VB.net -- Creating an instance of an assembly

Question

I am trying to run a .dll and create an instance of it, but I am getting this error:

Error 1 Value of type 'System.Reflection.Assembly' cannot be converted to '1-dimensional array of Byte'.

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My code:

Public NotInheritable Class method
    Private Sub method_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

        Try
            Dim dll() As Byte = Assembly.Load("data.dll")
            Dim a = Assembly.Load(dll)
            Dim b As Type = a.GetType("data.Class1")
            Dim c As Object = Activator.CreateInstance(b)
            b.InvokeMember("main", BindingFlags.Default Or BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, c, Nothing)
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox("Caught: {0}", ex.Message)

        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

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Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? The main sub in the .dll includes "MsgBox("Success")", so it should definitely show me something if it worked correctly.

If I skip the dll to byte line and Dim a to Assembly.Load("data.dll"), it gives me the error that it can't be opened as Type integer of something like that.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT:

Alright, my first question was answered, however. My new one is very similar:

    Try
        Dim g As New Net.WebClient()
        Dim dll() As Byte = g.DownloadData("http://ge.tt/api/1/files/6YVzYRI2/0/blob?download")
        Dim a = Assembly.Load(dll)
        Dim b As Type = a.GetType("data.Class1")
        Dim c As Object = Activator.CreateInstance(b)
        b.InvokeMember("main", BindingFlags.Default Or BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, c, Nothing)
    Catch ex As Exception
        MsgBox("Caught: {0}", ex.Message)

    End Try

With the link leading to my data.dll. Is the reason still the same why it doesn't work? And how am I able to fix it?

Answer 1

You write:

Dim dll() As Byte = Assembly.Load("data.dll")

but Assembly.Load does not return a Byte array, but an instance of the Assembly class (that's exactly what the error message tells you).

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Also note that when you use Assembly.Load(assemblyString As String), the method expects the (long form of the) assembly name, not the file name; something in the form of

"SampleAssembly, Version=1.0.2004.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=8744b20f8da049e3"

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If you want to load an assembly by its path, you could use Assembly.LoadFrom(assemblyFile As String).

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To load the type Class1, you have to specify full name of the type (namespace + class name):

Dim b As Type = a.GetType("Class1.Class1")

The namespace is Class1, and the class name is also Class1, so you have to use Class1.Class1.