C# – Reference a DLL from another DLL

cdllreference

I have a C# application program, let's call it App.exe. It references a DLL named A.dll which in turn references another DLL, namely, B.dll. However the way in which they are referenced is a bit different. In the code of A.dll, it has directly referenced B.dll (by going to Project > References > Add B.dll). However my App.exe has code to load A.dll at runtime using Assembly.Load() etc.

So to recap,

App.exe —- (runtime loading) —> A.dll —- (direct reference) —> B.dll

All three things (App.exe, A.dll and B.dll) reside in the same directory, let's say ExeDir. Now what I want to do is, put A.dll and B.dll in a sub directory of ExeDir. I can do this by using an App.config file that specify the path of A.dll and asking the App.exe to load A.dll from that path. So far so good.

However the problem is that when I do this, .NET gives me an error saying that it cannot find B.dll which is in the same directory as A.dll. If I move it back to the original directory (the same directory as App.exe) then it works fine. Which means, I can put A.dll in a sub directory, but the B.dll needs to be in the original directory.

Is there any way in which I can keep both DLLs in the sub directory?

Best Answer

Add a <probing> element in your app.config:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/823z9h8w.aspx

<configuration>
   <runtime>
      <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
         <probing privatePath="bin;bin2\subbin;bin3"/>
      </assemblyBinding>
   </runtime>
</configuration>

Related Solutions

C++ – What are the differences between a pointer variable and a reference variable in C++

A pointer can be re-assigned:

int x = 5;
int y = 6;
int *p;
p = &x;
p = &y;
*p = 10;
assert(x == 5);
assert(y == 10);

A reference cannot be re-bound, and must be bound at initialization:

int x = 5;
int y = 6;
int &q; // error
int &r = x;

A pointer variable has its own identity: a distinct, visible memory address that can be taken with the unary & operator and a certain amount of space that can be measured with the sizeof operator. Using those operators on a reference returns a value corresponding to whatever the reference is bound to; the reference’s own address and size are invisible. Since the reference assumes the identity of the original variable in this way, it is convenient to think of a reference as another name for the same variable.
```
int x = 0;
int &r = x;
int *p = &x;
int *p2 = &r;

assert(p == p2); // &x == &r
assert(&p != &p2);
```

You can have arbitrarily nested pointers to pointers offering extra levels of indirection. References only offer one level of indirection.

int x = 0;
int y = 0;
int *p = &x;
int *q = &y;
int **pp = &p;

**pp = 2;
pp = &q; // *pp is now q
**pp = 4;

assert(y == 4);
assert(x == 2);

A pointer can be assigned nullptr, whereas a reference must be bound to an existing object. If you try hard enough, you can bind a reference to nullptr, but this is undefined and will not behave consistently.

/* the code below is undefined; your compiler may optimise it
 * differently, emit warnings, or outright refuse to compile it */

int &r = *static_cast<int *>(nullptr);

// prints "null" under GCC 10
std::cout
    << (&r != nullptr
        ? "not null" : "null")
    << std::endl;

bool f(int &r) { return &r != nullptr; }

// prints "not null" under GCC 10
std::cout
    << (f(*static_cast<int *>(nullptr))
        ? "not null" : "null")
    << std::endl;

You can, however, have a reference to a pointer whose value is nullptr.

Pointers can iterate over an array; you can use ++ to go to the next item that a pointer is pointing to, and + 4 to go to the 5th element. This is no matter what size the object is that the pointer points to.
A pointer needs to be dereferenced with * to access the memory location it points to, whereas a reference can be used directly. A pointer to a class/struct uses -> to access its members whereas a reference uses a ..
References cannot be put into an array, whereas pointers can be (Mentioned by user @litb)
Const references can be bound to temporaries. Pointers cannot (not without some indirection):
```
const int &x = int(12); // legal C++
int *y = &int(12); // illegal to take the address of a temporary.
```
This makes const & more convenient to use in argument lists and so forth.

C# – How to update the GUI from another thread

The simplest way is an anonymous method passed into Label.Invoke:

// Running on the worker thread
string newText = "abc";
form.Label.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate {
    // Running on the UI thread
    form.Label.Text = newText;
});
// Back on the worker thread

Notice that Invoke blocks execution until it completes--this is synchronous code. The question doesn't ask about asynchronous code, but there is lots of content on Stack Overflow about writing asynchronous code when you want to learn about it.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C++ – What are the differences between a pointer variable and a reference variable in C++

C# – How to update the GUI from another thread

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