using .Net Reflector

BobLewiston · 01-25-2009, 07:00 PM

Please forgive what is surely a stupid question:

How do I use .Net Reflector to find out which namespace a class, method or property is in, or to see parameter lists? There's no way to enter a character string to tell it what you're looking for.

Saxon · 01-26-2009, 09:02 AM

Can I ask what it is you are trying to reverse engineer? if it is a closed source program we can't help.

BobLewiston · 01-26-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Can I ask what it is you are trying to reverse engineer? if it is a closed source program we can't help.

What are you talking about? I'm not trying to reverse engineer anything. Why are you so certain I am? .Net Reflector was rated as one of the top ten tools for developers. So is everyone who uses .Net Reflector trying to reverse engineer something?

I'm trying to find out which namespace files to include in my programs via "using" statements, as well as find syntax and overloaded versions of methods and properties that I can't readily find at MSDN. You know, the intended uses of .Net Reflector.

jaeusm · 01-26-2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

How do I use .Net Reflector to find out which namespace a class, method or property is in, or to see parameter lists?

If you're reflecting over the .NET dll's, look up the class on MSDN. It will tell you the namespace and dll it belongs to. With that information, you can open the dll (File >> Open), expand the nodes until you find your class, then right click on the class and select "Disassemble". At that point you can see the source code. Keep in mind, however, that Reflector is converting the IL to equivalent C#, which may not be exactly what the original source file looks like.

Also, you can do a search on an assembly by clicking on it and then selecting "Search" from the View menu.

BobLewiston · 01-26-2009, 10:28 AM

Thanks, jaeusm.

Saxon · 01-26-2009, 11:15 AM

bob I did not mean to insult you but I have only a limited experience with the .net framework and what I have been shown .net reflector is or can be used for reverse engineering.

BobLewiston · 01-26-2009, 11:32 AM

You got me shook up there, you being the moderator and all. I thought maybe you were going to yank the plug on me.

jaeusm · 01-26-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

I have only a limited experience with the .net framework and what I have been shown .net reflector is or can be used for reverse engineering.

You are correct -- that's exactly what Reflector is used for. However, reverse engineering is not an inherently bad thing, and precisely the reason Reflector is one of the most popular .NET development tools.

The tool was created by Lutz Roeder, who works at Microsoft. There are many plugins available for it that give it quite a bit of additional functionality, like the BAML viewer for inspecting XAML. It's very useful.

Saxon · 01-26-2009, 11:53 AM

bob I wouldn't have banned you for it just closed this thread, I hope you can see my reasoning behind the question. But no harm no foul, I am going to be learning more about the .net framework from the 10th of February onwards most of my coding history is based around C an C++ and my exposure to it so far is limited to a few friends who use is and a few videos I have watched from microsoft.

Jaeusm, I understand about reverse engineering. I am a recent Linux to Windows convert and without reverse engerneering many programs that I used a lot wouldn't have been possable so yea it can be a good thing if used in a white hat way. And thank you for the infrmation about the plug in's an the tool its self it will come in handy when I go back to night school.

Baez · 01-26-2009, 02:05 PM

We don't abuse our powers here on these forums Bob. We need a very valid reason to.

As for my experience with Reflector it has all been learning reverse engineering so I can understand where Saxon is coming from as well.

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