Initialize library on Assembly load

Question

I have a .net library dll that acts like a functional library. There are a bunch of static types along with static methods.

There is some initialization code that I need to run to set up the library ready for use.

When the assembly gets loaded is there a way to ensure that a particular method is run? Something like AppDomain.AssemblyLoad but called automatically from the assembly itself. I was thinking that maybe there is something like an AssemblyAttribute that could be used?

At the moment I have this initialization code in a static constructor but as this is a library with many entry points there is no guarantee that this particular type will be used.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Why do you need all the data to be loaded before any of it is used, rather than just when the first type which needs it is used?

I don't believe there's any way of forcing a method to be run on assembly load, from within the assembly. You could put a static constructor in every type, but frankly I think it just makes more sense to have a single type representing that data and providing access to it - and put a static constructor on that type alone. (If you've got separate bits of data which can be used independently, perhaps create separate types for them.)