Specifies whether the assembly will be fully or partially signed.

/delaysign[+ | -]

Arguments

+ | -

Use /delaysign- if you want a fully signed assembly. Use /delaysign+ if you only want to place the public key in the assembly. The default is /delaysign-.

Remarks

The /delaysign option has no effect unless used with /keyfile or /keycontainer.

When you request a fully signed assembly, the compiler hashes the file that contains the manifest (assembly metadata) and signs that hash with the private key. The resulting digital signature is stored in the file that contains the manifest. When an assembly is delay signed, the Assembly Linker (Al.exe) does not compute and store the signature, but reserves space in the file so the signature can be added later.

For example, using /delaysign+ allows a tester to put the assembly in the global cache. After testing, you can fully sign the assembly by placing the private key in the assembly.

See Creating and Using Strong-Named Assemblies for more information on signing an assembly.

This option is not available within the development environment.

To set /delaysign programmatically

• See DelaySign Property.

See Also

Visual Basic Compiler Options | /keyfile | /keycontainer | Sample Compilation Command Lines