.net – changing a dll manifest

dllnet

I got a complete vs2005 project from our sub-contractor, which depends on several of their other projects. I didn't get those projects' source files, but I do have their dlls in the bin/debug folder (lets call them a.dll and b.dll).
I copied those dlls into a \lib folder, and changed the references to point there. The problem I have now is that a.dll and b.dll depend on a specific version of a product we are developing upon, and our system here has a different version installed.

Is there a simple enough way to open a.dll and b.dll and change their manifest to target our version of the product? Or better yet – make them not depending on a specific version?

Best Answer

Can you use Assembly Binding Redirection to make the required versions actually load the versions you've got?

e.g. in your app.settings file, have something like this:

<configuration>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="myAssembly"
                          publicKeyToken="32ab4ba45e0a69a1"
                          culture="en-us" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0"
                         newVersion="2.0.0.0"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
</configuration>

Related Solutions

.net – Making build process independent of GAC

Like Marc suggested, the only way to do it was to add the dependent references and setting CopyLocal=True.

But I'm coming to agree with Danny's answer - don't use Dev Studio for your deployment, because you can't get sufficient control over the build process.

Why? There's some "defaulting" logic going on with the Dev Studio in which if it has computed the value of a property, then it won't save it to the .CSPROJ file, leaving a Dev Studio instance on another machine the task of "defaulting" the property to something else!

The only error-free way to do it is to explicitly edit the .csproj xml file directly and ensure that you've added True to the Reference element:

<ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="ConfigManagerClient, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=20fc1ffb797ec904, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
    <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    <HintPath>..\..\thirdparty\CM\ConfigManagerClient.dll</HintPath>
    <!-- If DevStudio inferred this to be true, then it won't explicitly save it.
         When the project is loaded on another machine on which the assembly is
         installed in the GAC,
         Dev Studio on _that_ machine will infer that CopyLocal should be False!!
     -->
    <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>

This sort of behaviour appears to make it next to impossible to know what your .CSPROJ file is going to do when run on a different machine.

In the long run you're much better off not entrusting your build and packaging process to Dev Studio and instead just using, say, Nant and explicit command lines.

.net – Dll not copying to bin folder

I had a similar problem with external references. The thing is that the unused libraries are not copied. Do you use the Devart libraries from your projectB? Any instance, inheritance, anything, ...?? Please try this: Instansiate some mock class from the three libraries in your projectB and recompile. It has worked for me. I would like get to the formal explanation.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

.net – Making build process independent of GAC

.net – Dll not copying to bin folder

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