I have a C# project (let's call it Driver) that uses an unmanaged DLL to interact with some hardware. I have another project that references Driver. When I build the project, the unmanaged DLL gets copied to the output directory as I want. However, when I publish the project as a ClickOnce application, the DLL does not get included in the application's files.
In the Application Files in project properties under Publish, I can see Driver's managed DLL, but the unmanaged DLL is not listed.
I'm certain there's an easy fix for this, but searches mostly lead to questions about including unmanaged DLLs in projects.
Thanks in advance,
Bjørn
After researching this some more, it seems that the solution is to add the DLL as an existing item in all the projects that use it. It seems, however, very clunky if you have multiple projects depending on it.
Related
I have a .Net add-in and within this I have referenced a DLL I have made in C++/CLI. The DLL was designed against the OpenCV API - so now my .Net application can take advantage of the cool graphics capabilities offered by OpenCV.
The problem occurs when I deploy my add-in to other computers. When the user enacts a part of the program that specifically calls upon my C++ DLL it complains about missing the reference:
I suspect the code does not actually know where the DLLs are located but within my dev environment everything (obviously) works as I will have my environment set up different to your standard build PC.
What am I missing here ?
How can I successfully call DLLs created in C++ from a C# add-in? Bearing in mind add-ins are supposed to simplify the customisation of software like Office etc. This is very important - I have to be able to roll in non-.Net DLLs into my project and my code be able to find them.
My dll is just a plain dll, not a COM compatible dll (maybe it should be?) or should I be decorating my C++ code with __declspec(dllexport) a la https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/exporting-from-a-dll-using-declspec-dllexport?view=vs-2017
So 2 things
Use Dependancy Walker to identify any dependancies on your dll and the dlls it uses further down the 'tree' hieracrchy. I found 2 that were missing and it wasn't obvious without this useful tool. Don't be overwhelmed with the results it gives you, just take notice of the missing dlls it's complaining about.
Make sure your dll is referenced within your project and not outside of it in some other folder where you built it.
This fixed my problem - in general just make sure your dlls are on the same path as your executable.
I just am trying to replicate my distributed C# project structure to WIX setup projects. Now there is the following problem:
LIB: a C# library solution that builds AnyCPU .NET dlls from several C# projects
APP: the dlls from LIB are referenced (as file references) by this main application solution. Additionally there are platform dependent libs included in this application solution, therefore it is important to being able to create setups for the two specific target platforms x86 and x64.
Now I started to create a wixsetup project within the APP solution (which works fine). Then I proceeded with creating a wixlib within the LIB solution that references the LIB .NET dlls into the wixlib.
Now the problem:
The wixlib references the AnyCPU .NET dlls within a DirectoryRef which seems to be platform specificly tagged when creating the wixlib. Therefore I have to go back to the LIB solution, build the project with one platform target, copy the built files (via SVN externals mechanisms) to the APP solution, build this project with the exact same target platform as the wixlib was created with and repeat this procedure for creating the other platform.
It may seem that this is kind of complicated, but doable. Due to the fact that I omitted several other library solutions for which the same problem applies and the fact that all those libraries are used in multiple application solutions and - finally - everything has to run on our build server automatically as well, it is clear that this will not work.
I know of the following solution, though:
Double the .NET dll references within wixlib to assign them to different DirectoryRef INSTALLDIR and INSTALLDIR32 e. g. and to implement those different directory references in the wixsetup.
But this would complicate things as well and is not my preferred solution therefore - if there is an alternative.
If there is no smart alternative, just tell me and I will do things as described in the last paragraph.
I am using a third party dll file which is referenced within a visual studio project using C#. In previous experiences on other projects, I was able to load objects from different dlls using dllImport, then create objects as if the source code of the dll was included in my project. However, that method is not working with the 3rd part dll. The program works flawlessly on the computer I am programming it on, however, when I run it on a different computer, it cannot find the dll. Is there a method to include the dll compiling and avoid using dynamic linking?
The default setting of .NET Framework is to load native libraries from system paths, not current directory.
But you might learn from System.Data.SQLite project (open source), so as to pre-loading native libraries from current folder, and based on OS bitness,
http://system.data.sqlite.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/downloads.wiki
Although generating a mixed mode assembly (native and managed bits are merged) sounds like a better solution, System.Data.SQLite users often are confused. Thus, I recommend the pre-loading approach.
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
I'm working on a project where I need to have both an executable so that the user can run a configuration interface and a DLL that can be embedded in other projects to use some of the other features. Is there a way to make Visual Studio produce both an executable and a DLL (as opposed to switching it manually every time)?
I agree with TJMonk15, but i think this should be explained explicitly. You should have two projects, one project that is a DLL, and one that is a normal project. The DLL project should have all your re-usable code. The normal project should be the application you are building, which will reference your re-usable DLL. This way you can build a framework in the DLL project that can be used for any of your future projects.
A good example of this is when you are making a game. Your game engine would be the DLL, and the game you are making would be the executable project. The executable project will contain all the non-reusable traits such as game GUIs and content.
Why wouldn't you put most of the code in one project (With an ouput of type Library) and then write an executable that referenes the DLL?