Hi Friends

I have to sign a dll(without source code) with strong name and therefore I
use the al /out command:
al /out:<assembly name> <module name> /keyfile:<file name>

(In this command, assembly name is the name of the assembly to sign with a
strong name, module name is the name of the code module used to create the
assembly, and file name is the name of the container or file that contains
the key pair. ***quoted from MSDN)


However, even after intensive searching through the web I still do not well
understand the meaning of the <module name> parameter in the command, which
is explained in: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconassigningassemblystrongname.asp

And I still fail to sign the module

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks, Thanks and Thanks!!

Tom

You can't sign an existing unsigned assembly with Al.exe. Have you
tried asking the DLL vendor if they can provide a strong named
version?


Mattias

Thanks for your reply. Perhaps I should try to ask the vendor for that then.
But I also would like to ask is this the only way to solve the problem? and
just would like to ask what is the use of al /out then? 

In fact, I would like to register my DLL to component service (since I
cannot call the dll using VB script), but it requires all used dll be
strongly named. Are there any ways to register a dll without the need of
strongly signing the dll?

Many thanks!!

Tom

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The only other option I can think of is to decompile and recompile the
DLL with Ildasm.exe and Ilasm.exe. But I doubt the license allows
that.


Al.exe is only used to create an assembly from existing modules and/or
resource files. A module in this context is a compiled managed
executable without an assembly manifest. A module by itself can't be
loaded, it must be part of an assembly. The /out switch simply sets
the output filename of the assembly Al creates. So Al lets you create
a new, strongly named assembly made up by existing modules. But it
doesn't let you sign an existing unsigned assembly. (And neither does
Sn.exe which is another tool used for signing stuff).



Mattias

Thanks very much for your detailed explaination. In fact in these days I
have read many posts concerning migration from VB6 to .net, and you answered
many of those questions:).My solution is to find the source of the dll(called
aspftp.dll, luckily it is open source), then compile it and add the key into
it. Then I use the tlbimp utility to sign all references that my project
used. After all these are done and I can successfully register my DLL to
component service.

Unluckily, when I execute the program a runtime exception is thrown, which is:

An unhandled exception of type 'System.BadImageFormatException' occured in
mscorlib.dll
Additional Information: The format of the file 'aspftp' is invalid

where 'aspftp' is the dll name mentioned above. Before when I use this
aspftp.dll in VB6 project, and migrate the whole project to vb.net, then
VS.net2003 automatically generate interop.aspftp.dll for me, and the program
works, except that it does not have strong name and I cannot register to
component service. Now since I need to generate aspftp.dll myself from src
(in order to sign it), I cannot use the Interop.aspftp.dll anymore, but use
the one I generate myself, and exception thrown......just don't understand
why...I am totally new to VB(never write one VB program) but my first task is
to migrate an application to VB.net, and I really get tied of the endless
problems raised:(. But I really learn more and more..

Thanks in advance.

Tom,

Oh so you're dealing with an interop assembly. Wish you had said that
earlier. :)

You will not be able to sign the COM component, aspftp.dll. You can
only sign assemblies, in this case the interop assembly. You can
generate a signed interop assembly with the Tlbimp.exe tool and its
/keyfile option. No need to modify the COM component.


Mattias

Thanks. In fact, at the beginning when I see your reply, I don't really
understand, since I tried many times to sign the Interop.aspftp.dll generated
by VS.net 2003 but fail. But when I used the tbl command to sign the
aspftp.dll directly, it succeeds!

However, problem still continue to raise. The program says it cannot create
ActiveX comonent when it runs
CreateObject("aspftp.ASPFTP")

Then I try to register the signed Interop.aspftp.dll to registry using
regsrv32, it fails again, saying:

Interop.aspftp.dll was loaded, but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not
found. The file cannot be registered.

Why can't I create an instance of the object? This does not happen if I use
the Interop.aspftp.dll generated by VS.net2003 from the original VB6 project.

Thanks a lot!!

Tom

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