Is it possible to produce more than one exe in debug/release folder after we build Windows form solution?
For example I want to produce 2 exes in debug/release folder everytime I build a solution, 1. MyApp.exe 2. MyApp_setup.exe
Thanks
The \bin\Debug and \bin\Release folders are only defaults and can be changed in your project settings.
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All you need to do is change it to a relative path to be something both projects can see.
For example, if your folder structure was like
C:\
Code\
MyAppSolution\
MyApp\
MyApp_Setup\
changing both projects to use ..\CommonBin\Debug\ as their output path would put both exe's in C:\Code\MyAppSolution\CommonBin\Debug\.
However there is a second option also, if you add a reference to the MyApp project to MyApp_Setup when you go to build MyApp_Setup it will put MyApp.exe in the output directory because it considered it a dependency. Just be sure you have Copy Local set to true when you build.
Related
I have compiled a simple 'Hello World' program. The program is successfully compiled without any errors. I can see a working executable in bin folder. But the Release folder of the project is totally empty.
I don't know if there is any settings problem or any problem in building. Apparently, I don't see any error.
You can change your build mode in top of your Visual Studio:
Dependently on which mode you build your solution, Visual Studio will generate .exe in either bin\Debug folder or bin\Release folder.
Make sure you're building the release version, not the debug version. By default, VS will build a Debug build, which will go into the bin\Debug folders.
For details, see How to: Set Debug and Release Configurations.
More expanded explanation:
Your output directory of executable file is specified by default to [your_project_directory]\bin\Debug for Debug build mode or to [your_project_directory]\bin\Release for Release build mode
your_project_directory - place where is created your project (there is located *.csproj file)
To switch between default directories Debug/Release use solution proposed here.
But if you want specify your own output directory, follow these steps:
Go to Project -> [MyProjectName] Properties... (or type Alt+F7) and in properties window switch to Build tab (from left panel)
From Configuration combobox select proper build mode (in your case Release) or select: "All Configurations" - the same options for both build modes
At the end in output path textbox choose folder where you want store executable file (and other created during buil of application)
Screenshot from properties window:
This solution can be useful at least in two cases:
When are you learning and you want not waste space on your disc, then you can specyfy outbut file for all your project to one tmp directory and clean it in some period of time from not necessary files
When your start work with real "huge project" that include many e.g. .csproj projects your can create Runtime directory to storage all your executable files and files created during build of application
I hope that this description will be helpful.
Okay, here's the problem.
I have 2 projects. One is the main project (executable), the other one is a library.
MyNameSpace.Libraries.TheHolyMefLibrary
MyNameSpace.TheProduct
The default output path of both projects is bin\Debug\, so when I compile the main application, in the debug folder I can find both the Executable, as well as the library.
Now, I would like to have the following output:
bin\Debug\MyExecutable.exe
bin\Debug\plugins\TheHolyMefLibrary.dll
But when I change the output path of the library to bin\Debug\plugins\, the compiler still creates the following output
bin\Debug\MyExecutable.exe
bin\Debug\TheHolyMefLibrary.dll
How can I ensure that, no matter which project links to the library, it's always going to be in a subfolder of the output path from the main assembly, even in setup solutions?
To solve this I think the best way is to create a Post-build script where you move your linked assembly DLL to the plugins folder. You can find the post-build script editor when you right click the application project file and select Properties and then go to the Build Events tab. To create the build script you can use CMD commands like for example the MOVE command in your case or XCOPY.
Set the 'Copy Local' property of the referenced assembly to False to stop it being copied to your main project's bin folder.
I've added an executable to my Visual Studio 2010 C# Solution. In the properties of this executable, the executable path is a full path ("C:\Test\MyProgram\MyProgram.exe")
When I deploy my solution (with installshield) on a new PC, the executable is part of the deployed solution together with some source files and the solution file. So far so good.
But when I open the installed solution file (in Visual Studio 2010),
I'm not able to build it because It can't find the executable in the specified path:
("C:\Test\MyProgram\").
Here is the question: How can change the full path of the executable, so it gets the path of where the solution is installed on the new PC. Something like :
"[InstallDir]\MyProgram.exe"
Thanks
Update: I found out that you can use relative path in Application's Executable path. Thanks for all your answers.
You could use TargetDir property
I am just thinking off the top of my head here. There may be a much simpler way. I'm thinking you might want to create a Custom Action that runs at the end of your installer that manually opens the .xxproj file, and manually edits the path of the reference. As another poster stated, you can get the new path from the TargetDir property: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372064%28VS.85%29.aspx
Example of creating Custom Actions: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9cdb5eda(v=vs.80).aspx
Add your Executable to your Project TO The Main Dir, right click-> Copy To OutPutDirectory -> Copy
this is easiest way to make your file to copy to your target dir, and have your SourceControl Visual studio plugin manage it.
Your executable should be be somewhere in your project source files structure, perhaps in a subfolder. When you add this executable file to project it should then be added on a relative path which is what you want. If this is not happening you should manually edit csprj file. To do this, right click on project, unload it, right click again and edit project file.
Of course, your executable file should have its property Build Action set to None and Copy to output Directory to what you want.
If for some reason you cannot add this executable directly into your project files structure I'd suggest to use pre-build event to copy it from where it exists into your project files.
I am using c#, VS 2005.
I have one solution with two projects.
Project1 needs to startup project2 after some checks.
How do I get the executable path of Project2 from within Project1?
I need a solution for both debug and live mode.
thanks,
KS
The EXE for the 2nd project needs to have a predictable location, relative from the 1st EXE. Getting the absolute path for the folder that contains your first EXE is easy:
string myPath = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location;
string myDir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(myPath);
Then append the relative path of your 2nd EXE. Keeping it in the same directory as the 1st is strong recommended:
string path = System.IO.Path.Combine(myDir, "project2.exe");
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(path);
The easiest way to get this to work well in the IDE as well as on the target machine is to let the IDE copy project2.exe. Right-click project1, Add Reference, Projects tab, select Project2. The Copy Local property of the reference will be True so that project2.exe ends up in the same directory as project1.exe
If you set the Project2 output directory to a known place for both Debug and Release configurations, you can uses that known place in your Project1.
I have a WPF Application project with several project references within a single solution in VS 2008. When I compile my solution, all of the referenced dlls are output into the same folder that the main .exe is output into.
Is it possible to configure my main .exe project build to output all references in a sub folder relative to my .exe?
I would like the final result to be something like this:
MyApp.exe
MyApp.exe.config
Lib\SomeReference.dll
Lib\SomeReference2.dll
(I assume if this is possible, it would be possible with any .exe).
Thanks!
Jon
It looks like its a fairly intensive process.
First set the reference's Copy Local property to false so that the .dlls aren't copied to the bin\Debug folder .
Then create an assemblyBinding\probing element in your app.config to instruct the runtime to look for dlls in the Lib folder
Then create a post-build action to copy the necessary dlls to the \bin\Debug\Lib folder.