.NET Framework Class Library

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

Contains classes used internally by MSBuild.

Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Hosting

Contains classes used internally by MSBuild.

Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Windows

Contains classes used internally by MSBuild.

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.Data.Entity.Build.Tasks

Contains the implementation of all tasks that ship with MSBuild.

Microsoft.Ink

Contains types that implement digital ink on the Tablet PC.

Microsoft.Ink.TextInput

Contains types implemented by the Tablet PC Input Panel.

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 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.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, hash tables 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.DataAnnotations

Provides attribute classes that are used to define metadata for ASP.NET Dynamic Data controls.

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.Common.CommandTrees

Provides access to classes that can be used to build expressions that make up a command tree.

System.Data.Design

Contains classes that can be used to generate a custom typed dataset.

System.Data.Entity.Design

Contains classes to generate Entity Data Model (EDM) files and object source code.

System.Data.Entity.Design.AspNet

Contains the Entity Data Model (EDM) build providers for the ASP.NET build environment.

System.Data.EntityClient

Contains classes that encapsulate the .NET Framework Data Provider for the Entity Framework. These classes use storage-specific ADO.NET Data Provider classes and map metadata for interacting with entity data models. They translate operations performed on conceptual entities into operations performed on physical data sources, and translate result sets returned from physical data sources into conceptual entities.

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.Mapping

Provides access to the MappingItemCollection and StorageMappingItemCollection classes.

System.Data.Metadata.Edm

Contains a set of types that represent concepts throughout the models used by the Entity Framework and a set of classes that help applications work with metadata.

System.Data.Objects

Contains classes that provide access to the core functionality of Object Services. These classes enable you to query, insert, update, and delete data by working with strongly typed CLR objects that are instances of entity types.

System.Data.Objects.DataClasses

Contains classes that are base classes for types that are defined in an Entity Data Model (EDM), base classes for the types that are returned by navigation properties, and classes that define attributes that map common language runtime (CLR) objects to types in the conceptual model.

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.Services

Provides access to classes used to build ADO.NET Data Services.

System.Data.Services.Client

Represents the .NET client library that applications can use to interact with ADO.NET Data Services.

System.Data.Services.Common

Contains a class that indicates the key property or properties of an entity.

System.Data.Services.Design

Contains types used by the code generation command-line tools and tools in Visual Studio to generate strongly typed client-side objects for communicating with data services.

System.Data.Services.Internal

Contains classes the represent a number of variations of the ExpandedWrapper class.

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.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.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.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.Authentication.ExtendedProtection

Provides support for authentication using extended protection for applications.

System.Security.Authentication.ExtendedProtection.Configuration

Provides support for configuration of authentication using extended protection for applications.

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.DynamicData

Contains classes that provide the core functionality for ASP.NET Dynamic Data. It also provides extensibility features that let you customize dynamic data behavior.

System.Web.DynamicData.Design

Contains classes that provide design-time support for the classes in the System.Web.DynamicData namespace.

System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders

Contains classes that define the core functionality for ASP.NET Dynamic Data providers.

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.Routing

Provides classes that are used with URL routing, which enables you to use URLs that do not map to a physical file.

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.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

Concepts