C#: Including assemblies without visual studio - c#

How do I include an external assembly .dll in a C# .exe? I'm specifically working with the MySql connectors for .NET 4.0.
Please note, I'm not using Visual Studio at this time and do not plan to in order to accomplish this. Here's the error I get when I compile: CS0246: The type or namespace MySql could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
I have tried:
- Copying the .dlls into the source folder for the project.
- Copying the .dlls into the .NET folder under Windows
The first three lines of code are:
using System;
using MySql;
using MySql.Data;

Sample Program (Program.cs)
using System;
using MySql.Data.MySqlClient;
namespace TestApp
{
internal class Program
{
private static void Main(string [] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello world!");
var command = new MySqlCommand();
Console.WriteLine(command.ToString());
}
}
}
Project file (TestApp.csproj)
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Program.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Build">
<Csc Sources="#(Compile)" AdditionalLibPaths="lib" References="MySql.Data.dll">
</Csc>
</Target>
</Project>
MySql.Data.dll is in a folder named lib
Run msbuild from the command line
msbuild TestApp.csproj /t:Build
Microsoft's guide to writing your own msbuild files.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd576348.aspx
csc task details
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/s5c8athz.aspx

You can use the /reference (or /r) command line option:
csc yourcode.cs /r:MySql.Data.dll
Assuming that, as you said, you have copied the MySql.Data.dll into the source folder for the project.
If you haven't copied the dynamic link libray to your source folder, then you can use the /lib: command line option to specify additional directories to search in for your references.

Related

Project reference not resolved when running dotnet build

I have a Visual Studio 2022 solution, with multiple projects, but four in particular are interesting here.
Provider1 which is based on .NET Framework 4.
Provider2 which is based on .NET 6.
Provider1Test which is based on .NET Framework 4.
Provider2Test which is based on .NET 6.
The Provider1 project has a number of classes, all in the Provider.Data namespace, one of them being Class1. This is my source code. The Provider1.csproj file:
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Class1.cs">
<SubType>Code</SubType>
</Compile>
...
</ItemGroup>
The Class1.cs file:
namespace Provider.Data
{
public class Class1
{
...
}
}
The Provider2 project has links to these source files, i.e. "Add"->"Existing item"->"As link". It compiles with different conditional compilation symbols, so the output is not the same as for the Provider1 project.
The Provider2.csproj file:
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="..\Provider1\Class1.cs" Link="Class1.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
The Provider1Test project is an NUnit test project, that tests Provider1. It has multiple test classes, one of them is TestClass1.
The Provider2Test project is also a NUnit test project, with a ProjectReference to Provider2. It links to the test classes in Provider1Test in the same way as the source code does. The Provider2Test.csproj file:
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\Provider2\Provider2.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="..\Provider1Test\TestClass1.cs" Link="TestClass1.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
The TestClass1.cs file:
using Provider.Data;
namespace ProviderTests
{
public class TestClass1
{
...
}
}
Now, this builds and runs just fine inside Visual Studio, but if I navigate to the Provider2Test folder and try to build with the dotnet build command, it doesn't find the source code.
C:\dev\DataProvider\Provider2Test>dotnet build
MSBuild version 17.3.1+2badb37d1 for .NET
Determining projects to restore...
All projects are up-to-date for restore.
Provider2 -> C:\dev\DataProvider\Provider2\bin\x64\Debug\net6.0\Provider.Data.dll
1 file(s) copied.
C:\dev\DataProvider\Provider1Test\TestClass1.cs(14,7): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'Provider' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [C:\dev\DataProvider\Provider2Test\Provider2Test.csproj]
Build FAILED.
What is the issue here, why doesn't dotnet build follow the reference path here, and how do I solve it?
I tried to create a TestClass2.cs file directly in Provider2Test, that is not a link but a standard compile include, and also using the Provider.Data namespace. It produces the same error.
I found a workaround, so I'm posting it here and I'm going with it for now, but I don't think it's a good solution, and it doesn't explain the original issue, so I'm not going to mark this as the accepted answer.
In Provider2.csproj, I added that if it is built with dotnet build, it has a post-build event that copies its source code dll to Provider2Test. This is not run if the project is build within Visual Studio ("$(MSBuildRuntimeType)" == "Full").
if "$(MSBuildRuntimeType)" == "Core" XCOPY "$(OutDir)Provider.Data.dll" "$(ProjectDir)..\Provider2Test\$(OutDir)" /Y /F
In Provider2Test.csproj I added a conditional assembly reference.
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Provider.Data" Condition="$(MSBuildRuntimeType) == 'Core'">
<HintPath>$(OutDir)Provider.Data.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
</ItemGroup>
I kept the ProjectReference in all cases (both "Full" and "Core"), in order to trigger a Provider2 build whenever Provider2Test is built.

Trying to get example from Microsoft Docs on WPF to work in local machine

I'd like to get this example running from the Microsoft Docs.
In order to do so I made a new directory called inotifyproperty-changed-example. In this project I generated a WPF solution by running the following commands:
dotnet new wpf
dotnet new sln
dotnet sln add inotifyproperty-changed-example.csproj
Then I removed all XAML and CS files by running rm *.cs; rm*.xaml as it is my understanding the example code is self-contained.
Then I copied the example code in the link to a file called App.cs and changed the namespace to match my own, namely inotifyproperty_changed_example.
The contents of the CSPROJ file are as follows:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.WindowsDesktop">
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.1</TargetFramework>
<RootNamespace>inotifyproperty_changed_example</RootNamespace>
<UseWPF>true</UseWPF>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
Unfortunately when I try to run the solution using dotnet run I get errors:
error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Forms' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows' (are you missing an assembly reference?)
The type or namespace name 'Form' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
...
I'm really at a loss as to why this won't build. More generally speaking, I am asking this question because I'm unable to reproduce many of the examples provided in the WPF documentation, so I need a place to start.
How can I get the example to work?
You are linking to a Windows Forms example, not a WPF one.
Create the WPF project using the default template and don't remove any files. Then add the DemoCustomer class from the example to the project. You cannot use the Form1 class as it's not WPF. Instead you could modify the MainWindow class as per your requirements.
As far as the INotifyPropertyChanged interface is concerned, there is no difference between WPF and Windows Forms. This interface is not platform specific.

How to reference a csproj using csc?

Using csc how can I reference another project's source?
If I have my own .csproj for a hefty project that depends on another, and am compiling the dependent with dotnet build rather than csc I can add
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\MyAPI\MyAPI.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>
To the csproj file, but what about in the case of writing a single .cs file?
csc test.cs /reference:../MyAPI/MyAPI.csproj
doesn't work because
error CS0009: Metadata file '/Users/theonlygusti/MyAPI/MyAPI.csproj' could not be opened -- PE image doesn't contain managed metadata.
test.cs(2,7): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'MyAPI' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

Install NuGet package with .NET CORE and visual studio code failed

I am on ubuntu and I use VSCode and .NET CORE,
I installed a package called Otter with the command panel.
My .csproj is now like this :
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.1</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Otter" Version="0.9.8.926"/>
</ItemGroup>
My main .cs file is :
using System;
using Otter;
namespace helloWorldFromCSharp
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello");
}
}
}
But when I try to build my project with :
dotnet build
I receive this error :
Program.cs(2,7): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'Otter' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) [/home/erwan/Documents/helloWorldFromCSharp/helloWorldFromCSharp.csproj]
I don"t know how to fix it.
I tested with a simple .Net Core App to reproduce the problem. I have the same issue.
Otter is in .Net Framework 4.5, so It won't work with an Asp.Net Core Application.
Since you are on Ubuntu, you can't just switch to Asp.Net MVC. I recommend you to look for another 2d framework wrote in .Net Core or in .Net Standard (don't know if it is possible)
Looking at Otter.csproj:
<TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.5</TargetFrameworkVersion>
Meaning, you can't reference it from a project that compiles to netcoreapp2.1
You might want to clone the project and try to target it to a suitable framework version, if possible.

Mono / MonoDevelop: Get solution version at runtime

I am looking to retrieve the application version (essentially the <ReleaseVersion> property in the solution file) at runtime. How does one access this via code?
The standard way of setting the application version in .NET (and therefore presumably MONO) is to use the AssemblyVersion attribute. This is normally specified in the AssemblyInfo.cs file, but can be specified in other files, as is shown below.
To get the version at runtime, you can use the AssemblyName.Version property. The following is a slightly modified version of the code from the given link:
using System;
using System.Reflection;
[assembly:AssemblyVersion("1.1.0.0")]
class Example
{
static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine("The version of the currently executing assembly is: {0}",
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version);
}
}
When compiled and run, it produces this:
The version of the currently executing assembly is: 1.1.0.0
The above was tested on both .NET (Visual Studio 2010), and Mono 3.0 (compiled using mcs from the command line, not Mono Develop).
have you tried using the suggestions in this forum --> get current version
It's an ugly hack, but you can utilise the BeforeBuild target to write that property to a file, which you then promptly include as an embedded resource. In your *.csproj file:
<ItemGroup>
<EmbeddedResource Include="release-version.txt" />
</ItemGroup>
<!-- .... -->
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<Exec WorkingDirectory="$(ProjectDir)" Command="echo $(ReleaseVersion) >release-version.txt" />
</Target>
....then in your C&sharp; code, you could create a property like this:
public static string Version {
get {
using (StreamReader resourceReader = new StreamReader(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("SBRL.GlidingSquirrel.release-version.txt")))
{
return resourceReader.ReadToEnd().Trim();
}
}
}
This should work on all major operating systems. Don't forget:
To add using System.Reflection; to the top of your file if you haven't already
To add the release-version.txt file to your version control's ignore list (e.g. .gitignore, etc.)

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