Whats The Difference Between Manifest and Metadata

Metadata describes contents in an assembly, classes, interfaces, enums, structs, etc.

Manifest describes an assembly itself, Assembly name version number, culture, strong name, etc.

How To Create A Simple Shared Assembly in .NET

STEP 1 :

Start - > Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - > Create Project - >New Project DialogBox - >Select

Class Library (Visual C#) add code in Your class file then complie it.

STEP 2:
Start - > Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - > Visual Studio Tools -> Visual Studio 2005

Command Prompt

move on to project folder location

For Example:

If You Create A Project By Name Example, Your Project Saved in the following location

E:\Example\Example\bin\Debug> ,in Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt type the following

E:>Cd E:\Example\Example\bin\Debug

create shared name file for your dll by typing the follwing line

E:\Example\Example\bin\Debug> sn -k userdefinedname.key

Example=E:\Example\Example\bin\Debug> sn -k Example.key

The Key Will Be Created Within Debug Folder in the name Example.key

STEP 3:

Goto project solution properties

Click "Signing" Tab (First From Buttom).

Check Sign the assembly

Choose a Strong Name Key File dropdown , then select browse "Example.key", after going to

Debug Folder,in the Select File Dialog Select All Files(File TYpe).

save and then Compile the project

STEP 4:

Start - > Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - > Visual Studio Tools -> Visual Studio 2005

Command Prompt Example=E:\Example\Example\bin\Debug> gacutil /i .dll

STEP 5 :

After hosting the assembly just go to WINNT\Assembly folder and you will find your

assembly listed there