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Embedding DLLs in a compiled executable
I want to compile my C# application to a single exe file. The problem is that my project depends on many other projects resulting in many dlls in the Release folder when I compile it. Is there any way to just make an exe with these dlls included?
Note: It does not need to be independent from the .NET framework. I assume that anyone using this exe will have that installed.
.NET ships with a tool called ILMerge where multiple assemblies can be packaged together into a single file. You would use it like:
ilmerge /target:winexe /out:myoneexecutable.exe Foo.exe Bar1.dll Bar2.dll
ILMerge is one option, but it can't merge WPF assemblies. You can embed assemblies as resources and dynamically load them. See this Richter article.
I believe the closest you will get to being able to compile to a single executable is using Visual Studio's Setup Project functionality / Wizards to generate a standard MSI package which you can then use to distribute your application.
There may well be 3rd party tools available that allow you to condense everything down into one file, however. But I don't believe this will gain you anything over the standard MSI approach - indeed, it's just an extra manual step in the build process which you don't strictly need.
Related
I have a class library project that is referencing .Net Framework 4.7.2 . I need to create an exe which will contain all the references of the project. I will not have access to any code or project references on the VM, where this exe needs to be run. Everything should be included in this one exe.
I have come across this question on SO.
Are solutions such as costura.Fody and ILMerge mentioned in that question addresses the same issue that I have?
( I am new to .Net and C#) and I was in doubt because I am not sure of managed assemblies vs. any other as mentioned in one of the answer in question that I referenced
Can someone help in clearing this or suggesting any other solution, if there is any.
Costura.fody worked pretty much out of the box for .net 4.7.2 framework. When executable was compiled it included everything. One way to know is that the size of your executable will increase . The other way is to use tool like ILSpy to look inside executable
I have a library called foo, which is written in C++/CX. I chose a Windows Runtime Component because I want it to be projected into C#, C++ and JavaScript. Also, I want to be able to distribute the library, and I don't want to require/allow the consumer to load my project, along with the source files, in the same solution as their project.
The instructions on MSDN only demonstrate how to include the Windows Runtime Component project in a solution with the consuming C# project. I know there is a way to only distribute the binary, but I don't know how.
This question has been asked a thousand times, but the answer always has the two projects in the same solution, is incomplete or a workaround.
I'm using Visual Studio 2013.4 on Windows 8.1.
One way to do it is to create a VSIX package of your component. See Walkthrough: Creating an SDK using C++ that shows exactly how to do this with a WinRT component consumed by a C# project.
I researched and found the answer... It is not documented well, it is not intuitive, but it's worth the trouble when you see how well a Windows Runtime Component works.
Compiling the C++/CX library:
Make sure you compile the library for all permutations of Debug and Release, in Win32, ARM, x86 and x64.
Instructions for consuming in C#:
Right-click on References in the Solution Explorer, and add a reference to the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Package v12.0. Then add a reference to the binary you created with the appropriate configuration for your project (i.e. Debug/ARM). This step is tricky, because the file filter prompts you for the .dll, but you need to set the filter to *.* and select the .winmd file. Then you unload the project, find the <Reference> tag for the library you just added. <Reference> will have a <HintPath> tag below it, and under <Reference> you will also need to add <IsWinMDFile>true</IsWinMDFile> and an <Implementation> tag pair loaded with the name of the .dll that was sitting in the same folder as the .winmd file.
For more detailed instructions and information, I highly recommend visiting Mike Taulty's Blog
I have created a backup console application (this is 32bit program running on .net 3.5 on windows 8 64bit) with these dlls:
Delimon.Win32.IO,
SevenZipSharp,
7z(native) dll
I have tried to merge them with ilmerge but program still asks dlls( Delimon.Win32.IO not found ) while startup.
Then I tried second solution:
add dll's to resources & handle AssemblyResolve event, still same problem.
Any clue what is problem?.
I dont want any commercial solution.
I'd recommend using Costura.
https://github.com/Fody/Costura
Costura is avaliable on NuGet and is a simple solution for providing a custom AssemblyResolve system. It will take all your projects references and automatically add them at build time.
Also, if you have native or mixed-mode assemblies (like for example 7zip) then you'll need to provide Costura with a bit of configuration. Everything is covered in the readme.
I have a dll project which uses some third party dlls. I would like the compilation result to be just one big dll with all the third party dlls included in it. How can I do this in Visual Studio 2010?
You need to use ILMerge, assuming the DLLs are all managed:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17630
And some related questions:
ILMerge Best Practices
ILMerge question
ILMerge is a .NET only solution (does not work for unmanaged dlls)
A nice tool is NETZ (.net executable compresser and packer) which compresses all your dependencies in a single exe / dll file.
I have not used it recently so I can't tell if it is compatible with .NET 4.0
And it didn't get many updates in a while but I would give it a try.
http://madebits.com/netz/
There are several approaches that you can take here to achieve this. Here are a couple:
You could include the source, if available in one project, and then compile it to a single binary.
You can add the external assemblies as resources, and load them dynamically at runtime.
You can use something like Eazfuscator.Net, which uses ILMerge to merge assemblies at compile time. (can also use ILMerge directly, but Eazfuscator has nice wrapper features) Eazfuscator .Net
this might be a bit of a noob question..
I've coded a simple file conversion app in C Sharp (.net 4, VS2010) that uses the Filehelpers library. I've got a reference to the library in my project references. When I publish the project in Release mode, it outputs the Filehelpers.dll file with the executable together, and the executable won't work unless it's in the same folder as the DLL.
I tried setting Copy Local to False, but it still doesn't work. Is there any way to package the library as part of the exe file?? This is a very simple app which is meant to be distributed easily and having this required Dll floating around is a huge downside.
thanks
T
Got it working after some fiddling with ILmerge not running on .net v4. Here is my command for future thread visitors:
ILMerge /targetplatform:v4,C:\windows\microsoft.net\framework\v4.0.30319 /out:merged.exe /log Original.exe FileHelepers.dll
You may want to look in to your project property settings where you can custom copy files where ever you want post build if you are looking to move files around after the build. If you are looking to include a .dll in your .exe look here