I have c++ native dll, lib and headers file. After I reference lib from c++\cli project, it builds successfully, but since c++\cli project - just a wrapper, I reference it in c# project and no native dll appears in c# project output directory after build. How can I fix it? I would not like to use build event to copy dll`s manually.
Thus, I have found only two possible solutions:
post-build event in wrapper library, that copies native dll to all c# projects that require it
add native dll in c# projects directly and set build action to "Copy to output directory" (in accordance with the Lucas response)
I use various 3rd party assemblies in my project (native, nuget packages) that are sometimes optimized for different platforms (x86/amd64). Visual Studio automatically copies them in the application root (usually bin\Debug\PLATFORM), which creates a completely unstructorized mess.
Now I'm looking for a way to automatically copy 3rd party dlls into a custom subdirectory. I'm aware of various ways to LOAD assemblies from a different location than the application root (privatePath in app.config or in code), but not how to automatically copy them there.
Desired structure
bin\
release\
x64\
MyApp.exe
MyApp.exe.config
cfg\
custom.config
lib\
ninject\
Ninject.dll
Ninject.Extensions
Ninject.Extensions.Logging
SomeNativeDll\
native_x64.dll
OtherStuff.dll
x86\
...
I've already found a way with Post Build Events, but declaring every reference with some batch like script language is a PITA!
One possible solution is to add one extra project with your structure. The following steps recreate that:
Add a dll project:placeholder.csproj
Create the folder 'lib'
Create the subfolder 'ninject'
Add the file 'Ninject.dll' to that folder
set the BuildAction to 'Content'
Add the placholder.csproj as a reference to yourt main project
Build
The Content files (but really being your dll's) are now copied in the same folder structure in the output folder of your main project.
To support the platform specfic dll's it becomes a little trickier.
Unload the project and find your native file:
<Content Include="test\Some_X86.dll" >
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
and add a condition to it
<Content Include="test\Some_X86.dll" Condition="'$(Platform)' == 'x86'" >
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
if you only want to have the files for the x86 target in the output.
What works > Library setup
I have a Windows Phone 8 solution with 2 projects:
"Hello", a simple library project -> generates Hello.dll.
"HelloNativeRT", a WP Runtime Component with C++ files -> generates HelloNativeRT.dll and HelloNativeRT.winmd
In this solution, the "Hello" library references the WP Runtime Component, so calls like...
HelloNativeRT.SampleNamespace test = new HelloNativeRT.SampleNamespace();
...work fine in this library project.
What doesn't work > WP8 app setup
However, I want to use these two libraries in a Windows Phone 8 app, but without adding references to the projects, since I need to ship the compiled libraries to clients.
I referenced the Hello.dll file in the project, as well as the HelloNativeRT.winmd file.
When I launch the application in debug mode, and goes to the line HelloNativeRT.SampleNamespace test = new HelloNative... it crashes and says "TypeLoadException", like it cannot load the native module.
I suppose I need to include the HelloNativeRT.dll file in a way or another, since I guess it contains the native (compiled) code, as the winmd file may only embed the C++/CX code.
How should I setup my project to include this DLL?
I tried to put it at the root of the WP8 project, to reference it, to embed it... with no luck.
The reason was quite simple in my case: the .winmd file and the .dll file generated from the WinRT Component must have THE SAME NAME (e.g: testRT.dll and testRT.winmd).
Then:
Add the .winmd medata file as a reference in your project.
Check that the .winmd / dll files are in the same folder to be correctly loaded.
You need to:
Add a reference to your managed DLL file (the wrapper),
Add a reference to your winmd metadata file (the WinPRT component),
Add your native DLL library file as a member of your project, with build action to "Content" and "Copy always" selected.
Add a section to your manifest file:
WPAppManifest:
<ActivatableClasses>
<InProcessServer>
<Path>external_component.dll</Path>
<ActivatableClass ActivatableClassId="external_component.MyComponent" ThreadingModel="both" />
</InProcessServer>
</ActivatableClasses>
This last point is the one that is auto-magically done by Visual Studio when you reference a WinPRT project from a WP8 project ;-) I suppose not a lot of people are referencing native libs manually, since the documentation on that point is very sparse. The only link where I saw the solution mentionned was here...
How can I set up a project in Visual Studio to copy the third-party DLLs that one of the project's references depends on?
I have a main application project and a class library DLL. The main application references the class library DLL, and the DLL itself references some third-party DLLs. When I compile the main application, it automatically copies the class library DLL to its output directory, but it does not copy the third-party DLLs.
I do not want to add references to the third-party DLLs from the main application project because the main application does not use them, they're only used by the class library.
You can achieve this with the project properties window. Visual Studio allows you to define events to occur, before, or after building. To get to the project properties window simply right-click on your project in the solution explorer window and click on 'properties'. From the left hand side go to the 'build events' tab.
In the post-build box type in a few copy commands. For example:
copy "$(SolutionDir)mydll.dll" "$(TargetDir)"
Where $(SolutionDir) and $(TargetDir) are both predefined variables. The standard syntax is as follows:
copy "source directory and file name" "destination directory"
If you click on the 'edit post build...' button it will bring up a box which has a listing of these predefined variables that you can insert (like $(SolutionDir) and $(TargetDir))
As a side note, this is a useful process for copying other files, such as custom configuration files, images, or any other dependencies your project may have.
The following fragment works for me:
<Project>
...
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="Path\to\dll\dllname.dll">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>
...
</Project>
This works for C#.
For native C++ it still copy dll to output folder, but this dependency is not visible in Visual Studio, it should be edited in project file directly.
To test on non-trivial example
I tried to run C# project A which depends on native C++ project B. B projects depends on thirdparty native dll C - this dependency is implemented via fragment above in project file.
When I build A, C is copied to binary folder.
I tried it in Visual Studio 2010.
Take a look at this solution provided by Alex Yakunin
http://blog.alexyakunin.com/2009/09/making-msbuild-visual-studio-to.html
It worked for me really nicely - the scenario being DevExpress libraries expressly used had other dependencies which caused problems when deployed)
Note 1: Visual studio 2010 seems add referenced dlls automatically, however msbuild didn't. So Alex's solution worked since the release scripts used msbuild.
Note 2: Also had to make sure that for the referenced libraries (those which were referenced in code) copy-local was actually set to True in the csproj, even though the Solution Explorer said it was. The best way is to set copy-local = False, Save, set copy-local = True, Save.
These two steps - copy-local=true for referenced libraries and adding msbuild targets for the indirect references automated the build setup for me.
I would not recommend doing this. You end up with an N^2 explosion in the number of assemblies being copied around (and potentially, being rebuilt). If possible, you should have all of your projects place their assemblies in the same $(OutDir). If you're using TFS, Team Build does this for you.
I don't like to have my dependency files located in the project root folder but in a subfolder. But the files has to be placed in the root folder in the build folder.
My build events look like this:
Command: call xcopy /S /Y "$(SolutionDir)Dependencies\*.*" "$(TargetDir)"
In case "Dependencies" also contains subfolders, as mine does.
/S means to copy subfolder also
/Y means to not prompt for overwrite confirmation
Other xcopy parameters can be found at: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/xcopy
Go to the main application, references, to your class-library reference.
Set "Copy Local" to True.
It will now copy the bin directory of your class-library into the main application bin directory. Including any sub-dependency third-party dlls.
If you want to copy new file only in post-build, you can also use xcopy with flags /i /d /y
xcopy "$(ProjectDir)SubDir\*.dll" "$(TargetDir)" /i /d /y
100% sure this will work.
Just replace dll with your personal ref. file
<Reference Include="Xceed.Wpf.Toolkit">
<HintPath>..\..\..\3rdParty\Extended WPF Toolkit-2.2.1\Xceed.Wpf.Toolkit.dll</HintPath>
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
</Reference>
<Content Include="..\..\..\3rdParty\Extended WPF Toolkit-2.2.1\Xceed.Wpf.Toolkit.dll">
<Link>Xceed.Wpf.Toolkit.dll</Link>
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
</Content>
I'm not really aware of any way to do this other than adding a reference to said .dll in the project itself. We've run across this in some of our own projects here, and the only solution we've found is to add the reference. I want to say that one of our developers did some research and found this to be the only solution, but don't quote me on that.
I have a .dll file written in VB6. I understand that I can add this .dll file as a reference in my VS project, but I need to be able to add this .dll file as an embedded resource to my VS solution. I then would like to invoke this .dll file to call a function.
However I cannot load the .dll file as an assembly because it was written in VB6. Assuming I cannot simply rewrite this code to .net, does anyone have a working solution for converting this dll to a recognizable assembly file?
You won't need to convert it, you just need to reference it as an unmanaged DLL. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301501.aspx for instructions on how to do this.