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How to force CSharpCodeProvider to compile for a specific target framework?

I've got a solution which contains c# projects, some netstandard 2.0 and others .net4.7. The startup project is of course net47.
At one point, the project creates code using CodeDom and compiles it with CSharpCodeProvider. The problems is that on some machines, it tries to compile the assembly for .netstandard and it fails. The failure is expected: the generated assembly references EF which in only available for full .net framework.
How can I force CSharpCodeProvider to compile against .net47?
public bool GenerateAssembly(
CodeDomBusinessCode compileUnit
, string fileName
, string assembliesPath
, out IEnumerable<string> errors)
{
var provider = new CSharpCodeProvider();
var parameters = new CompilerParameters
{
GenerateExecutable = false,
OutputAssembly = fileName,
GenerateInMemory = false
};
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Runtime.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Core.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.ComponentModel.Composition.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(Path.Combine(assembliesPath, "EntityFramework.dll"));
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(Path.Combine(assembliesPath, "GlobalE.Server.Contracts.dll"));
var results = provider.CompileAssemblyFromDom(parameters, compileUnit.Code);
if (results.Errors.Count > 0)
{
errors = results.Errors.OfType<CompilerError>().Select(x => x.ToString());
return false;
}
errors = null;
return true;
}
The error:
error CS0012: The type 'System.IDisposable' is defined in an assembly
that is not referenced. You must add a reference to assembly
'netstandard, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51'.
UPDATE:
If I change all projects to net47 (so that there is no netstandard project in the solution), the error will disappear, but I want to keep as many projects on netstandard as possible.

based on your error, you should add "netstandard.dll" as references and it may cause by this note that in .net 4.7 the "System.IDisposable" is in "mscorlib.dll" and in .netstatndard is in "netstandard.dll".

Try this
var options = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{ "CompilerVersion", "v4.7" }
};
var provider = new CSharpCodeProvider(options);

CodeDOM compilation no errors but fails to launch console

I have created my project and now want to compile using a CodeDOM compiler.
I have a folder full of the .CS files that should be compiled to an EXE. The application is supposed to be a console application although it fails to launch any console. There are no building errors. The following is my compile method:
public static void Build(string AssemblyName, string OutputDirectory, string[] SourceFiles)
{
CodeDomProvider codeProvider = CodeDomProvider.CreateProvider("CSharp");
CompilerParameters parameters = new CompilerParameters();
parameters.GenerateExecutable = true;
parameters.GenerateInMemory = false;
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Data.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Xml.dll");
parameters.OutputAssembly = OutputDirectory + #"\" + AssemblyName + ".exe";
parameters.CompilerOptions = "/unsafe /target:winexe /platform:x86";
if (codeProvider.Supports(GeneratorSupport.EntryPointMethod))
{
parameters.MainClass = "MyApp.Program";
}
CompilerResults results = codeProvider.CompileAssemblyFromFile(parameters, SourceFiles);
if (results.Errors.Count > 0)
{
foreach (CompilerError error in results.Errors)
Console.WriteLine(error.ErrorText);
}
}
string[] SourceFiles correctly provides all .CS files (classes, structs and enums) located in the folder like follows:
"D:\\Development\\MyAppCodeDom\\Program.cs"
"D:\\Development\\MyAppCodeDom\\IniParser.cs"
And 26 more of those. I do not use any external DLL files as reference whatsoever. It fails, however, to launch the console window.
Any idea? Perhaps a console application requires certain options?
EDIT:
Using ILSpy, the assembly seems to contain ALL the classes etc it should have.
Thank you in advance.

I removed /target:winexe from the CompilerOptions and now it works.

System.ArgumentException Invalid file name in Assembly.LoadModule(string,byte[])

During my studies of reflection, I have encountered the .net module.
I understand that means I can compile a single class as .net module (correct me if I wrong) then load this compiled .net module using Assembly.LoadModule(string,byte[]).
I wrote a class that look like this:
using System;
using System.Text;
public class Mycs {
public static string GiveString(){
return "Hello World !";
}
}
and compiled it using the switch "/target:module" using this code:
CodeDomProvider CDP = CodeDomProvider.CreateProvider("CSharp");
CompilerParameters CP = new CompilerParameters();
CP.GenerateExecutable = false;
CP.CompilerOptions = "/target:module";
CP.OutputAssembly = FilePathText.Text.Replace(Strings.Right(FilePathText.Text, 3), ".netmodule");
string source = File.ReadAllText(FilePathText.Text);
CompilerResults RS = CDP.CompileAssemblyFromSource(CP, source);
I then retrieved the resulted file bytes:
byte[] b = File.ReadAllBytes(FilePathText.Text);
And finally I tried to load the module to the current executed assembly:
Module[] Modules = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetModules();
Module[] moduless = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetLoadedModules();
Module A = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().LoadModule(Modules[0].Name, b);
Whether I passed the Modules[0].Name or moduless[0].Name both cause this exception:
An unhandled exception of type 'System.ArgumentException' occurred in mscorlib.dll
Additional information: Invalid file name
Why do I get this invalid file name error?

You cannot load dynamically created module to an existing assembly, assemblies once compiled are immutable.
My best guess is that you need to use AssemblyBuilder.DefineDynamicModule() to create your classes in it. In this case you the type you created will be loaded automatically. or compile your classes as assemblies, not the modules, and load those assemblies dynamically using Assembly.LoadFile method.

Compile Assembly on the fly

I have this code:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
CompilerParameters cp = new CompilerParameters
{
GenerateInMemory = true,
IncludeDebugInformation = false,
};
cp.ReferencedAssemblies.AddRange(new string[]{
"System.dll",
"System.Data.dll",
"System.Xml.dll",
"Microsoft.mshtml.dll",
"System.Windows.Forms.dll"
});
Assembly _assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
StreamReader _textStreamReader = new StreamReader(_assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("myprog.restext.txt"));
string src = _textStreamReader.ReadToEnd();
byte[] code = Convert.FromBase64String(src);
src = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(code);
CompilerResults cr = CSharpCodeProvider.CreateProvider("CSharp").
CompileAssemblyFromSource(cp, src);
Assembly asm = cr.CompiledAssembly;
Type typ = asm.GetType("clicker.Program");
MethodInfo method = typ.GetMethod("DoStart");
method.Invoke(null, new[] { (object)args });
}
I thows FileNotFoundException becouse CompileAssemblyFromSource returns the same error. Source using mshtml.
Then I'm trying to compile it using csc.exe, it says:
error CS0006. (no Metadata for "Microsoft.mshtml.dll")
I think it because mshtml is ActiveX library. So The question is how to assemble source usings activeX mshtml.
p.s.
Source has no errors and successfully has compiled from VS but can't be compiled by "on the fly" compilation.

I thows FileNotFoundException
That's normal, Microsoft.mshtml.dll is a primary interop assembly. It is not part of the .NET Framework so cannot be located automatically. It also won't be available on the user's machine, PIAs have to be installed.
The best way to go about it is to ensure that the assembly is present in your build directory so it will be deployed along with your program and can always be found. Project + Add Reference, select Microsoft.mshtml. Select it from the References node and set the Isolated property to False, Copy Local to True. Rebuild and verify that you now have Microsoft.mshtml.dll present in your bin\Debug directory.
And modify your code to pass the full path name to the file. Like this:
var referenceAssemblies = new List<string> {
"System.dll",
"System.Data.dll",
"System.Xml.dll",
"System.Windows.Forms.dll"
};
var homedir = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
var mshtml = Path.Combine(homedir, "Microsoft.mshtml.dll");
referenceAssemblies.Add(mshtml);
cp.ReferencedAssemblies.AddRange(referenceAssemblies.ToArray());

AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve asking for a <AppName>.resources assembly?

using the code How to embed a satellite assembly into the EXE file provided by csharptest.net, I've created a custom assembly resolver and embedded my assemblies in my resources.
I can successfully resolve my assemblies used in but somehow AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve asks for an assembly called 'AppName.resources' specifically "MyProgram.resources, Version=0.15.3992.31638, Culture=en-US, PublicKeyToken=null" which i don't know how to resolve?
I've tried to disable loading my custom assemblies from resources (placed all my assembly dll's in program directory) and just enabled AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve, but it was still asking for it.
I'm a bit confused about this, will appreciate a lot if you can help me on this.
Here's my code for interested ones;
static Assembly ResolveAssemblies(object sender, ResolveEventArgs args)
{
Assembly assembly = null;
string name = args.Name.Substring(0, args.Name.IndexOf(','));
if (name == "MyProgram.resources") return null;
else name = string.Format("MyProgram.Resources.Assemblies.{0}.dll", name);
lock (_loadedAssemblies)
{
if (!_loadedAssemblies.TryGetValue(name, out assembly))
{
using (Stream io = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream(name))
{
if (io == null)
{
MessageBox.Show("MyProgram can not load one of it's dependencies. Please re-install the program", string.Format("Missing Assembly: {0}", name), MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
Environment.Exit(-1);
}
using (BinaryReader binaryReader = new BinaryReader(io))
{
assembly = Assembly.Load(binaryReader.ReadBytes((int)io.Length));
_loadedAssemblies.Add(name, assembly);
}
}
}
}
return assembly;
}

Answering on my own;
Adding this line to AssemblyInfo.cs solves it and resolver will not get asked for resources any-more.
[assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("en-US", UltimateResourceFallbackLocation.MainAssembly)]
Though this is a work-around should be carefully considered multi-language applications.
More Info:
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/526836/wpf-appdomain-assemblyresolve-being-called-when-it-shouldnt
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kimhamil/archive/2008/11/11/what-does-the-neutralresourceslanguageattribute-do.aspx
http://forums.devshed.com/net-development-87/c-wpf-appdomain-assemblyresolve-being-called-when-it-shouldn-t-669567.html
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2010/02/03/jeffrey-richter-excerpt-2-from-clr-via-c-third-edition.aspx
This approach fails for machines with non en-US cultures. A better approach is ignoring resources on assembly resolver;
public Assembly Resolver(object sender, ResolveEventArgs args)
{
lock (this)
{
Assembly assembly;
AssemblyName askedAssembly = new AssemblyName(args.Name);
string[] fields = args.Name.Split(',');
string name = fields[0];
string culture = fields[2];
// failing to ignore queries for satellite resource assemblies or using [assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguage("en-US", UltimateResourceFallbackLocation.MainAssembly)]
// in AssemblyInfo.cs will crash the program on non en-US based system cultures.
if (name.EndsWith(".resources") && !culture.EndsWith("neutral")) return null;
/* the actual assembly resolver */
...
}
}

My situation was a bit more complex and the above solution did not work for me. (That is changing the AssemblyInfo.cs file)
I have moved all my form and image resources to a seperate dll and the moment any of the images are used the 'filenotfoundexception' exception is thrown.
The important information is the following:
Beginning with the .NET Framework 4, the ResolveEventHandler event is raised for all assemblies, including resource assemblies. See the following reference
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.appdomain.assemblyresolve(v=vs.110).aspx
The solution turned out to be very simple. If a resource file is requested in the form 'dllname.resources.dll' always return null;
Here is the event code that I have adapted from other samples found. (I have commented the debugging lines - un-comment them if you have a problem using the code.
Add this line in your class. It is used to prevent loading a dll more than once
readonly static Dictionary<string, Assembly> _libs = new Dictionary<string, Assembly>();
This is the event method.
private static Assembly OnAssemblyResolve(object sender, ResolveEventArgs args)
{
Assembly assembly = null;
string keyName = new AssemblyName(args.Name).Name;
if (keyName.Contains(".resources"))
{
return null; // This line is what fixed the problem
}
if (_libs.ContainsKey(keyName))
{
assembly = _libs[keyName]; // If DLL is loaded then don't load it again just return
return assembly;
}
string dllName = DllResourceName(keyName);
//string[] names = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceNames(); // Uncomment this line to debug the possible values for dllName
using (Stream stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream(dllName))
{
if (stream == null)
{
Debug.Print("Error! Unable to find '" + dllName + "'");
// Uncomment the next lines to show message the moment an assembly is not found. (This will also stop for .Net assemblies
//MessageBox.Show("Error! Unable to find '" + dllName + "'! Application will terminate.");
//Environment.Exit(0);
return null;
}
byte[] buffer = new BinaryReader(stream).ReadBytes((int) stream.Length);
assembly = Assembly.Load(buffer);
_libs[keyName] = assembly;
return assembly;
}
}
private static string DllResourceName(string ddlName)
{
if (ddlName.Contains(".dll") == false) ddlName += ".dll";
foreach (string name in Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceNames())
{
if (name.EndsWith(ddlName)) return name;
}
return ddlName;
}