Registration is needed when the objects within an assembly are being used by COM clients. The [<topic://cpgrfassemblyregistrationtoolregasmexe>] and vsprvsext use methods exposed by the System.Runtime.InteropServices.RegistrationServices class to add or remove COM-enabling registry entries for managed assemblies.

You can use the following methods to assist you in preparing a registration file:

• RegistrationServices.GetManagedCategoryGuid

• RegistrationServices.GetProgIdForType(Type)

• RegistrationServices.GetRegistrableTypesInAssembly(System.Reflection.Assembly)

• RegistrationServices.TypeRepresentsComType(Type)

Although these methods help in gathering information to be used in a registration file, they do not actually produce a registration file. Instead, you can use the Assembly Registration Tool (Regasm.exe) tool with the /regfile option to perform this task. System.Runtime.InteropServices.RegistrationServices methods cannot export and register a type library. To export and register a type library, you can use the Assembly Registration Tool (Regasm.exe) tool and the Type Library Exporter (Tlbexp.exe) tool.