The Assembly Linker generates a file with an assembly manifest from one or more files that are either modules or resource files. A module is a common intermediate language (CIL) file that does not have an assembly manifest.
The application file for the Assembly Linker is named al.exe in Shared Source CLI (SSCLI) builds on Microsoft Windows®.
Note: The SSCLI implementation does not support Microsoft Win32® resources or cryptographic key containers. The following options in the Microsoft .NET Framework implementation of the Assembly Linker are not supported by the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker.
The following options are supported by the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker.
al sources options
You can specify one or more of the following sources.
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| file[,target] | Copies the contents of file to the file name specified by target. After copying, al.exe compiles target into an assembly. |
| /embed[resource]:file[,name[, private]] | Embeds the resource specified by file in the image that contains the assembly manifest;
al.exe copies the contents of file into the portable executable (PE) image.
The name parameter is an internal identifier for the resource. By default, resources are public in the assembly (visible to other assemblies). Specifying private makes the resource invisible to other assemblies. If file is a .NET Framework resource file created, for example, by the Resource File Generator (Resgen.exe) or in the development environment, it can be accessed with members in the System.Resources namespace. For more information, see the System.Resources.ResourceManager class. For all other resources, use the GetManifestResource methods in the System.Reflection.Assembly class to access the resource at run time. If only resource files are passed to al.exe, the output file is a satellite resource assembly. |
| /link[resource]:file[,name[,target[,private]]] | Links a resource file to an assembly. The resource specified by file becomes part of the assembly; the file is not copied.
The name parameter is an internal identifier for the resource. The target parameter specifies a path and file name into which al.exe copies the file. After copying, al.exe compiles target into an assembly. By default, resources are public in the assembly (visible to other assemblies). Specifying private makes the resource invisible to other assemblies. If file is a .NET Framework resource file created, for example, by the Resource File Generator (Resgen.exe) or in the development environment, it can be accessed with members in the System.Resources namespace. For more information, see System.Resources.ResourceManager. For all other resources, use the GetManifestResource methods in the System.Reflection.Assembly class to access the resource at run time. If only resource files are passed to al.exe, the output file is a satellite resource assembly. |
You can specify the following options; note that you must specify /out.
Options can be specified using either a dash (-) or a slash (/).
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| /algid:id | Specifies an algorithm to hash all files in a multifile assembly
except the file that contains the assembly manifest. The default algorithm is
CALG_SHA1. For other algorithms, see ALG_ID in the Platform SDK documentation. For the first release of the .NET Framework, only CALG_SHA1 and CALG_MD5 are valid.
The hash values are stored in the file table of the assembly manifest. At installation and load time, the assembly's files are checked against their hashes. You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyAlgorithmIdAttribute) in the source code for any module. |
| /base[address]:addr | Specifies the address at which the assembly is loaded on the user's computer at run time. Applications load faster if you specify the base address of the DLLs, rather than let the operating system relocate the DLLs in the process space. Changes made to the assembly file as a result of this option are used only by the Windows file loader and have no effect when the file is loaded into the SSCLI using the clix loader. |
| /comp[any]:text | Specifies a string for the Company field in the assembly.
Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a
space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for
viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyCompanyAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is written only to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| /config[uration]:text | Specifies a string for the Configuration field in the assembly. Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyConfigurationAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is written only to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| /copy[right]:text | Specifies a string for the Copyright field in the assembly.
Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a
space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for
viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyCopyrightAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is written only to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| /c[ulture]:text | Specifies the culture string to associate with the assembly. Valid values for cultures are those defined by the Internet Requests for Comments (RFC) document 1766 titled "Tags for the Identification of Languages."
Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. There is no default culture string. This string is available for viewing with reflection. For information on valid text strings, see the CultureInfo class. You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyCultureAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. |
| /delay[sign][+|-] | Specifies whether the assembly is fully or partially signed. Use /delaysign- if you want a fully signed assembly. Use /delaysign+ if you want
only to place the public key in the assembly.
When you request a fully signed assembly, al.exe hashes the file that contains the manifest (assembly metadata) and signs that hash with the private key. The resulting digital signature is stored in the file that contains the manifest. When an assembly is delay-signed, al.exe does not compute and store the signature, but just reserves space in the file so the signature can be added later. The default is /delaysign-. The /delaysign option has no effect unless used with /keyfile or /keyname. For example, using /delaysign+ allows a tester to put the assembly in the global cache. After testing, you can fully sign the assembly by placing the private key in the assembly. You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyDelaySignAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. |
| /descr[iption]:text | Specifies a string for the Description field in the assembly. Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyDescriptionAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is only written to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| /e[vidence]:file | Embeds file in the assembly with the resource name of Security.Evidence.
You cannot use Security.Evidence for regular resources. |
| /flags:flags | Specifies a value for the Flags field in the assembly. Possible values for flags are:
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyFlagsAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. |
| /fullpaths | Causes al.exe to use the absolute path for any files that are reported in an error message. |
| /help | Displays command syntax and options for the tool. |
| /keyf[ile]:filename | Specifies a file (filename) that contains a key or key pair
to sign an assembly. The compiler inserts the public key in the assembly
manifest and then signs the final assembly with the private key. For information on generating key files and installing key pairs into key containers
see the Strong Name Tool documentation.
If you are using delay-signing, this file has the public key but not the private key. The key information appears in the .publickey field of the assembly. You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyKeyFileAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. |
| /main:method | Specifies the fully qualified name of the method to use as an entry point when converting a module to an executable file. |
| /nologo | Suppresses the banner, or logo, displayed at the command line when you invoke al.exe. |
| /out:filename | Specifies the name of the file produced by al.exe. This is a required option. |
| /prod[uct]:text | Specifies a string for the Product field in the assembly. Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyProductAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. |
| /productv[ersion]:text | Specifies a string for the Product Version field in the assembly. Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is written only to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| /t[arget]:lib|exe|win | Specifies the file format of the output file: lib (code library), exe (console application), or win (Windows-based application). The default is lib. |
| /template:filename | Specifies the assembly, filename, from which to inherit all assembly metadata except the culture field. The specified filename must have a strong name.
An assembly that you create with /template is a satellite assembly. |
| /title:text | Specifies a string for the Title field in the assembly. Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyTitleAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. |
| /trade[mark]:text | Specifies a string for the Trademark field in the assembly. Place the string in double quotation marks (" ") if text contains a space. This string is a custom attribute on the assembly and is available for viewing with reflection.
You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyTrademarkAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is written only to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| /v[ersion]:version | Specifies version information for this assembly. The format of the version string is major.minor.build.revision. The default value is 0.
If you do specify /version, you must specify major. If you specify major and minor, you can specify an asterisk (*)for build. This causes build to be equal to the number of days since January 1, 2000, local time, and revision to be equal to the number of seconds since midnight, January 1, 2000, local time, divided by 2. If you specify major, minor, and build, you can specify an asterisk for revision. This causes revision to be equal to the number of seconds since midnight, January 1, 2000, local time, divided by 2. To summarize, the valid version strings are: X X.X X.X.* X.X.X X.X.X.* X.X.X.X where X is any unsigned short constant except 65535 (0-65534). You can also specify this option as a custom attribute (System.Reflection.AssemblyVersionAttribute) in the source code for any CIL module. In the SSCLI implementation of the Assembly Linker, this information is only written to the assembly metadata. No output is written to the Win32 resource data. |
| @filename | Specifies a response file that contains al.exe commands.
Commands in the response file can appear one per line or on the same line, separated by one or more spaces. |
| /? | Displays command syntax and options for the tool. |
If you have one or more modules (metadata without a manifest), you can use al.exe to create an assembly with the manifest in a separate file.
To install assemblies in the cache, remove assemblies from the cache, or list the contents of the cache, use the Global Assembly Cache tool (Gacutil.exe).
The following command creates an executable file t2a.exe with an assembly from the t2.dll module. The entry point is the Main method in MyClass.
al t2.dll /target:exe /out:t2a.exe /main:MyClass.Main
The following table lists the errors generated by al.exe.
| Error | Description |
|---|---|
| al1001 | Internal compiler error
al.exe might be failing because of an inability to parse unexpected syntax. |
| al1002 | Out of memory
al.exe ran out of memory and halted. Increase the amount of available memory. |
| al1003 | Compiler option 'option' must be followed by an argument
al.exe expected an argument to be passed to a command-line option. For example, if you specify /algid:, you must pass an algorithm identifier. |
| al1004 | Unexpected common language runtime initialization error - 'reason'
al.exe reported an error with the Visual Studio or common language runtime installation for the specified reason. |
| al1005 | File 'file' too big to open
All files opened by al.exe must be smaller than 4 gigabytes (GB). |
| al1006 | Response file 'file' was already included
The same response file was specified (@file) more than once on the command line. The response file can be included only once. |
| al1007 | Error opening response file 'file' - 'reason'
al.exe cannot open the specified response file for the specified reason. |
| al1008 | Missing file specification for 'option' command-line option
al.exe expected a file to be passed to a command-line option. For example, if you specify the /out option, you must specify a file. |
| al1009 | Can't open 'file' for writing
al.exe was unable to write to a file, such as the output assembly file. The disk might be full, the file might be read-only, or you might not have access rights to the file. |
| al1010 | Command-line syntax error: Missing ':text' for 'option' option
al.exe expected an argument to be passed to a command-line option. For example, if you specify the /title option, you must pass a string. |
| al1011 | File 'file' is an executable file and cannot be opened as a text file
A binary file was specified where a text file was expected. For example, this error occurs if a binary file is passed on the command line as a response file. |
| al1012 | 'value' is not a valid setting for option 'option'
An unexpected value was passed to a command-line option. For example, this error occurs if you specify an invalid value to the /target option. |
| al1013 | Unrecognized command-line option: 'option'
An invalid command-line option was specified. |
| al1014 | Unexpected initialization error - 'reason'
al.exe detected an initialization failure. This might be caused by a lack of memory, but a more likely cause is a problem with your system files. |
| al1016 | No valid input files were specified
al.exe requires one or more input files that do not have assembly information. |
| al1017 | No target filename was specified
A command-line option was specified without a file parameter. For example, this error occurs if you specify /keyname:. |
| al1018 | Required file 'file' could not be loaded
Certain executable files cannot be loaded. Make sure the required file is available on your path. |
| al1019 | Metadata failure while creating assembly - reason
Generation of the assembly was interrupted for the specified reason. |
| al1020 | Ignoring included assembly 'file'
An input file that contained an assembly was specified. al.exe input files cannot contain assemblies. |
| al1021 | 'setting' : overriding previous setting
A module had a value for a particular setting, possibly assigned through custom attributes, which was overridden with a value passed using an al.exe command-line option. |
| al1022 | Error reading embedded resource 'file' - reason
al.exe cannot read the file passed to the /embedresource option for the specified reason. |
| al1023 | Error embedding resource 'file' - reason
The operating system cannot embed the resource file in the assembly for the specified reason. |
| al1025 | ComType record 'record' points to an invalid file record 'record'
Metadata in the input module is invalid. The tool that produced the module must be fixed. |
| al1026 | The version specified 'version' is invalid
See information on the /version option for valid formats. |
| al1028 | Key file 'file' is missing the private key needed for signing
A key file that contains only the public key was passed to the /keyfile option. Use the Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe) to generate a file with both a public and private key, as shown in the following command.
|
| al1029 | The key container name 'container' does not exist
The value passed to the /keyname option is not a valid container. Use the Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe) to create a container. |
| al1030 | The cryptographic service is not installed properly or does not have a suitable key provider
You might need to either reinstall your operating system or install some cryptographic utility that was used in the creation of the key. |
| al1031 | Error reading icon 'file' - reason
al.exe cannot read the file that was passed to the /win32icon option for the specified reason. |
| al1032 | Error generating resources for 'file' - reason
al.exe cannot create a file due to insufficient disk space or some other error. |
| al1033 | Assembly custom attribute 'attribute' was specified multiple times with different values
Different values were passed to two occurrences of the same custom attribute in source modules that are specified as input to al.exe. |
| al1034 | Assembly 'file' cannot be copied or renamed
While using the al.exe syntax that allows you to both specify an input file and copy it, a name conflict arose that stopped the compiler. For example, this error occurs if you specify |
| al1035 | Libraries cannot have an entry point
You cannot specify both the /target:lib option (the default) and the /main option. |
| al1036 | Entry point required for executable applications
When using the /target:exe or /target:win option, you must also specify the /main option. |
| al1037 | Unable to find the entry point method 'main'
al.exe cannot find a Main method at the location specified by the /main option. |
| al1039 | Initialization of global assembly cache manager failed - reason
Reinstall or rebuild the SSCLI. |
| al1040 | Failed to install assembly into cache - reason
Only signed assemblies can be installed into the cache. |
| al1041 | 'method': cannot be the entry point because the signature or visibility is incorrect
A method was specified with the /main option, but that method is not static, does not return int or void, or has invalid arguments. |
| al1042 | 'exe': EXEs cannot be added modules
An .exe file that does not have an assembly was specified as an input file to al.exe. al.exe can only take .dll files without assemblies as input files. |
| al1043 | Manifest file name 'name' cannot be the same as any modules
The name specified with the /out option cannot be the same as any of the file names that are specified as input to al.exe. |
| al1044 | Error reading key file 'file' - reason
An error occurred while opening or reading from a file specified with /keyfile or the AssemblyKeyFileAttribute. |
| al1045 | Filename 'file' is too long or invalid
A file name longer than 260 characters was passed to al.exe. Choose a file name with fewer characters or a shorter path, or rename the file. |
| al1046 | Resource identifier 'ID' has already been used in this assembly
Two resources, embedded or linked, have the same identifier or name (the second argument). Remove or rename one of the conflicting resources. |
| al1047 | Error importing file 'file' - reason
A module file cannot be opened for the specified reason. |
| al1048 | Error importing module 'module' of assembly 'assembly'
- reason
An error occurred when opening a non-manifest file of a multifile assembly. This error is not emitted directly by al.exe, but can be passed programmatically to a process that uses al.exe. |
| al1049 | Cannot auto-generate build and revision version numbers for dates previous to January 1, 2000
The system clock on your computer is set to a date earlier than January 1, 2000. |
| al1050 | The feature you are using 'old feature' is no longer supported; please use 'new feature' instead
A feature previously supported by al.exe is now obsolete. Use the recommended feature instead. |
| al1051 | Error emitting 'attribute' attribute -'reason'
An assembly custom attribute was not processed by al.exe for the specified reason. |
| al1052 | File 'filename' is not an assembly
The file specified with /template must contain assembly metadata. This error indicates that the file specified by /template did not contain an assembly. |
| al1053 | The version 'version' specified for the 'option' is not in the normal 'major.minor.build.revision' format
al.exe detected ill-formed version information specified with the /fileversion or /productversion options. |
| al1054 | The version 'version' specified for the 'option' is not in the normal 'major.minor.build.revision' format
al.exe detected ill-formed version information specified with the SatelliteContractVersionAttribute. |
| al1055 | Referenced assembly 'filename' does not have a strong name
This error is issued when you are building an assembly with a strong name and reference an assembly that does not have a strong name. If an assembly has a strong name, it can be installed in the global assembly cache. Consequently, referenced assemblies would also need to go into the global assembly cache. Only assemblies with strong names can go into the global assembly cache. |
| al1056 | Referenced assembly 'filename' is a localized satellite assembly
An assembly created using the AssemblyCultureAttribute attribute was referenced in the creation of the current assembly. The AssemblyCultureAttribute attribute indicates the file is a localized satellite assembly and it is not normal to reference a satellite assembly. Reference the main parent assembly instead. |
| al1057 | Executables cannot be localized, Culture should always be empty
An assembly is being created with /target:exe, but /culture was specified. Assemblies in the .exe file cannot have information in the Culture field. |
| al1058 | 'file' is an assembly and cannot be added as a module
In a C++ compilation, /assemblymodule (linker option) was passed a file that contained an assembly. |
| al1059 | Unknown error (code)
al.exe received an unknown error code (code). Possible solutions include:
|
| al1060 | Cryptographic failure while creating hashes - reason
An error occurred while creating the file hashes for a multifile assembly. |
| al1061 | Cannot set option 'option' because 'reason'
The value specified for this option is invalid for the specified reason. |
Tools Index | Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe) | Global Assembly Cache Tool (Gacutil.exe)
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.