Beginning InfoPath™ 2003

16.3. Defining Security with the .NET Framework

The .NET Framework has several procedures and namespaces to help you build secure applications. The term managed applications is used to refer to applications written to run within the common language runtime (CLR ), the engine used to process and run all .NET assemblies. Assemblies are the core of all .NET Framework applications, be they a Web application or a Windows-based application. An assembly is actually a collection of types and resources that are compiled and built to work together to form a complete application. Assemblies provide the CLR with the information needed during the runtime of your application.

16.3.1. Defining Assemblies

Defining .NET assemblies is basically just coding. When you create types, enums, properties, and so on, you are defining the .NET assembly. A .NET assembly can be a single code class or can be spread out over multiple code classes and then compiled into a new language called Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL ). The CLR uses this as its base for figuring handle versioning, deployment, reuse, security, and scoping.

The advantage of using MSIL is that when an assembly is loaded the MSIL is interpreted and run by the CLR for the platform on which it is residing. The advantage of this is that CLR can handle file validation, code verification, integrity checking, and code security.

16.3.2. Assemblies in Web Services

A Web service is basically an assembly with an .asmx file (ASP.NET Web page) ...