Can anybody provide some code block to add an existing C# file to a project.
I have 2 projects in my solution. One project generates C# class files which will be use by second project. I have to incluse these generated files in the second project and build the project. It should be done through programatically. I know that to include these files I have to edit the C#project file (which is an XML) and make an entry that file. But I thought of
using existing code if anybody has it.
Thanks
You can ahve a look at the MsBuild.Engine namespace. It allows you to manipulate a csproj in a consistent way so you can oper the target project and add the reference programmatically.
Related
Iv'e downloaded a C# interval tree collection class class from here http://intervaltree.codeplex.com/SourceControl/list/changesets -> Right hand side -> Download.
However I can't open the whole project on my Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express (that also runs C# XNA) because
Solution folders are not supported in this version of the application
Also I just want the class to use separately in my own seprate project.
I tried to copy the three important seeming files Interval.cs, IntervalNode.cs and IntervalTree.cs into my project but this generated the compile error
There are no importers which handle this file type
I've also tried to copy and paste the contents of the three files into my project, encapsulating them into there own namespace as well as there was a lot of code. I had to rearange some of the usings a little but have run into the problem that possibly it wants PowerCollections .dll and .pcb files as using Wintellect.PowerCollections; causes
The type or namespace name 'Wintellect' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
I'm not sure how to continue or if I'm doing the right thing at all in how to get this class to work.
Add the library to your solution
Copy the IntervalTreeLib directory into your solution directory. Then, right-click your solution, and add existing project. Point it at IntervalTreeLib.csproj in IntervalTreeLib, and click Open. That should add the IntervalTreeLib project to your solution.
Add a reference to the library in your project
Then, in your project, add a reference to the IntervalTreeLib proejct:
- Right click the References folder, and Add Reference. Click the Projects tab, and select IntervalTreeLib.
Use the classes in your code
To use classes from the library in your source then, you need to either add:
using IntervalTreeLib;
void Foo() {
IntervalTree<int, int> tree = new ...
}
Or, refer to them by their full name:
IntervalTreeLib.IntervalTree<int, int> tree = new ...
Open the IntervalTreeLib.csproj file if you want to be able to open the project in it's entirety (or in your current solution add an existing project (you can right-click on the solution) and select the IntervalTreeLib.csproj). If you are trying to grab just the code file in your project, ensure you also grab the PowerCollections.dll file (I see it is in the same folder as the code files) or your code will not compile (as you have discovered). You'll need to add a reference to it and include the needed using statement at the top of the code files making use of this library (or use fully qualified name with the namespace).
using IntervalTreeLib;
or
var myObj = new IntervalTreeLib.[WhateverClass](...);
Also, make sure you read the license.txt file. You may need to include it if you are using the code. Give credit where it is due.
UPDATE:
If the test project is causing you problems, just open the library project. Ideally you could just open that and compile it, adding the output DLL files that are generated directly into your solution. This is ideal unless you are planning on changing the library source code itself.
Add the library to the references of the project you want to use it.
Since discussing that you are able to build Intervallib.dll, we will discuss about how you should the dll in your project.
Now in your proj, right click on the references part and add the dll intervallib.dll to your references. In your game.cs file, have the reference to the namespace as -- using IntervalTreeLib;
then you should actually copy the dll powercollections.dll to the bin directory of proj directory also.
you should copy this dll because there is an indirect link to the dll as it is used in IntervalTreeLib.dll
following these steps, I was able to execute this project.
I have a few classes that are abstracted in a way that I can use them in multiple projects. I'm always working on these classes, optimizing, adding, etc. So when I optimize something in one of these classes, I then need to copy that new version into every project I remember using it. This isn't a very good way of doing it, but is there a better way?
Thanks
Put these base classes in a single project and share this project between your different solutions as an referenced class library. This way you will not have to copy / paste anything between projects or solutions and everything should always be up to date.
You could even set-up a local NuGet feed so you can use NuGet to retrieve this shared project as a reference in a well structured and managed way.
Instead of manually copying the updated classes to every project that uses them, create a Class Library project and reference the compiled file in every project that uses the classes. Organizing your classes like that will help you to follow the DRY ("Don't repeat yourself") principle.
If you need to reference files instead of compiled libraries, however, you can reference a file as a link so that multiple projects refer to the same file without copying it to each solution folder. To do that, right-click on your project, choose Add existing item..., browse to the .cs file, and choose Add as Link from the combobox in the right lower corner.
How about if you extract the classes into a separate project, and add a reference to this project in every project you are using?
It is a bad idea to copy paste file throughout the application. To avoid these repetitions you can either:
make a link, if the amount of file is really small . In the Solution browser of Visual Studio, right click, Add Existing file, chose your file and in the split button, choose Add as a link
create a separate project and reference this project wherever is is necessary if the amount of files not tiny.
Create a base-lib and build it to a "shared" location. Add a reference to it in you project. It will keep the other projects smaller and will be faster to build.
I realize that this is not the best practices for working on individual projects. However, I had a rather large code base I am attempting to refactor, and would like to know if a change I make has modified/broken any number of existing projects.
Is there a way to add all existing projects within a specific directory to a single solution within visual studio?
If not, is there another way I could do this without manually adding each project?
I do not believe there is a method in the box.
But if it's really going to be that tedious of a task I would use PowerShell to search the directory for a files with the csproj extension, and output a bunch of "Project" statements (along with generation of unique identifiers) that you can copy/paste into your Solution file.
Is it possible to add a class as a solution item and use it as a linked item in all the projects in the solution?
Basically I was thinking of creating a class (which will inherit ConfigurationSection) and keeping it as the Solution Item. I wanted to add it as a linked item in all the projects in the solution, so that everyone can use it to access the configuration properties.
(Refer to this tutorial for more details)
Now the issue I am facing is that when I create a class in the solution item, it doesn't have any namespace. And it shows up in intellisense, inside the projects but once I create an object of the solution item class, the object doesn't show up in intellisense.
Any ideas why?
You would be better off putting your class into a library and then people can reference your library and use your class. If you use the linking methodology, you will run into problems when one project wants to reference another as you will have the same class in both projects in the same namepsace - it will not compile.
Update
I can see from your other questions that you want to share configuration settings through a config file. Sharing the config file by linking is fine, it is just a plain text file so does not have any compilation issues. However, I would advise against sharing the class file using this method as discussed above. Put your configuration class in a class library project which other people can reference as a project reference - they can then use your class. Add the actual config file (with the settings) using linking. In this way your settings file will get copied across projects nicely, and people can use your configuration settings class by referencing it.
Yes.
Right-click each project, click Add, Add Existing File, navigate to the file, then click the down arrow next to the Add button and click Add As Link.
However, it would be better to put the class in a DLL project that is referenced by all of the projects.
I need to use some classes inside the app_code folder of a website project in visual studio 2008. I need to access this code from a class library project in the same solution. I cannot add a reference to the website, and I'm not sure of the easiest way to use the classes that already exist here. Do I need to move it to a class library?
What other options do I have?
Yes, create a class library and move any types you need into that library. This library can be referenced in as many places as you would like.
The best way to do this is to put those classes in their own library.
However, if you really don't want to do that, you could add a link to the files in the library project. To do that, right-click the Class Library project or a folder within it, Add, Existing Item, navigate to the code files, click the down arrow near the Add button, Add As Link. This will add the same file to both projects. You can even use the #if preprocessor directive to limit portions of the file to specific projects.
However, it is vastly preferable to put the code in a library and reference it in the web project.