[Mono-list] Using late-bound dynamic assembly

[Andrus]

One of my WinForms application assemblies, EntityExtension is not 
distributed with application.
This assembly is created (compiled) dynamically in AppDomain AssemblyResolve 
event and placed to Windows temporary directory every time when application 
starts.
Under .NET it works OK.

Under MONO my application does not start:

** (myapp.exe:4140): WARNING **: The following assembly referenced from ... 
Business.dll could not be loaded:
     Assembly:   EntityExtension    (assemblyref_index=1)
     Version:    0.0.0.0
     Public Key: (none)
The assembly was not found in the Global Assembly Cache, a path listed in 
the MONO_PATH environment variable, or in the location of the executing 
assembly (....).

** (myapp.exe:4140): WARNING **: Could not load file or assembly 
'EntityExtension, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral' or one of its 
dependencies.
** (myapp.exe:4140): WARNING **: Could not load file or assembly 
'EntityExtension, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral' or one of its 
dependencies.

Unhandled Exception: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or 
assembly 'EntityExtension, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral' or one of its 
dependencies.

File name: 'EntityExtension, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral'
  at (wrapper managed-to-native) System.Reflection.Assembly:GetTypes (bool)
  at System.Reflection.Assembly.GetTypes () [0x00000]
  at DbLinq.Factory.Implementation.ReflectionObjectFactory.Parse 
(System.Reflection.Assembly assembly, IDictionary`2 
interfaceImplementations) [0x00000] ...

DbLinq.Factory.Implementation.ReflectionObjectFactory.Parse method contains 
typical AOP pattern:

        protected virtual void Parse(Assembly assembly, IDictionary<Type, 
IList<Type>> interfaceImplementations)
        {
            try
            {
                var assemblyTypes = assembly.GetTypes();
                foreach (Type type in assemblyTypes)
                {
                    if (type.IsAbstract)
                        continue;
                    foreach (Type i in type.GetInterfaces())
                    {
                        if 
(i.Assembly.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DbLinqAttribute), false).Length > 0)
                        {
                            IList<Type> types;
                            if (!interfaceImplementations.TryGetValue(i, out 
types))
                                interfaceImplementations[i] = types = new 
List<Type>();
                            types.Add(type);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (ReflectionTypeLoadException)
            {
            }
        }

It seems that this causes MONO to crash since EntityExtension.dll assembly 
does not exist as this moment (it is created later).
In .NET it causes ReflectionTypeLoadException which this code ignores so it 
works OK.

How to fix ?


To fix this I tried to use Microsoft assemblies in Windows but got error

** (myapp.exe:5208): WARNING **: Missing method 
System.Reflection.Emit.DynamicMethod::.ctor(string,Type,Type[],bool) in 
assembly C:\PROGRA~1\MONO-1~1.1\lib\mono\2.0\mscorlib.dll, referenced in 
assembly C:\myapp\System.Core.dll

Unhandled Exception: System.MissingMethodException: Method not found: 
'System.Reflection.Emit.DynamicMethod..ctor'.
  at System.Linq.Expressions.ExpressionCompiler.CompileDynamicLambda 
(System.Linq.Expressions.LambdaExpression lambda) [0x00000]
  at System.Linq.Expressions.ExpressionCompiler.Compile 
(System.Linq.Expressions.LambdaExpression lambda) [0x00000]
  at System.Linq.Expressions.LambdaExpression.Compile () [0x00000]

Are there any plans to implement

System.Reflection.Emit.DynamicMethod  class in Mono mscorlib ?

Andrus.