I have one windows service project. I want to convert that web service project into DLL. As a class library I can simply reuse those methods just by referencing that DLL.
I just want to know is there any simple way to do it or I have to manually create one class library project and reuse my code.
You can reference exe in other projects same as dll.
But moving this to separate class library is the best idea.
Just Click on the class library with the service code and select build. it will create a DLL file in your Debug folder in your project bin directory. You can use that DLL file anywhere.Hope this helps..
Just copy your code to class library project and built it. It will create .dll and you can easly use it by adding reference to your project. I think that would be a simplest approach
After searching and asking questions on ASP forums proper way of doing this is to manually reuse code.
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I'm not new to C# programming, but I suppose I'm new to programing "the right way" in C#. I've worked in C on embedded devices for years and have written desktop apps to support them. First in VB6, then in C#.
I recently started making better use of classes for reusing code (and for instantiating more than one instance of the class in a program). For example, I "wrapped" a UART interface with some additional functionality so I can use the same code for multiple ports by creating an instance of the class for each one.
It is in a separate file, but still in the same program namespace, so when I want to reuse it, I have to copy the file and change the namespace to the new project.
I'm sure there's a way to create it such that I can just reference it like everything else with either a "using..." reference at the top of the program or with a "Project | References..." checkbox. But for the life of me I can't find a good learning journey for this.
Any direction would help.
You want to create your reuseable class in an assembly - this is the equivalent of a dll from your C experience.
To create an assembly, have a separate project of type assembly (instead of exe) . You can reference the assembly from other projects. If your project is in the same solution you can reference the project, otherwise you can reference the compiled assembly.
C# uses a packaging system called Nuget, so you can package your assemblies into "Nugets" which you host in a Nuget Server. You can then use tooling to discover and import these.
Please create a Class Library project and include your class into that project. Make sure your class is public. Once you build this project you'll get an assembly which can be referenced from other projects. See Tutorial: Create a .NET class library using Visual Studio
There are different ways of referencing it.
You can have the class library project in the same solution as the main project. In this case you should add a project reference.
You can copy the compiled *.dll file to some folder in your solution (e.g. Lib) and add an assembly reference.
If this assembly is to be used in multiple projects please consider creating a NuGet package with this library and pushing it to some repository. Then other projects can add a package reference to this package.
Details:
How to: Add or remove references by using the Reference Manager
Install and manage packages in Visual Studio using the NuGet Package Manager
It is in a separate file, but still in the same program namespace, so when I want to reuse it, I have to copy the file and change the namespace to the new project.
Well, it isn't the best practice but (unfortunatly) still a common behavior. So don't worry to much about it.
What you could do to improve it place the file (and other reusable parts) in a seperated csproj.
For example name the project of the type class library and name it VinDag.Tools. Within the project create a folder UART and place the wrapper there. The namespace of the wrapper would then be VinDag.Tools.UART.
From know on you can just reference the class library instead of renaming the file. It's not necessarily required to be the same namespace as the project.
From there you can start considering (private) nugets. This would prevent you from copying files/csproj around.
I created a class library project using C# and .Net.
In this project I used two external dependencies(to be more specific: Microsoft.Win32.Registry(4.6.0) and System.Data.SqlClient(4.7.0) Nuget packages).
After I build this project, I can see the generated DLL file under /bin/debug folder.
Now I want to import this generated DLL in another project and consume its methods. Once imported and I run this project, it complains about not being able to find those two external dependencies I had in class library project.
As a temporary fix, I can import these two missing references in this project and it will work fine and as expected. But this is not what I want(and I guess is not a clean solution as well).
I want to know why the dependencies of class library project is not reflected in generated dll file? And is there any way to fix this?
Many thanks for your help.
If your class library is in the same solution or source control repository as the app that's using it, you should use a project-to-project reference, rather than referencing the assembly directly. As the docs say, this way it automatically detects changes to the class library when you compile the app, but what the docs didn't say is that dependencies flow though as well.
Otherwise, as Lance Li wrote, you should create a NuGet package from your class library. Unfortunately there's a bit of a barrier to get started. Creating the package is easy, but then you need to publish the nupkg file somewhere. For early development (before the package is ready to be shared), the easiest option is to use a local file feed. You'll then need a nuget.config in the app that will use the package to add that local feed as a source, then you can install the package in your consuming project, which will bring dependencies.
As you can see, for development, this is slow and difficult because if your consuming app finds a bug in your package, or if you're trying to develop a new feature in both the consuming app and class library at the same time, it means every time you make code changes to class library, you need to increment the version number, pack a package, publish the package, then update the package version in the consuming project. It's far, far easier to use a ProjectReference which lets you simply edit code, compile, run. Nothing else to think about.
See this, the way you reference that assembly is not a recommended way when both the projects are in same machine.
You're using the file reference(Add reference => browse...). And that's why you have to import these two missing references in this project manually.
So I suggest you add the project reference, if both the two projects are in same solution, you can right-click current project=>add reference=>project tab find that assembly you need.(instead of browsing...)
If the referenced project is not in same solution. Right-click solution in solution explorer=>add existing project to import it. Then add project reference.
Imagine I have different methods written in c#. And these are included in the main class now and work completely fine. But I have a plan to add an upadter function to this project. In this case my idea is to include each function in a DLL file with the function name. So my updater function can easily replace the old DLL file with the new if there's a new version available. The problem is I don't know how to create a DLL file by just including a method.
You shouldn't make a seperate .dll for each function. When writing the library I suggest adding a new project to the current solution of the type C# class library. Now you can easily use your newly written library inside the project you are using it for. Like this:
in the solution explorer you see a library project and a windows forms application project. The windows forms application uses the library's code to work. You can use the library when it's finished and compiled to a .dll by referencing it in the other project(s) under 'add reference'
I'm using .Net framework 2.0 and I've been searching on how to include a .dll in my project. I want this dll to be compliled in the final .exe, but I don't know how. When I add it to my project like any file, my classes can't access the functions because they need a [Dll Import]. And when I add it as a reference, it's being pasted in the Release folder.
Is there a way to access my dll without recoding every function or use it as a reference?
What you are searching for is called ILmerge.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/mbarnett/ilmerge.aspx
(Sorry for might be a trivial question , I'm coming from Java & Maven , and still haven't wrapped my mind around C# dependencies )
I want to use log4net in all my projects. Since I don't want to add the dll to all the projects , I've created a "Globals" project , add a reference to log4net.dll in it , and referenced from all the other projects to the "Globals" project .
However , I can't seem to access the log4net classes from any other project .
using Globals.log4net;
Doesn't seems to work either .
What am I doing wrong?
If all you did was reference the DLL, then all you have done was get a copy of the DLL with every reference to your Globals project. You are still not using the library.
What I would normally do would create an ILogger interface, implement it using log4net in the Globals project and use that implementation in the other projects (plus a mock implementation for tests).
I'm afraid that's not how it works.
You have to add the DLL to all projects you want to call it from.
If you were only using a couple of functions in the DLL, you could create functions in your Globals project to call through to it.
log4net doesn't 'live' in Globals simply by the reference.
My 1st inclination would be to have all of your projects just reference log4net, it clarifies that there's a dependency there no need to hide it in another project.
However, if you do have common logic shared across your classes you could have a "Global" or "Common" class which includes references to shared libraries. To reference those libraries just add the using of the target namespace.
In other words, no matter if the reference is within the same project or another reference project, the using statement will be the same.
For log4net i believe it should just be:
using log4net;
The other way to add the proper reference would be to type one of the class names somwhere in your code ( Logger ? ) and then invoke the helper menu with "CTRL+." or by simply expanding it, this will have the option to add the proper using statement.
That system won't work. You'll have to add the log4net dll as a reference to all the projects. Or create proxy classes, which is much more work.
Read up on the GAC (Global Assembly Cache), this a central storage for DLLs that are shared across projects... thats where I put my log4net DLL. You can then simply add the reference to it in your .config file forevery project you need to use it in without adding the DLL to the projects themselves.
This is a good place to start: MSDN: Working with the Global Assembly Cache