Obfuscation when InternalsVisibleTo attribute is used?

Question

I want to use the InternalsVisibleTo attribute solely to allow meaningful unit tests.

However, I am worried that when I will build for release the internal members will not get obfuscated, even though no friend assemblies will be part of the release build.

Is there anything I can/need to do that will cause these internal members to be considered truly internal for release builds? Cannot find a clear answer either way on this online.

FYI: I have not made a choice for a specific obfuscator yet. Any answers to this question may influence that choice.

What about using a directive to wrap the InternalsVisibleTo attribute? — cordialgerm, Aug 28 '12 at 20:40
@pickles, can you give an example? I don't quite understand how this would work. — Stefan de Kok, Aug 29 '12 at 01:21

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 29 '12 at 01:28

6

Try using a pre-processer directive. You can either define your own symbol or use the built in RELEASE or DEBUG symbols

#if !RELEASE
[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("X")]
#endif

answered Aug 29 '12 at 01:28

cordialgerm

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Thanks @pickles, I got it! This seems like a very elegant solution. Marked as answer. – Stefan de Kok Aug 29 '12 at 13:27
Seems like this should be a textbook case for unit testing of commercial code. Odd, that it isn't more common in unit testing discussions and documentation. – Stefan de Kok Aug 29 '12 at 13:58
Unearthing an old thread, but could this be bad practice for security reasons, in any way? – CTZStef Oct 28 '20 at 15:33

Obfuscation when InternalsVisibleTo attribute is used?

1 Answers1