly1.dll> as_friend

using namespace System;

void main()
{
   String^ dir = L"C:\\Program Files";
   dir = FileUtilities::AppendDirectorySeparator(dir);
   Console::WriteLine(dir);
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       C:\Program Files\

//
// The source code should be saved in a file named Friend1.cs. It 
// can be compiled at the command line as follows:
//
//    csc /r:Assembly1.dll /keyfile:<snkfilename> /out:Friend1.dll Friend1.cs
//
// The public key of the Friend1 assembly should correspond to the public key
// specified in the class constructor of the InternalsVisibleTo attribute in the
// Assembly1 assembly.
//
using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string dir = @"C:\Program Files";
      dir = FileUtilities.AppendDirectorySeparator(dir);
      Console.WriteLine(dir);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       C:\Program Files\

'
' The source code should be saved in a file named Friend1.vb. It 
' can be compiled at the command line as follows:
'
'    vbc Friend1.vb /r:Assembly1.dll /keyfile:<snkfilename> 
'
' The public key of the Friend1 assembly should correspond to the public key
' specified in the class constructor of the InternalsVisibleTo attribute in the
' Assembly1 assembly.
'
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim dir As String = "C:\Program Files"
      dir = FileUtilities.AppendDirectorySeparator(dir)
      Console.WriteLine(dir)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       C:\Program Files\

Unsigned assemblies

The following example uses the InternalsVisibleToAttribute attribute to make an internal member of an unsigned assembly visible to another unsigned assembly. The attribute ensures that the internal StringLib.IsFirstLetterUpperCase method in an assembly named UtilityLib is visible to the code in an assembly named Friend2. The following is the source code for UtilityLib.dll:

using System;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

[assembly: InternalsVisibleToAttribute("Friend2")]

namespace Utilities.StringUtilities
{
   public class StringLib
   {
      internal static bool IsFirstLetterUpperCase(String s)
      {
         string first = s.Substring(0, 1);
         return first == first.ToUpper();
      }
   }
}

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

<assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("Friend2")>

Namespace Utilities.StringUtilities
   Public Class StringLib
      Friend Shared Function IsFirstLetterUpperCase(s As String) As Boolean
         Dim first As String = s.Substring(0, 1)
         Return first = first.ToUpper()
      End Function
   End Class
End Namespace

The following example provides the source code for the Friend2 assembly. Note that if you are compiling in C# from the command line, you must use the /out compiler switch to ensure that the name of the friend assembly is available when the compiler binds to external references.

#using <UtilityLib.dll> as_friend

using namespace System;
using namespace Utilities::StringUtilities;

void main()
{
   String^ s = "The Sign of the Four";
   Console::WriteLine(StringLib::IsFirstLetterUpperCase(s));
}

using System;
using Utilities.StringUtilities;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      String s = "The Sign of the Four";
      Console.WriteLine(StringLib.IsFirstLetterUpperCase(s));
   }
}

Imports Utilities.StringUtilities

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim s As String = "The Sign of the Four"
      Console.WriteLine(StringLib.IsFirstLetterUpperCase(s))
   End Sub
End Module

Remarks

For more information about this API, see Supplemental API remarks for InternalsVisibleToAttribute.

Constructors

InternalsVisibleToAttribute(String)

Initializes a new instance of the InternalsVisibleToAttribute class with the name of the specified friend assembly.

Properties

AllInternalsVisible	This property is not implemented.
AssemblyName	Gets the name of the friend assembly to which all types and type members that are marked with the internal keyword are to be made visible.
TypeId	When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute)

Methods

Equals(Object)	Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute)
GetHashCode()	Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute)
GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object)
IsDefaultAttribute()	When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute)
Match(Object)	When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute)
MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object)
ToString()	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object)