[VS2010] Code Compiler

Hi all,
Here is a very simple class to compile a string into an assembly. This code probably won't make it into any app, but it is just to show how easy it actually is.

You can compile any class and then invoke any member.
For functions you can just get the object returned by the invoke call, and cast that to the appropriate type.

I have no idea what practical use this has, but it is kinda cool :D

vb.net Code:

Imports System.CodeDom.CompilerImports System.ReflectionClass VbCompiler
 
    Public Property Source As String
    Public Property DLLS As String()
    Public Sub New(ByVal Source As String, ByVal DLLS() As String)
        Me.Source = Source
        Me.DLLS = DLLS
    End Sub
    Private _errors As CompilerErrorCollection
    Public ReadOnly Property Errors As CompilerErrorCollection
        Get
            Return _errors
        End Get
    End Property
    Private _successful As Boolean
    Public ReadOnly Property Successful As Boolean
        Get
            Return _successful
        End Get
    End Property
    Public Function Compile() As Assembly
        Dim Provider As New VBCodeProvider
        Dim Parameters As New CompilerParameters
        For Each DLL In Me.DLLS
            Parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(DLL)
        Next
        Parameters.GenerateInMemory = True
        Dim results As CompilerResults = Provider.CompileAssemblyFromSource(Parameters, Me.Source)
        If results.Errors.Count = 0 Then
            _successful = True
            Return results.CompiledAssembly
        Else
            _successful = False
            _errors = results.Errors
            Return Nothing
        End If
 
    End Function
End Class

And use it like so

vb.net Code:

Dim SourceCode As String =<Source>
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Namespace TestCode
        Class Class1
            Sub ShowMessage()
                Messagebox.Show("Hello, This code was compiled from a string!")
            End Sub
        End Class
End Namespace</Source>.Value
'Very Short program
 
 
        Dim Dlls() As String = {"System.dll", "System.Core.dll", "System.Data.dll", "System.Windows.Forms.dll"}'Any referenced dll's
        Dim Compiler As New VbCompiler(SourceCode, Dlls)
        Dim CodeAssembly As Assembly = Compiler.Compile
        If Compiler.Successful Then
            Dim instance As Object = CodeAssembly.CreateInstance("TestCode.Class1")
            Dim CodeType As Type = instance.GetType
            Dim Info As MethodInfo = CodeType.GetMethod("ShowMessage")
            Info.Invoke(instance, Nothing)
        Else
            For Each i As CompilerError In Compiler.Errors
                MsgBox(i.ErrorText)
            Next
        End If

With this class you could easily create a RunCode function that takes a string as parameter and run's it.

Update:
I'm Uploading a small project to better demonstrate it's use

So...it's kind of a non-visual version of Visual Studio!

Cool! :D

Cool code! I've made some modifications like the toolstrip with new,load,save,test and build.

Screenshot:

Nice this is cool, may try and make something out of this if I have time. Thanks for shareing.

It's a pleasure. The point of this project was just to show people how easy it is to actually compile code from a string. The code that I wrote was a while back and I'm afraid that it isn't up to par.

I actually thought about making a very small portable visual basic project editor that you can put on a memory stick and develop in vb anywhere, but that would take me a while to code, but I simply don't have the time during school days.

Quote:

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I actually thought about making a very small portable visual basic project editor that you can put on a memory stick and develop in vb anywhere, but that would take me a while to code, but I simply don't have the time during school days.

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That is a good idea for a project. I remmber I made something like this with the VB Script Control for VB6 even got as far as makeing a form designer.I have a lot of time but seeing how easy it is to compile VB or C# with the code compiler is ace may try and work on a little side project.

Have you heard of a tool called Snippy?
It does something similar for C# code.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wesleylucas

Cool code! I've made some modifications like the toolstrip with new,load,save,test and build.

Screenshot:

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Nvm it works fine thanks ;D