How-To's

dotPeek is Back with New Early Build

After several months of no-show, we’re relieved to provide a new early build of dotPeek — our free .NET decompiler and assembly browser.

We apologize for the considerable delay updating the tool, and we expect that as ReSharper 6.1 development is mostly coming to an end, we can now focus more on pre-release polishing of dotPeek.

Here’s the list of prominent changes in the new dotPeek early build (No. 7603)

  • Opening .dll files by double-clicking in Windows Explorer. dotPeek can now automatically register as an application that handles files with the .dll extension. (DOTP-151) To switch Windows Explorer integration on, select Tools > Options, and click Integrate with Windows Explorer under Environment | General.
  • Resource decompilation. dotPeek can now open assembly resources, including images and XML-based resources (for example, .resx or .dtd files), internally or by passing them to an external application.
  • Opening libraries in a single dotPeek instance. (DOTP-2615) If you’re used to browsing assemblies in a file manager and opening them in a decompiler from there, there’s no more annoyance caused by initializing multiple copies of dotPeek.
  • XML doc comments can be shown in decompiled code if the corresponding XML documentation file is available. (DOTP-1208) For instance, that means additional convenience when exploring .NET Framework libraries.
  • Properties window that provides basic information about assemblies and references selected in the Assembly Explorer. (DOTP-481)
  • Reference Hierarchy tool window. Based on ReSharper’s Type Hierarchy feature that is now extensible, this new tool window shows which references the current assembly has, allowing you to track down all its dependencies, and additionally showing recursive dependencies with a glyph to the right of a reference entry. If you click Referencing projects in the tool window’s toolbar, you can see which of the assemblies in your current assembly list reference the current selected assembly.
  • Drag-n-drop assemblies: You can now drag assemblies (or selections of assemblies) from Windows Explorer, and drop them into dotPeek, which adds them to dotPeek’s Assembly Explorer.
  • New command-line options including keys to switch Windows Explorer integration on/off, hide splash screen, and always open every new assembly in a new instance.
  • Other improvements including a toolbar with basic commands, configurable font in the source code view area, and a new ReSharper-like Options dialog box (work in progress). Also, dotPeek window position and state is now preserved between application launches.

For die-hard fans, here’s a selection of issues resolved for this build.

Please download the new build and try it out. As usual, you’re encouraged to report any issues you’re facing to dotPeek bug tracker.

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