Metadata Reference Table Name in .NET framework

Generation QR Code in .NET framework Metadata Reference Table Name

There are many more tables than what I listed in Tables 2-1 and 2-2, but I just wanted to give you a sense of the kind of information that the compiler emits to produce the metadata information . Earlier I mentioned that there is also a set of manifest metadata tables; I ll discuss these a little later in the chapter . Various tools allow you to examine the metadata within a managed PE file . My personal favorite is ILDasm .exe, the IL Disassembler . To see the metadata tables, execute the following command line:

This causes ILDasm .exe to run, loading the Program .exe assembly . To see the metadata in a nice, human-readable form, select the View/MetaInfo/Show! menu item (or press CTRL+M) . This causes the following information to appear:

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=========================================================== ScopeName : Program.exe MVID : {CA73FFE8-0D42-4610-A8D3-9276195C35AA} =========================================================== Global functions ------------------------------------------------------Global fields ------------------------------------------------------Global MemberRefs ------------------------------------------------------TypeDef #1 (02000002) ------------------------------------------------------TypDefName: Program (02000002) Flags : [Public] [AutoLayout] [Class] [Sealed] [AnsiClass] [BeforeFieldInit] (00100101) Extends : 01000001 [TypeRef] System.Object Method #1 (06000001) [ENTRYPOINT] ------------------------------------------------------MethodName: Main (06000001) Flags : [Public] [Static] [HideBySig] [ReuseSlot] (00000096) RVA : 0x00002050 ImplFlags : [IL] [Managed] (00000000) CallCnvntn: [DEFAULT] ReturnType: Void No arguments. Method #2 (06000002) ------------------------------------------------------MethodName: .ctor (06000002) Flags : [Public] [HideBySig] [ReuseSlot] [SpecialName] [RTSpecialName] [.ctor] (00001886) RVA : 0x0000205c ImplFlags : [IL] [Managed] (00000000) CallCnvntn: [DEFAULT] hasThis ReturnType: Void No arguments.

TypeRef #1 (01000001) ------------------------------------------------------Token: 0x01000001 ResolutionScope: 0x23000001 TypeRefName: System.Object MemberRef #1 (0a000004) ------------------------------------------------------Member: (0a000004) .ctor: CallCnvntn: [DEFAULT] hasThis ReturnType: Void No arguments. TypeRef #2 (01000002)

------------------------------------------------------Token: 0x01000002 ResolutionScope: 0x23000001 TypeRefName: System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CompilationRelaxationsAttribute MemberRef #1 (0a000001) ------------------------------------------------------Member: (0a000001) .ctor: CallCnvntn: [DEFAULT] hasThis ReturnType: Void 1 Arguments Argument #1: I4 TypeRef #3 (01000003) ------------------------------------------------------Token: 0x01000003 ResolutionScope: 0x23000001 TypeRefName: System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeCompatibilityAttribute MemberRef #1 (0a000002) ------------------------------------------------------Member: (0a000002) .ctor: CallCnvntn: [DEFAULT] hasThis ReturnType: Void No arguments. TypeRef #4 (01000004) ------------------------------------------------------Token: 0x01000004 ResolutionScope: 0x23000001 TypeRefName: System.Console MemberRef #1 (0a000003) ------------------------------------------------------Member: (0a000003) WriteLine: CallCnvntn: [DEFAULT] ReturnType: Void 1 Arguments Argument #1: String Assembly ------------------------------------------------------Token: 0x20000001 Name : Program Public Key : Hash Algorithm : 0x00008004 Version: 0.0.0.0 Major Version: 0x00000000 Minor Version: 0x00000000 Build Number: 0x00000000 Revision Number: 0x00000000 Locale: <null> Flags : [none] (00000000) CustomAttribute #1 (0c000001) ------------------------------------------------------CustomAttribute Type: 0a000001 CustomAttributeName:

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System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CompilationRelaxationsAttribute :: instance void .ctor(int32) Length: 8 Value : 01 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 > ctor args: (8)

CustomAttribute #2 (0c000002) ------------------------------------------------------CustomAttribute Type: 0a000002 CustomAttributeName: System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeCompatibilityAttribute :: instance void .ctor() Length: 30 Value : 01 00 01 00 54 02 16 57 72 61 70 4e 6f 6e 45 78 > T WrapNonEx< : 63 65 70 74 69 6f 6e 54 68 72 6f 77 73 01 >ceptionThrows < ctor args: () AssemblyRef #1 (23000001) ------------------------------------------------------Token: 0x23000001 Public Key or Token: b7 7a 5c 56 19 34 e0 89 Name: mscorlib Version: 4.0.0.0 Major Version: 0x00000004 Minor Version: 0x00000000 Build Number: 0x00000000 Revision Number: 0x00000000 Locale: <null> HashValue Blob: Flags: [none] (00000000)

User Strings ------------------------------------------------------70000001 : ( 2) L"Hi"

Coff symbol name overhead: 0 =========================================================== =========================================================== ===========================================================

Fortunately, ILDasm processes the metadata tables and combines information where appropriate so that you don t have to parse the raw table information . For example, in the dump above, you see that when ILDasm shows a TypeDef entry, the corresponding member definition information is shown with it before the first TypeRef entry is displayed . You don t need to fully understand everything you see here . The important thing to remember is that Program .exe contains a TypeDef whose name is Program. This type identifies a public sealed class that is derived from System.Object (a type referenced from another assembly) . The Program type also defines two methods: Main and .ctor (a constructor) .

Main is a public, static method whose code is IL (as opposed to native CPU code, such as x86) . Main has a void return type and takes no arguments . The constructor method (always shown