Loading an assembly from a win32 application without having .NET framework installed

Question

I know it's possible to run a .NET application using a portable Mono executable without having .NET framework installed but is it possible to load and use an assembly is this situation?

thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I'm unclear as to what you're asking but it appears to be ...

Is it possible to use a normal .Net Assembly from a Win32 process if the CLR is not installed?

If so the answer is a resounding no. All .Net apps require the CLR to be installed in order to run.

Answer 2

If you're trying to load an assembly without the Microsoft .NET framework, the only possibility I know of would be to embed Mono into your Win32 application, and use it to host the assembly. The Mono embedding API could potentially be used to open and execute your .NET assembly (using the mono runtime and libraries).

Answer 3

it is possible to create and distribute an application without needing to install the .net framework, for example Vmware Thinapp (or Xenapp) can do that, putting the framework and the executable in a single container.