CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#referenceprojects-and-solutions
IneedHelp
IneedHelp

Reputation: 1758

Referencing a project in another project creates unwanted dependencies

I have a project ProjectA in which I am keeping utility classes. I want to use this project in multiple solutions so I do not have to copy files, link files and update files every time I make changes in classes of Project.

But there seems to be a problem: if I am referencing ProjectA in ProjectB, the compiled application of ProjectB can not run unless there's a compiled application from ProjectA next to it. So if the output of ProjectB is ProjectB.exe, ProjectB.exe gives an error upon execution if ProjectA.exe is not next to it. Why is that? I just want to use namespaces from ProjectA in ProjectB, I do not need ProjectA to depend on a compiled version of ProjectB.

Can anyone tell me how to reference ProjectA in ProjectB without needing the output of ProjectA to run the output of ProjectB?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1870

Answers (5)

phoog
phoog

Reputation: 43046

If I understand correctly, you have code in ProjectA.exe that you want to use in ProjectB.exe, but at run time, you'd like to run ProjectB.exe without requiring the user to have a copy of ProjectA.exe.

This is not possible. When you use a type from another assembly, that assembly is loaded at run time. The type is not copied from ProjectA to ProjectB.

It sounds to me like you should extract the common utility classes into ProjectUtility.dll, and then reference that from both your ProjectA.exe and ProjectB.exe applications.

EDIT: ILMERGE might be the way to go. See Linking statically in C# for more information.

Upvotes: 0

AlSki
AlSki

Reputation: 6961

You probably need a shared dll.

You have created utility classes in project A out because they are shared all across project A (Application A?), now you have introduced project B (Application B) and as you state it needs to get hold of the code from projectA.dll/exe.

So create a new project in your solution (Ab.Shared.dll maybe:-)) and move your utiilty classes into it. You can now reference that dll from both project A and project B.

Update: Just read about your comment about sucking code out.

The shared dll is the most common way of sharing the code about, but there are other ways. Theoretically you can simply "include" the same *.cs files in both projects and share them that way (use the drop down on the Add existing item dialog and select Add as link) . However in practice it becomes more awkward maintaining this scenario so most people use a shared dll.

Upvotes: 1

slugster
slugster

Reputation: 49974

Namespaces are not restricted to one assembly - you can use the same namespace across several assemblies if you wish, and one assembly can contain as many namespaces as you like.

If you are referencing a class/type from another assembly, then that assembly must be present (or locatable) when you run the original assembly. If all you are doing is coding then a simple project reference in your solution will do the trick. If you don't have the source code to Project A then you will need it in its compiled form - without it the CLR cannot inspect it and know what it contains.

Upvotes: 1

opewix
opewix

Reputation: 5083

Open your csproj file in text editor and insert xml:

<Reference Include="AssemblyName.dll">
  <HintPath>$(EnvironmentVariable)\bin\AssemblyName.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>False</Private>
</Reference>

Upvotes: 0

Bilal Hashmi
Bilal Hashmi

Reputation: 1485

In that case add the ProjectA compiled dll in your bin folder and add the reference to that dll from your other project. Do not add reference to your ProjectA project.

When you add reference to the project using Visual studio, Add Reference -> Projects, then it requires the project to be compiled and it copies the dll/exe to the other project bin folder.

Upvotes: 0

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