I was wondering if its possible to extracts metadata from an assembly without
loading it. For example: consider an app which loads dlls from a specified
directory and is only interested in dlls from a specific vendor. Can I
retrieve this information on a file-level. I could of course create a
separate AppDomain and sandbox the dlls, extract metadata and unload the
appdomain, then reload the assemblies i'm interested in. The operation is
done at startup, and such an approach would generate a lot of overhead at a
time where speed is of essence. Any alternative suggestions?

Hello, MariusI!

M> I was wondering if its possible to extracts metadata from an assembly
M> without loading it. For example: consider an app which loads dlls from a
M> specified directory and is only interested in dlls from a specific
M> vendor. Can I retrieve this information on a file-level.

Look at IMetaDataImport and related interfaces. See

%FrameworkSDKDir%\Tool Developers Guide\docs\Metadata Unmanaged
API.doc

.NET Runtime 2.0 Error - I need more details...
How do I get control when the close box is clicked?
Using generic printer
.Net 2 SerialPort Class Questions
How should a Windows Service stop itself?