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NET Framework Class Library Page 1 of 18
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.NET Framework Reference
.NET Framework Class Library

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Updated: November 2007
The .NET Framework class library is a library of classes, interfaces, and value types that are included in
the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). This library provides access to system functionality and
is designed to be the foundation on which .NET Framework applications, components, and controls are
built.
Namespaces
The .NET Framework class library provides the following namespaces, which are documented in
detail in this reference.
Accessibility
Contains types that are part of a managed wrapper for the Component Object Model (COM)
accessibility interface.
Microsoft.Aspnet.Snapin
Contains classes that are necessary for the ASP.NET management console application to interact
with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine
Contains the classes that represent the MSBuild engine.
Microsoft.Build.Conversion
Contains types that Visual Studio uses to convert project files.
Microsoft.Build.Framework
Contains classes that make up the tasks, loggers, and events of MSBuild.
Microsoft.Build.Tasks
Contains the implementation of all tasks shipping with MSBuild.
Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Deployment.Bootstrapper
Contains classes used internally by MSBuild.
Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Deployment.ManifestUtilities
Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Hosting
Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Windows
Microsoft.Build.Utilities
Provides helper classes that you can use to create your own MSBuild loggers and tasks.
Microsoft.CSharp
Contains classes that support compilation and code generation using the C# language.
Microsoft.Ink
Contains types that implement digital ink on the Tablet PC.
Microsoft.JScript
Contains classes that support compilation and code generation using the JScript language.
Microsoft.ServiceModel.Channels.Mail
Contains classes that support programming applications on the .NET Compact Framework and on
the desktop using the Exchange Server mail transport based on Windows Communication
Foundation (WCF).
Microsoft.ServiceModel.Channels.Mail.ExchangeWebService
Contains classes that provide the implementation of the Microsoft Exchange Server mail
transport on the desktop by using the .NET Framework.
Microsoft.ServiceModel.Channels.Mail.WindowsMobile
Contains classes that provide the implementation of the Microsoft Exchange Server mail
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.NET Framework Class Library Page 2 of 18
transport on Windows Mobile devices that use the .NET Compact Framework.
Microsoft.SqlServer.Server
Contains classes that are specific to the integration of the.NET Framework common language
runtime (CLR) component into Microsoft SQL Server, and the SQL Server database engine
process execution environment.
Microsoft.StylusInput
Contains types that handle the stylus packet data from a digitizer in real time.
Microsoft.StylusInput.PluginData
Contains types that represent the data passed to RealTimeStylus plug-ins.
Microsoft.VisualBasic
Contains classes that support compilation and code generation using the Visual Basic language.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices
Contains types that support the Visual Basic Application Model and provide access to application
information.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6
Contains types used by tools for upgrading from Visual Basic 6.0 to Visual Basic .NET.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices
Contains internal-use only types that support the Visual Basic compiler.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices
Contains types that support the My objects related to devices in Visual Basic.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO
Contains types that support the My file system object in Visual Basic.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.Logging
Contains types that support the My logging objects in Visual Basic and provides a simple log
listener that directs logging output to file.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyServices
Contains types that support My in Visual Basic.
Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyServices.Internal
Contains internal-use only types that support My in Visual Basic.
Microsoft.VisualC
Contains types that support the Visual C++ compiler.
Microsoft.VisualC.StlClr
Contains types that implement the STL/CLR Library.
Microsoft.VisualC.StlClr.Generic
Contains types that implement the generic interface to the STL/CLR Library.
Microsoft.Vsa
Contains interfaces that enable you to integrate script for the .NET Framework script engines into
applications, and to compile and execute code at run time.
Microsoft.Web.Administration
Contains classes for administering Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Client
Contains classes for developing tools that are displayed in IIS Manager.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Client.Extensions
Contains classes to extend features in IIS Manager.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Client.Win32
Contains user interface classes for creating Windows Forms for tools that are displayed in IIS
Manager.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Features.Administrators
Contains a class that identifies an administrator module.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Features.Delegation
Contains a class that identifies a delegation module.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Features.Service
Contains a class that identifies a management service module.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Host
Contains an interface that identifies the host of a management unit.

Microsoft.Web.Management.Host.Shell
Contains classes that start IIS Manager and pass information to it.
Microsoft.Web.Management.Server
Contains types that implement the server portion of a management feature in IIS Manager.
Microsoft.Win32
Provides two types of classes: those that handle events raised by the operating system and
those that manipulate the system registry.
Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles
Contains classes that are abstract derivations of safe handle classes that provide common
functionality supporting file and operating system handles.
Microsoft.Windows.Themes
Provides exposure to the set of themes defined by Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms
Contains classes for developing Pocket PC and Smartphone Windows Forms applications using
the .NET Compact Framework.
Microsoft.WindowsMobile.DirectX
Contains classes for developing DirectX applications on devices with the .NET Compact
Framework.
Microsoft.WindowsMobile.DirectX.Direct3D
Contains classes for developing Direct3D applications on devices with the .NET Compact
Framework.
System
Contains fundamental classes and base classes that define commonly used value and reference
data types, events and event handlers, interfaces, attributes, and processing exceptions. Other
classes provide services supporting data type conversion, method parameter manipulation,
mathematics, remote and local program invocation, application environment management, and
supervision of managed and unmanaged applications.
System.AddIn
Contains an attribute for identifying add-ins.
System.AddIn.Contract
Contains types that provide the basis for communication between components that are updated
independently.
System.AddIn.Contract.Automation
Contains types that components use to access type information and invoke type members.
System.AddIn.Contract.Collections
Contains types used to implement collection classes for add-in development.
System.AddIn.Hosting
Provides types for discovering, registering, activating, and controlling add-ins.
System.AddIn.Pipeline
Provides classes for constructing the communication pipeline between a host application and an
add-in.
System.CodeDom
Contains classes that can be used to represent the elements and structure of a source code
document. These elements can be used to model the structure of a source code document that
can be output as source code in a supported language using the functionality provided by the
System.CodeDom.Compiler namespace.
System.CodeDom.Compiler
Contains types for managing the generation and compilation of source code in supported
programming languages. Code generators can each produce source code in a particular
programming language based on the structure of Code Document Object Model (CodeDOM)
source code models consisting of elements provided by the System.CodeDom namespace.
System.Collections
Contains interfaces and classes that define various collections of objects, such as lists, queues,
bit arrays, hashtables and dictionaries.
System.Collections.Generic
Contains interfaces and classes that define generic collections, which enable users to create
strongly typed collections that provide better type safety and performance than non-generic
strongly typed collections.
System.Collections.ObjectModel
Contains classes that can be used as collections in the object model of a reusable library. Use
these classes when properties or methods return collections.
System.Collections.Specialized
Contains specialized and strongly typed collections; for example, a linked list dictionary, a bit
vector, and collections that contain only strings.
System.ComponentModel
Provides classes that are used to implement the run-time and design-time behavior of
components and controls. This namespace includes the base classes and interfaces for
implementing attributes and type converters, binding to data sources, and licensing components.
System.ComponentModel.Design
Contains classes that developers can use to build custom design-time behavior for components
and user interfaces for configuring components at design time. The design time environment
provides systems that enable developers to arrange components and configure their properties.
System.ComponentModel.Design.Data
Contains classes for implementing design-time behavior of data-related components.
System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization
Provides types that support customization and control of serialization at design time.
System.Configuration
Contains the types that provide the programming model for handling configuration data.
System.Configuration.Assemblies
Contains classes that are used to configure an assembly.
System.Configuration.Install
Provides classes that enable you to write custom installers for your own components. The
Installer class is the base class for all custom installers in the .NET Framework.
System.Configuration.Provider
Contains the base classes shared by both server and client applications to support a pluggable
model to easily add or remove functionality.
System.Data
Contains classes that constitute most of the ADO.NET architecture. The ADO.NET architecture
enables you to build components that efficiently manage data from multiple data sources.
System.Data.Common
Contains classes shared by the .NET Framework data providers. A .NET Framework data provider
describes a collection of classes used to access a data source, such as a database, in the
managed space.
System.Data.Design
Contains classes that can be used to generate a custom typed dataset.
System.Data.Linq
Contains classes that support interaction with relational databases in LINQ to SQL applications.
System.Data.Linq.Mapping
Contains classes that are used to generate a LINQ to SQL object model that represents the
structure and content of a relational database.
System.Data.Odbc
Contains classes that encapsulate the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC. The .NET
Framework Data Provider for ODBC describes a collection of classes used to access an ODBC data
source in the managed space.
System.Data.OleDb
Contains classes that encapsulate the .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB. The .NET
Framework Data Provider for OLE DB describes a collection of classes used to access an OLE DB
data source in the managed space.
System.Data.OracleClient
Contains classes that encapsulate the .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle. The .NET
Framework Data Provider for Oracle describes a collection of classes used to access an Oracle
data source in the managed space.
System.Data.Sql
Contains classes that support SQL Server-specific functionality. The API extensions in this class
add to the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (System.Data.SqlClient).
System.Data.SqlClient
Contains classes that encapsulate the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server. The .NET
Framework Data Provider for SQL Server describes a collection of classes used to access a SQL
Server database in the managed space.
System.Data.SqlServerCe
Describes a collection of classes that can be used to access a database in SQL Server CE from
Windows CE-based devices in the managed environment. With this namespace you can create
SQL Server CE databases on a device and also establish connections to SQL Server databases
that are on a device or on a remote server.
System.Data.SqlTypes
Contains classes for native data types within SQL Server. These classes provide a faster
alternative to other data types. Using the classes in this namespace helps prevent type
conversion errors caused in situations where loss of precision could occur. Because other data
types are converted to and from SqlTypes behind the scenes, explicitly creating and using
objects within this namespace results in faster code as well.
System.Deployment.Application
Provides types to create custom upgrade behavior in ClickOnce applications.
System.Diagnostics
Provides classes that enable you to interact with system processes, event logs, and performance
counters. This namespace also provides classes that let you debug your application and trace the
execution of your code.
System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis
Contains classes for interaction with code analysis tools. Code analysis tools are used to analyze
code for conformance to coding conventions such as naming or security rules.
System.Diagnostics.Design
Contains classes that can be used to extend design-time support for application monitoring and
instrumentation.
System.Diagnostics.Eventing
Contains types to support implementation of an application on Windows Vista. The
instrumentation, when enabled, logs event data to the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) tracing
subsystem.
System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader
Contains types to support reading from and managing event logs.
System.Diagnostics.PerformanceData
Contains classes that are used to provide counter data, which expose performance metrics to
consumers.
System.Diagnostics.SymbolStore
Provides classes that enable you to read and write debug symbol information, such as source line
to Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) maps. Compilers targeting the .NET Framework can
store the debug symbol information into programmer's database (PDB) files. Debuggers and
code profiler tools can read the debug symbol information at run time.
System.DirectoryServices
Provides easy access to Active Directory from managed code. The namespace contains two
component classes, DirectoryEntry and DirectorySearcher, which use the Active Directory
Services Interfaces (ADSI) technology. ADSI is the set of interfaces that Microsoft provides as a
flexible tool for working with a variety of network providers. ADSI gives the administrator the
ability to locate and manage resources on a network with relative ease, regardless of the
network's size.
System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement
Provides uniform access and manipulation of user, computer, and group security principals
across multiple principal stores.
System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory
Provides a high-level abstraction object model that builds around Active Directory directory
service tasks. The Active Directory directory service concepts such as forest, domain, site,
subnet, partition, and schema are part of the object model.
System.DirectoryServices.Protocols
Provides the methods defined in the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) version 3 and
Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) version 2.0 standards.
System.Drawing
Provides access to GDI+ basic graphics functionality. More advanced functionality is provided in
the System.Drawing.Drawing2D, System.Drawing.Imaging, and System.Drawing.Text
namespaces.
System.Drawing.Design
Contains classes that extend design-time user interface (UI) logic and drawing. You can further
extend this design-time functionality to create custom toolbox items, type-specific value editors
that can edit and graphically represent values of their supported types, or type converters that
can convert values between certain types. This namespace provides the basic frameworks for
developing extensions to the design-time UI.
System.Drawing.Drawing2D
Provides advanced two-dimensional and vector graphics functionality. This namespace includes
the gradient brushes, the Matrix class (used to define geometric transforms), and the
GraphicsPath class.
System.Drawing.Imaging
Provides advanced GDI+ imaging functionality. Basic graphics functionality is provided by the
System.Drawing namespace.
System.Drawing.Printing
Provides print-related services. Typically, you create a new instance of the PrintDocument class,
set the properties that describe what to print, and call the Print method to actually print the
document.
System.Drawing.Text
Provides advanced GDI+ typography functionality. Basic graphics functionality is provided by the
System.Drawing namespace. The classes in this namespace enable users to create and use
collections of fonts.
System.EnterpriseServices
Provides an important infrastructure for enterprise applications. COM+ provides a services
architecture for component programming models deployed in an enterprise environment. This
namespace provides .NET Framework objects with access to COM+ services, making the .NET
Framework objects more practical for enterprise applications.
System.EnterpriseServices.CompensatingResourceManager
Provides classes that enable you to use a Compensating Resource Manager (CRM) in managed
code. A CRM is a service provided by COM+ that enables you to include non-transactional objects
in Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC) transactions. Although CRMs do not
provide the capabilities of a full resource manager, they do provide transactional atomicity (all-
or-nothing behavior) and durability through the recovery log.
System.Globalization
Contains classes that define culture-related information, including the language, the
country/region, the calendars in use, the format patterns for dates, currency, and numbers, and
the sort order for strings. These classes are useful for writing globalized (internationalized)
applications.
System.IdentityModel.Claims
Contains types that support the use of claims in the Extensible Identity Model.
System.IdentityModel.Policy
Contains types to build or use authorization policies in Windows Communication Foundation
(WCF).
System.IdentityModel.Selectors
Contains the types that provide security tokens for outgoing SOAP messages and that
authenticate security tokens in incoming SOAP messages.
System.IdentityModel.Tokens
Contains the types that are related to the predefined security tokens that ship with Windows
Communication Foundation (WFC).
System.IO
Contains types that enable synchronous and asynchronous reading and writing on data streams
and files.
System.IO.Compression
Contains classes that provide basic compression and decompression for streams.
System.IO.IsolatedStorage
Contains types that support the creation and use of isolated stores. With these stores, you can
read and write data that less trusted code cannot access and help prevent the exposure of
sensitive information that can be saved elsewhere on the file system. Data is stored in
compartments that are isolated by the current user and by the assembly in which the code
exists.
System.IO.Log
Contains types for implementing a custom diagnostic logging or transaction processing system.
System.IO.Packaging
Contains types that support storage of multiple data objects in a single container.
System.IO.Pipes
Contains types that provide a means for interprocess communication through anonymous and/or
named pipes.
System.IO.Ports
Contains classes that control serial ports, providing a framework for synchronous and event-
driven I/O, access to pin and break states, access to serial driver properties, and enumerations
for specifying port characteristics.
System.Linq
Contains classes and interfaces that support queries that use Language-Integrated Query (LINQ).
System.Linq.Expressions
Contains types that enable language-level code expressions to be represented as objects in the
form of expression trees.
System.Management
Provides access to a rich set of management information and management events about the
system, devices, and applications instrumented to the Windows Management Instrumentation
(WMI) infrastructure.
System.Management.Instrumentation
Provides the classes necessary for instrumenting applications for management and exposing their
management information and events through WMI to potential consumers.
System.Media
Contains classes for playing sound files and accessing system sounds.
System.Messaging
Provides classes that enable you to connect to, monitor, and administer message queues on the
network and send, receive, or peek messages.
System.Messaging.Design
Contains classes that can be used to extend design-time support for System.Messaging classes.
System.Net
Provides a simple programming interface for many of the protocols used on networks today. The
WebRequest and WebResponse classes form the basis of what are called pluggable protocols, an
implementation of network services that enables you to develop applications that use Internet
resources without worrying about the specific details of the individual protocols.
System.Net.Cache
Defines the types and enumerations used to define cache policies for resources obtained using
the WebRequest and HttpWebRequest classes.
System.Net.Configuration
Contains classes that applications use to programmatically access and update configuration
settings for the System.Net namespaces.
System.Net.Mail
Contains classes used to send electronic mail to a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server
for delivery.
System.Net.Mime
Contains types that are used to represent Multipurpose Internet Mail Exchange (MIME) headers.
These types are used with the types in the System.Net.Mail namespace to specify Content-Type,
Content-Disposition and Content-transfer-Encoding headers when sending e-mail using the
SmtpClient class.
System.Net.NetworkInformation
Provides access to network traffic data, network address information, and notification of address
changes for the local computer. The namespace also contains classes that implement the Ping
utility. You can use Ping and related classes to check whether a computer is reachable across the
network.
System.Net.Security
Contains types that provide network streams for secure communication between hosts.
System.Net.PeerToPeer
Provides access to peer networking functionality.
System.Net.PeerToPeer.Collaboration
Provides types that enhance peer-to-peer networking functionality and provide capabilities for
serverless managed collaboration sessions.
System.Net.Security
Provides network streams for secure communications between hosts.
System.Net.Sockets
Provides a managed implementation of the Windows Sockets (Winsock) interface for developers
who need to help control access to the network.
System.Printing
Contains types to support printing.
System.Printing.IndexedProperties
Contains classes that provide access to the properties of print system objects without using
reflection, and enable rapid copying of the property settings to another object of the same type.
System.Printing.Interop
Provides types to support interconversion of managed PrintTicket objects and unmanaged
Graphics Device Interface (GDI) DEVMODE structures.
System.Reflection
Contains classes and interfaces that provide a managed view of loaded types, methods, and
fields, with the ability to dynamically create and invoke types.
System.Reflection.Emit
Contains classes that enable a compiler or tool to emit metadata and Microsoft intermediate
language (MSIL) and optionally generate a PE file on disk. The primary clients of these classes
are script engines and compilers.
System.Resources
Provides classes and interfaces that enable developers to create, store, and manage various
culture-specific resources used in an application.
System.Resources.Tools
Contains the StronglyTypedResourceBuilder class, which provides support for strongly typed
resources. Beginning with the .NET Framework version 2.0, this compile-time feature
encapsulates access to resources by creating classes that contain a set of static read-only (get)
properties, thus making it easier to consume resources.
System.Runtime
Contains advanced types that support diverse namespaces such as System, the Runtime
namespaces, and the Security namespaces.
System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Provides functionality for compiler writers who use managed code to specify attributes in
metadata that affect the run-time behavior of the common language runtime. The classes in this
namespace are for compiler writers use only.
System.Runtime.ConstrainedExecution
Defines a set of types that enumerate and define a contract for reliability between the author of
some code and the developers who take a dependency on that code. The types are intended for
use in constrained execution regions (CERs) only.
System.Runtime.Hosting
Contains advanced types that are used in application activation within application domains.
System.Runtime.InteropServices
Provides a wide variety of members that support COM interop and platform invoke services. If
you are unfamiliar with these services, see Interoperating with Unmanaged Code.
System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComTypes
Contains methods that are definitions of COM functions for managed code. These functions
replace the now-obsolete UCOM methods in the System.Runtime.InteropServices namespace.
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Expando
Contains the IExpando interface, which lets you modify an object by adding or removing its
members.
System.Runtime.Remoting
Provides classes and interfaces that enable developers to create and configure distributed
applications.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Activation
Provides classes and objects that support server and client activation of remote objects.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels
Contains classes that support and handle channels and channel sinks, which are used as the
transport medium when a client calls a method on a remote object.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.Http
Contains channels that use the HTTP protocol to transport messages and objects to and from
remote locations. By default, the HTTP channels encode objects and method calls in SOAP format
for transmission, but other encoding and decoding formatter sinks can be specified in the
configuration properties of a channel.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.Ipc
Defines a communication channel for remoting that uses the Interprocess Communication (IPC)
system of the Windows operating system. Because it does not use network communication, the
IPC channel is much faster than the HTTP and TCP channels, but it can only be used for
communication between application domains on the same physical computer.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.Tcp
Contains channels that use the TCP protocol to transport messages and objects to and from
remote locations. By default, the TCP channels encode objects and method calls in binary format
for transmission, but other encoding and decoding formatter sinks can be specified in the
configuration properties of a channel.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Contexts
Contains objects that define the contexts all objects reside within. A context is an ordered
sequence of properties that defines an environment for the objects within it. Contexts are
created during the activation process for objects that are configured to require certain automatic
services such synchronization, transactions, just-in-time (JIT) activation, security, and so on.
Multiple objects can live inside a context.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Lifetime
Contains classes that manage the lifetime of remote objects. Traditionally, distributed garbage
collection uses reference counts and pinging for control over the lifetime of objects. This works
well when there are a few clients per service, but does not scale well to thousands of clients per
service. The remoting lifetime service associates a lease with each service, and deletes a service
when its lease time expires. The lifetime service can take on the function of a traditional
distributed garbage collector, and it also adjusts well when the numbers of clients per server
increases.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging
Contains classes used to create and remote messages. The remoting infrastructure uses
messages to communicate with remote objects. Messages are used to transmit remote method
calls, to activate remote objects, and to communicate information. A message object carries a
set of named properties, including action identifiers, envoy information, and parameters.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Metadata
Contains classes and attributes that can be used to customize generation and processing of SOAP
for objects and fields. The classes of this namespace can be used to indicate the SOAPAction,
type output, XML element name, and the method XML namespace Uniform Resource Identifier
(URI).
System.Runtime.Remoting.Metadata.W3cXsd2001
Contains the XML Schema Definition (XSD) defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in
2001. The XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes specification from W3C identifies format and behavior
of various data types. This namespace contains wrapper classes for the data types that conform
to the W3C specification. All date and time types conform to the ISO standards specification.
System.Runtime.Remoting.MetadataServices
Contains the classes used by the Soapsuds.exe command line tool and the user code to convert
metadata to and from XML schema for the remoting infrastructure.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies
Contains classes that control and provide functionality for proxies. A proxy is a local object that is
an image of a remote object. Proxies enable clients to access objects across remoting
boundaries.
System.Runtime.Remoting.Services
Contains service classes that provide functionality to the .NET Framework.
System.Runtime.Serialization
Contains classes that can be used for serializing and deserializing objects. Serialization is the
process of converting an object or a graph of objects into a linear sequence of bytes for either
storage or transmission to another location. Deserialization is the process of taking in stored
information and recreating objects from it.
System.Runtime.Serialization.Configuration
Contains classes used to read the values found in application configuration files in the
<system.xml.serialization> section.
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters
Provides common enumerations, interfaces, and classes that are used by serialization formatters.
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary
Contains the BinaryFormatter class, which can be used to serialize and deserialize objects in
binary format.
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap
Contains the SoapFormatter class, which can be used to serialize and deserialize objects in the
SOAP format.
System.Runtime.Serialization.Json
Contains types for serializing objects to JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and deserializing
objects from JSON.
System.Runtime.Versioning
Contains advanced types that support versioning in side-by-side implementations of the .NET
Framework.
System.Security
Provides the underlying structure of the .NET Framework security system, including base classes
for permissions.
System.Security.AccessControl
Provides programming elements that control access to, and audit security-related actions on,
securable objects.
System.Security.Authentication
Provides a set of enumerations that describe the security of a connection.
System.Security.Cryptography
Provides cryptographic services, including secure encoding and decoding of data, as well as many
other operations, such as hashing, random number generation, and message authentication.
System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs
Provides programming elements for Public Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS), including
methods for signing data, exchanging keys, requesting certificates, public key encryption and
decryption, and other security functions.
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates
Contains the common language runtime implementation of the Authenticode X.509 v.3
certificate. This certificate is signed with a private key that uniquely and positively identifies the
holder of the certificate.
System.Security.Cryptography.Xml
Contains classes to support the creation and validation of XML digital signatures.
System.Security.Permissions
Defines classes that control access to operations and resources based on policy.
System.Security.Policy
Contains code groups, membership conditions, and evidence. These three types of classes are
used to create the rules applied by the .NET Framework security policy system. Evidence classes
are the input to security policy, and membership conditions are the switches; together these
create policy statements and determine the granted permission set. Policy levels and code
groups are the structure of the policy hierarchy. Code groups are the encapsulation of a rule and
are arranged hierarchically in a policy level.
System.Security.Principal
Defines a principal object that represents the security context under which code is running.
System.Security.RightsManagement
Contains classes to support rights management of application-created content, such as content
stored in a Package or XpsDocument.
System.ServiceModel
Contains the types necessary to build Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service and
client applications that can be used to build widely distributed applications.

System.ServiceModel.Activation
Contains the types required to construct and modify the dynamic creation of service hosts in a
managed hosting environment.
System.ServiceModel.Activation.Configuration
Contains classes that represent the configuration elements in the SMSvcHost.exe.config file.
System.ServiceModel.Channels
Contains the types required to construct and modify the messages used by clients and services
to communicate with each other, the types of channels used to exchange messages, the channel
factories and channel listeners used to construct those channels, and the binding elements used
to configure them.
System.ServiceModel.ComIntegration
Contains the types necessary to integrate Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service
and client applications with COM components.
System.ServiceModel.Configuration
Contains types used by the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) infrastructure to convert
XML into Common Language Runtime (CLR) types.
System.ServiceModel.Description
Contains the types requires to construct and modify descriptions of services, contract, and
endpoints that are used to build service runtimes and to export metadata.
System.ServiceModel.Diagnostics
Contains an enumeration that is used to configure performance counters for diagnostic purposes.
System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher
Contains the types necessary to modify the runtime execution behavior of service and client
applications.
System.ServiceModel.Install.Configuration
Contains classes that are used to install and configure various configuration settings for running
the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) on a machine.
System.ServiceModel.MsmqIntegration
Contains classes for Microsoft Message Queuing Service (MSMQ) integration, which enables
communication between MSMQ applications and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
applications.
System.ServiceModel.PeerResolvers
System.ServiceModel.Persistence
System.ServiceModel.Security
Contains classes that support general Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) security.
System.ServiceModel.Security.Tokens
Contains types that represent security tokens and certificates for Windows Communication
Foundation (WCF) security.
System.ServiceModel.Syndication
Contains the types that make up the syndication object model.
System.ServiceModel.Web
Contains types that make up the Web HTTP programming model.
System.ServiceProcess
Provides classes that enable you to implement, install, and control Windows service applications.
Services are long-running executables that run without a user interface. Implementing a service
involves inheriting from the ServiceBase class and defining specific behavior to process when
start, stop, pause, and continue commands are passed in, as well as custom behavior and
actions to take when the system shuts down.
System.ServiceProcess.Design
Contains classes that can be used to extend design-time support for Windows service
applications.
System.Speech.AudioFormat
System.Speech.Recognition
Contains Windows Desktop Speech technology types for implementing speech recognition.
System.Speech.Recognition.SrgsGrammar
System.Speech.Synthesis
System.Speech.Synthesis.TtsEngine
Contains types that support the creation of custom engines based on the Speech Synthesis
Markup Language (SSML) for rendering Text-to-Speech (TTS).
System.Text
Contains classes representing ASCII, Unicode, UTF-7, and UTF-8 character encodings; abstract
base classes for converting blocks of characters to and from blocks of bytes; and a helper class
that manipulates and formats String objects without creating intermediate instances of String.
System.Text.RegularExpressions
Contains classes that provide access to the .NET Framework regular expression engine. The
namespace provides regular expression functionality that can be used from any platform or
language that runs within the.NET Framework.
System.Threading
Provides classes and interfaces that enable multithreaded programming. In addition to classes
for synchronizing thread activities and access to data (Mutex, Monitor, Interlocked,
AutoResetEvent, and so on), this namespace includes a ThreadPool class that lets you use a pool
of system-supplied threads, and a Timer class that executes callback methods on thread pool
threads.
System.Timers
Provides the Timer component, which enables you to raise an event on a specified interval.
System.Transactions
Contains classes that enable your code to participate in transactions. The classes support
transactions with multiple, distributed participants, multiple phase notifications, and durable
enlistments.
System.Transactions.Configuration
Contains classes that describe configuration options used by System.Transactions classes.
System.Web
Provides classes and interfaces that enable browser-server communication. This namespace
includes the HttpRequest class, which provides extensive information about the current HTTP
request, the HttpResponse class, which manages HTTP output to the client, and the
HttpServerUtility class, which provides access to server-side utilities and processes. System.Web
also includes classes for cookie manipulation, file transfer, exception information, and output
cache control.
System.Web.ApplicationServices
Provides classes that provide access to ASP.NET forms authentication, roles, and profiles
application services as Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services.
System.Web.Caching
Provides classes for caching frequently used data on the server. This includes the Cache class, a
dictionary that lets you store arbitrary data objects, such as hash tables and data sets. It also
provides expiration functionality for those objects, and methods that let you add and remove the
objects. You can also add the objects with a dependency upon other files or cache entries, and
perform a callback to notify your application when an object is removed from the cache.
System.Web.ClientServices
Contains classes that support access to the ASP.NET login, roles, and profiles services from
Windows-based applications.
System.Web.ClientServices.Providers
Contains client service providers and other classes that support access to the ASP.NET login,
roles, and profiles services from Windows-based applications.
System.Web.Compilation
Contains classes for generating and compiling custom file types within the ASP.NET build
environment.
System.Web.Configuration
Contains classes that are used to set up ASP.NET configuration.
System.Web.Handlers
Contains HTTP handler classes that process HTTP requests to a Web server.
System.Web.Hosting
Provides the functionality for hosting ASP.NET applications from managed applications outside of
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).
System.Web.Management
Contains classes and interfaces for managing and monitoring the health of Web applications.
System.Web.Mobile
Contains the core capabilities, including authentication and error-handling, required for building
ASP.NET mobile Web applications.
System.Web.Profile
Contains classes that are used to implement the ASP.NET user profile in Web server applications.
System.Web.Query.Dynamic
Contains classes that are used to parse expressions from a LinqDataSource control into a
Language-Integrated Query (LINQ).
System.Web.RegularExpressions
Provides regular expressions used to parse ASP.NET files. All members of the
System.Web.RegularExpressions namespace are descendants of the Regex class.
System.Web.Script.Serialization
Contains classes that provide JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) serialization and deserialization
for managed types. It also provides extensibility features to customize serialization behavior.
System.Web.Script.Services
Provides attributes to customize Web service support for using AJAX functionality in ASP.NET.
System.Web.Security
Contains classes that are used to implement ASP.NET security in Web server applications.
System.Web.Services
Consists of the classes that enable you to create XML Web services using ASP.NET and XML Web
service clients. XML Web services are applications that provide the ability to exchange messages
in a loosely coupled environment using standard protocols such as HTTP, XML, XSD, SOAP, and
WSDL. XML Web services enable the building of modular applications within and across
companies in heterogeneous environments, making them interoperable with a broad variety of
implementations, platforms, and devices.
System.Web.Services.Configuration
Consists of the classes that configure how XML Web services created using ASP.NET run.
System.Web.Services.Description
Consists of the classes that enable you to publicly describe an XML Web service by using the Web
Services Description Language (WSDL). Each class in this namespace corresponds to a specific
element in the WSDL specification, and the class hierarchy corresponds to the XML structure of a
valid WSDL document.
System.Web.Services.Discovery
Consists of the classes that enable XML Web service clients to locate the available XML Web
services on a Web server through a process called XML Web Services Discovery.
System.Web.Services.Protocols
Consists of the classes that define the protocols used to transmit data across the wire during the
communication between XML Web service clients and XML Web services created using ASP.NET.
System.Web.SessionState
Supplies classes and interfaces that enable storage of data specific to a single client within a Web
application on the server. The session state data is used to give the client the appearance of a
persistent connection with the application. State information can be stored within local process
memory or, for Web farm configurations, out-of-process using either the ASP.NET State service
or a SQL Server database.
System.Web.UI
Provides classes and interfaces that enable you to create ASP.NET server controls and ASP.NET
Web pages for the user interface of your ASP.NET Web applications. This namespace includes the
Control class, which provides all HTML server controls, Web server controls, and user controls
with a common set of functionality. It also includes the Page control, which is generated
automatically whenever a request is made for an .aspx file in an ASP.NET Web application. Also
included are classes which provide the server controls with data-binding functionality, the ability
to save the view state of a given control or page, and parsing functionality.
System.Web.UI.Adapters
Contains the base classes for control adapters and page adapters, which you can use to override
life-cycle states of pages and controls to modify their default markup or behavior for new markup
standards or for specific browsers.
System.Web.UI.Design
Contains classes that can be used to extend design-time support for ASP.NET Web pages and for
Web server controls.

System.Web.UI.Design.MobileControls
Obsolete. Contains classes that provide design-time support for the classes in the
System.Web.UI.MobileControls namespace. The classes in this namespace are obsolete; use the
classes in System.Web.UI.Design.WebControls instead.
System.Web.UI.Design.MobileControls.Converters
Contains classes that provide design-time support for data type converters in mobile controls.
System.Web.UI.Design.WebControls
Contains classes that can be used to extend design-time support for Web server controls.
System.Web.UI.Design.WebControls.WebParts
Contains classes that provide design-time support for controls derived from classes in the
System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts namespace.
System.Web.UI.HtmlControls
Consists of a collection of classes that enable you to create HTML server controls on a Web Forms
page. HTML server controls run on the server and map directly to standard HTML tags supported
by most browsers. This enables you to programmatically control the HTML elements on a Web
Forms page.
System.Web.UI.MobileControls
Obsolete. Contains a set of ASP.NET server controls that can intelligently render your application
for different mobile devices. The classes in this namespace are obsolete; use the controls in
System.Web.UI.WebControls instead.
System.Web.UI.MobileControls.Adapters
Contains classes you can use to override life-cycle stages of a mobile control to modify its default
HTML, CHTML, or WML markup or behavior for new markup standards or for specific browsers
and mobile devices.
System.Web.UI.MobileControls.Adapters.XhtmlAdapters
Contains classes you can use to override life-cycle stages of a mobile control to modify its default
XHTML markup or behavior for new markup standards or for specific browsers and mobile
devices.
System.Web.UI.WebControls
Contains classes that enable you to create Web server controls on a Web page. Web server
controls run on the server and include form controls such as buttons and text boxes. They also
include special-purpose controls such as a calendar. Because Web server controls run on the
server, you can programmatically control these elements. Web server controls are more abstract
than HTML server controls. Their object model does not necessarily reflect HTML syntax.
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Adapters
Contains classes you can use to override life-cycle stages of a Web control to modify a control's
default markup or behavior for new markup standards or for specific browsers.
System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts
Contains an integrated set of classes and interfaces for creating Web pages whose appearance
and behavior can be modified (personalized) by end users. The user-defined settings for each
page are saved for future browser sessions.
System.Web.Util
Contains classes that enable callback methods to be run under the scope of a transaction and
that enable work to be posted to separate threads.
System.Windows
Provides several important Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) base element classes,
various classes that support the WPF property system and event logic, and other types that are
more broadly consumed by the WPF core and framework.
System.Windows.Annotations
Contains types that support user-created annotations on content displayed in Windows
Presentation Foundation (WPF) document viewing controls.
System.Windows.Annotations.Storage
Contains classes that define the storage architecture and media to save and retrieve user-
created annotations.
System.Windows.Automation
Contains classes that provide support for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) user interface
automation clients.
System.Windows.Automation.Peers
Defines the AutomationPeer base class and a set of types derived from it that correspond to.NET
Framework controls.
System.Windows.Automation.Provider
Contains types for creating UI Automation providers for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
System.Windows.Automation.Text
Contains enumerations that specify text formatting and related behavior for Windows
Presentation Foundation (WPF) UI automation.
System.Windows.Controls
Contains classes to create controls that enable a user to interact with an application.
System.Windows.Controls.Primitives
Contains base classes and controls that are intended to be used as part of other, more complex
controls.
System.Windows.Converters
Contains classes that support type conversion during serialization in Windows Presentation
Foundation (WPF).
System.Windows.Data
Contains classes used for binding properties to data sources, data source provider classes, and
data-specific implementations of collections and views.
System.Windows.Documents
Contains classes that support FixedDocument, FlowDocument, and XML Paper Specification (XPS)
document creation.
System.Windows.Documents.DocumentStructures
Contains classes that describe the structure of an XpsDocument in terms of sections, paragraphs,
figures, bulleted or numbered lists, and tables.
System.Windows.Documents.Serialization
Contains classes that support the creation and use of run-time accessible plug-in serializers
which read and write documents in different data formats.
System.Windows.Forms
Contains classes for creating Windows-based applications that take full advantage of the rich
user interface features available in the Windows operating system.
System.Windows.Forms.Design
Contains classes that support design-time configuration and behavior for Windows Forms
components. These classes consist of: Designer classes that provide support for Windows Forms
components, a set of design time services, UITypeEditor classes for configuring certain types of
properties, and classes for importing ActiveX controls.
System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior
Contains classes for creating custom user interface behavior for components at design time.
System.Windows.Forms.Integration
Contains classes that support interoperation of Windows Forms and Windows Presentation
Foundation (WPF) controls.
System.Windows.Forms.Layout
Contains classes that support design-time and run-time layout behaviors.
System.Windows.Forms.VisualStyles
Contains classes for rendering controls and other Windows user interface elements with visual
styles.
System.Windows.Ink
System.Windows.Ink.AnalysisCore
Provides the base level functionality of ink analysis.
System.Windows.Input
Contains classes that support the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) input system.
System.Windows.Input.StylusPlugIns
Provides classes that support manipulating data from a tablet pen on the Windows Presentation
Foundation (WPF) platform.
System.Windows.Interop
Contains classes that support interoperation between Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
and other technologies.
System.Windows.Markup
Contains classes to support serialization and Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) in
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications.
System.Windows.Markup.Localizer
Contains types that assist in the localization of binary XAML (BAML) sources.
System.Windows.Markup.Primitives
Contains classes that support Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) in Windows
Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications.
System.Windows.Media
Contains classes that enable integration of rich media, including drawings, text, and audio/video
content, within Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications.
System.Windows.Media.Animation
Contains classes that provide property animation functionality in Windows Presentation
Foundation (WPF) applications.
System.Windows.Media.Converters
Contains types used by the MarkupWriter for serialization of Extensible Application Markup
Language (XAML).
System.Windows.Media.Effects
Contains types that can be used to apply visual effects to bitmap images.
System.Windows.Media.Imaging
Contains types used to encode and decode bitmap images.
System.Windows.Media.Media3D
Contains types that support 3-D presentation in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
applications.
System.Windows.Media.Media3D.Converters
Defines types used by the MarkupWriter class for serialization of Extensible Markup Language
(XAML).
System.Windows.Media.TextFormatting
Contains classes that control formatting of text, typically at a lower level than control-based text
presentation or the text object model.
System.Windows.Navigation
Contains types used for navigation, including navigating between windows, and navigation
journaling.
System.Windows.Resources
Contains low-level classes that support the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) resource
model and the Resources build action.
System.Windows.Shapes
Contains a library of shapes that can be used in Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)
or code.
System.Windows.Threading
Contains classes that support the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) threading system.
System.Windows.Xps
Contains classes that write XML Paper Specification (XPS) documents to a data store or print
queue.
System.Windows.Xps.Packaging
Contains classes that enable applications to read and write the components of an XPS document.
System.Windows.Xps.Serialization
Contains classes that support serialization of XPS documents.
System.Workflow.Activities
Contains classes that define activities that can be added to workflows to create and run an
executable representation of a work process.
System.Workflow.Activities.Configuration
Contains classes that represent sections of a configuration file.
System.Workflow.Activities.Rules
Contains classes that define the conditions and actions that form a rule.
System.Workflow.Activities.Rules.Design
Contains classes that manage the Rule Set Editor and the Rule Condition Editor dialog boxes.
System.Workflow.ComponentModel
Contains the types that are used to create activities and workflows.
System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Compiler
Provides the infrastructure for validating and compiling activities and workflows.
System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Design
Contains classes that developers can use to build custom design-time behavior for workflows and
activities.
System.Workflow.ComponentModel.Serialization
Provides the infrastructure for managing the serialization of activities and workflows to and from
Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) and CodeDOM.
System.Workflow.Runtime
Contains types that can be used to control the workflow runtime engine and the execution of a
workflow instance.
System.Workflow.Runtime.Configuration
Contains classes that are used to configure the workflow runtime engine.
System.Workflow.Runtime.DebugEngine
Contains types for use in debugging workflow instances.
System.Workflow.Runtime.Hosting
Contains classes that are related to services provided to the workflow runtime engine by the host
application.
System.Workflow.Runtime.Tracking
Contains types related to tracking services.
System.Xml
Provides standards-based support for processing XML.
System.Xml.Linq
Contains the types for LINQ to XML, which is an in-memory XML programming interface that
enables you to modify XML documents efficiently and easily.
System.Xml.Schema
Contains the XML classes that provide standards-based support for XML Schema definition
language (XSD) schemas.
System.Xml.Serialization
Contains classes that are used to serialize objects into XML format documents or streams.
System.Xml.Serialization.Advanced
Contains classes that enable you to customize the code generated from a Web Services
Description Language (WSDL) document.
System.Xml.Serialization.Configuration
Contains classes used to read the values found in application configuration files in the
system.xml.serialization element section.
System.Xml.XPath
Contains the classes that define a cursor model for navigating and editing XML information items
as instances of the XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model.
System.Xml.Xsl
Provides support for Extensible Stylesheet Transformation (XSLT) transforms. This namespace
supports the W3C XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 1.0 Recommendation.
System.Xml.Xsl.Runtime
Provides internal support for the classes in the System.Xml.Xsl namespace. The classes in this
namespace support the .NET Framework infrastructure and are not intended to be used directly
from your code.
UIAutomationClientsideProviders
Contains a single class that maps client automation providers.
Deprecated and Internal Namespaces

Minimal documentation is provided for the following namespaces, either because they have been
deprecated or because they are for internal use only.
l IEHost.Execute
l Microsoft.CLRAdmin
l Microsoft.IE
l Microsoft.JScript.Vsa
l Microsoft.ManagementConsole
l Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Advanced
l Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal
l Microsoft.ServiceModel.Channels.Mail.ExchangeWebService.Exchange2007
l Microsoft.VisualBasic.Vsa
l Microsoft.Vsa.Vb.CodeDOM
l Microsoft_VsaVb
l RegCode
l System.Configuration.Internal
l System.Data.Linq.SqlClient
l System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.Implementation
l System.Deployment.Internal
l System.EnterpriseServices.Internal
l System.Runtime.InteropServices.CustomMarshalers
l System.ServiceModel.Internal
l System.Web.Configuration.Internal
l System.Web.Mail
l System.Windows.Forms.ComponentModel.Com2Interop
l System.Windows.Forms.PropertyGridInternal
See Also
Concepts
.NET Framework General Reference
.NET Framework Class Library Overview
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DOTNET Namespaces

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NET Framework Class Library Page 1 of 18

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.NET Framework Class Library

Updated: November 2007

Contains an interface that identifies the host of a management unit.

client applications that can be used to build widely distributed applications.

Web server controls.

Deprecated and Internal Namespaces

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