Can I catch a missing dll error during application load in C#?

Question

Is it possible to catch the exception when a referenced .dll cannot be found?

For example, I have a C# project with a reference to a third-party dll; if that dll cannot be found, an exception is thrown. The exception is a System.IO.FileNotFoundException, but I am unable to determine where to catch it. The following code did not seem to work:

static class Program {     /// <summary>     /// The main entry point for the application.     /// </summary>     [STAThread]     static void Main()     {         try         {           // code goes here         }         catch (Exception exc)         {             MessageBox.Show(exc.ToString());         }     } } 

Answer 1

Extending Josh's answer.

Assemblies in .Net are loaded on demand by the CLR. Typically an assembly load won't be attempted until a method is JIT'd which uses a type from that assembly.

If you can't catch the assembly load failure with a try/catch block in the main method, it's likely beceause you're using a type from the assembly within the try/catch. So the exception occurs before the main method is actually run.

Try putting all of the code from the main method in a different function. Then call that function within the try/catch block and you should see the exception.