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Using an object created with Assembly.CreateInstance()

I am writing a C# application in which I need to load an assembly from a file and then create an instance of a specific type from that assembly. I'm using the following code to do this:

System.Reflection.Assembly a = System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile(path);
object myObject = a.CreateInstance("MyType");

The problem is that I then want to interact wth myObject as an instance of MyType:

MyType myInstance = myObject as MyType;

After this line of code myInstance is null. The VS debugger Autos pane shows the value of myObject as {MyType} and shows its Type as object {MyType}. Nonetheless, I cannot successfully cast myObject as MyType. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a way around this? Thanks.

JimBrandley

This version of CreateInstance works for me:
CreateInstance (
      string typeName,
      bool ignoreCase,
      BindingFlags bindingAttr,
      Binder binder,
      Object[] args,
      CultureInfo culture,
      Object[] activationAttributes
)

typeName needs to be fully qualified; i.e. YourNameSpace.YourClass
ignoreCase - I send false
bindingAttr = BindingFlags.CreateInstance
binder = null
args = an array of objects for the constructor - can be empty or null for the default constructor
culture = null - uses currentCulture
activationAttributes = null

Jim

Paracom_Inc

ASKER

I've tried that overload as well. The code is listed below. Line 6 fails because myInstance is null. Any ideas?

1 string path = @"C:\TestLibrary\bin\Debug\TestLibrary.dll";
2 System.Reflection.Assembly a = System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFile(path);
3 string typeName = "TestLibrary.TestClass";
4 object myObject = a.CreateInstance(typeName);
5 TestLibrary.TestClass myInstance = myObject as TestLibrary.TestClass;
6 string s = myInstance.Hello();

JimBrandley

Set a breakpoint on line 5 and see what you have in myObject.

Jim

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jdbviper

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Paracom_Inc

ASKER

Yes, the interface route is the way that I have done it as well. Thanks for the confirmation.