What is a Manifest?

An assembly manifest contains all the metadata needed to specify the
assembly’s version requirements and security identity, and all
metadata needed to define the scope of the assembly and resolve
references to resources and classes. The assembly manifest can be
stored in either a PE (Portable Executable) file (an .exe or .dll)
with Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) code or in a standalone
PE (Portable Executable) file that contains only assembly manifest
information. The following table shows the information contained in
the assembly manifest. The first four items the assembly name,
version number, culture, and strong name information make up the
assembly’s identity. Assembly name: A text string specifying the
assembly’s name. Version number: A major and minor version number,
and a revision and build number. The common language runtime uses
these numbers to enforce version policy.
Culture: Information on the culture or language the assembly
supports. This information should be used only to designate an
assembly as a satellite assembly containing culture- or language-
specific information. (An assembly with culture information is
automatically assumed to be a satellite assembly.) Strong name
information: The public key from the publisher if the assembly has
been given a strong name. List of all files in the assembly: A hash
of each file contained in the assembly and a file name. Note that
all files that make up the assembly must be in the same directory as
the file containing the assembly manifest. Type reference
information: Information used by the runtime to map a type reference
to the file that contains its declaration and implementation. This
is used for types that are exported from the assembly.
Information on referenced assemblies: A list of other assemblies
that are statically referenced by the assembly. Each reference
includes the dependent assembly’s name, assembly metadata (version,
culture, operating system, and so on), and public key, if the
assembly is strong named.