What is Manifest in .NET?

Manifest in .NET

.NET applications are organized and packaged into assemblies. All code executed by the .NET runtime must be contained in an assembly. The assembly contains the code, resources and a manifest ( metadata about the assembly) needed to run the application. Assemblies can be organized into a single file, where all this information is incorporated into a single DLL or EXE file, or multiple files where the information is incorporated into separate DLL files, graphics files, and a manifest files.

Manifest is one of the most crucial portions of an assembly. In fact, every assembly must contain a manifest. The purpose of the manifest is to describe the assembly.

Thus, manifest is a file that contains:

• The identity of the assembly.

• A description of the classes and other data types the assembly exposes to clients

• any other assemblies it needs to reference and

• security details needed to run the assembly.

Information provided by Manifest

A manifest contains information about the assembly as a whole. Manifest contains:

• Naming and version information that can be used by the runtime environment to ensure that the user is loading the proper version of a file when the user wants it in the application.

• Reference to other assemblies

• security information, detailing the boundaries an application is permitted to access when it is run.

• All the types found in the assembly. Types are important not only because they are the fundamental building blocks of the application, but also because, without them, one can not use the functionality installed into the assembly.