C#: Expose internal members to outside assemblies
June 19, 2010 by
Christoff Truter
C#
Normally when members (properties/methods/delegates/indexers etc) are defined as internal,
they're only available within the assembly they reside in.
internal class b
{
public void c()
{
Console.WriteLine("Internal");
}
}
Note: The default modifier for a top-level class is internal e.g. omitting the internal (in the preceding snippet)
means the class will be internal in anycase.
But since .net 2.0 its possible to expose internal members to assemblies outside the residing
assembly using the InternalsVisibleTo attribute.
Within the assembly that we wish to expose internal members, you will need to register the names of
the assembly(ies) that require access to the internals like this:
[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("someassembly")]
[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("someotherassembly")]
The preceding snippet can be placed within your AssemblyInfo.cs file, or within other source files.
It is also possible (and advisable) to sign the assemblies with a strong key to make it difficult for
a malicious user to spoof (replace/inject) code into your assembly.
To create/assign a strong key within visual studio:
- right click on your project
- select properties
- click on the signing tab
- tick sign the assembly
- select new(or browse for an exiting key)
In order to extract a public key, go to your visual studio command prompt, browse/point to your strong
keys with the following commands:
rem extract public key
sn -p keyPair.snk publicKey.snk
rem display public key
sn -tp publicKey.snk
Next add the public key to the assembly exposing
internal members:
[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("somesignedassembly, PublicKey=0024000004800000940000000602000000240000525341310004000001000100b12297f91269c8957718971524fc11c1eb8d62bba5b04b82149ca45f4567a6f6f12a76db30fd3a63f89066137b331e48b8e8ff9753720ca1acf4e0910edd606654c8db9b2d5cd5ca08fc4fe7c2fe3d8bcc9debdb292cd0dedfe0737170a539065df87b77a52376b2588e8a1d12a91650aaf0db0204e875b4f40821c714b8e3a6")]
Note: In order to use a signed assembly, both the target and source assemblies need to be
signed, in order to use an unsigned assembly, both target and source assemblies need to be unsigned.
Some sources:
Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe)
InternalsVisibleToAttribute Class