Can we use TypeIdentifierAttribute in .NET without COM?

Question

I am curious if it is possible to make 2 interfaces in .NET (either in the same assembly or in separate assemblies) that can be treated as equivalent, using the new TypeIdentifierAttribute attribute. I have not found a way.

I've seen some stuff on the internet that suggest this eventually would be possible, but it kinda looks like the current implementation is only for COM interops. I understand the immediate intentions for this were for embedding COM interops. I am not dealing with COM interops.

Also, I am not interested in discussing why I would want to do this, I don't want to lead this question to other types of solutions. Let's just say that I'm experimenting and I want to see if there is anything we can do with TypeIdentifierAttribute.

Answer 1

According to both the documentation, and anecdotal evidence, it is possible to make type equivalence work with standard, non-COM, interfaces.

From the documentation, it seems that you don't need the TypeIdentifierAttribute if your interfaces live in different assemblies. To have two interfaces treated as equivalent, you just need to:

1. Make sure they both have the same name, and live in the same namespace.
2. Apply the GuidAttribute to them both, assigning them the same Guid.