Question

How can I take several dll’s in my bin folder for my ASP.NET application organize them into seperate folders and leave them under the bin directory so that they still are readily accesible to the application as if they were in the root of the bin? I want to reduce the monstrous list of dlls and group them into folders related to their core purpose.

Answer 1

You can make your application probe other directories for loading assemblies by using the web.config file and specifying a <probing> element. I’m unclear as to whether or not this works now with website type projects, as it did not several years ago. It should, however, work with Web Application type projects.

<configuration>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
       <probing privatePath="bin\subdir"/>
    </assemblyBinding>
   </runtime>
   <system.web>
      ....
       ....
   </system.web>
</configuration>