Question

I have a project ProjectA in which I am keeping utility classes. I want to use this project in multiple solutions so I do not have to copy files, link files and update files every time I make changes in classes of Project.

But there seems to be a problem: if I am referencing ProjectA in ProjectB, the compiled application of ProjectB can not run unless there’s a compiled application from ProjectA next to it. So if the output of ProjectB is ProjectB.exe, ProjectB.exe gives an error upon execution if ProjectA.exe is not next to it. Why is that? I just want to use namespaces from ProjectA in ProjectB, I do not need ProjectA to depend on a compiled version of ProjectB.

Can anyone tell me how to reference ProjectA in ProjectB without needing the output of ProjectA to run the output of ProjectB?

Answer 1

You probably need a shared dll.

You have created utility classes in project A out because they are shared all across project A (Application A?), now you have introduced project B (Application B) and as you state it needs to get hold of the code from projectA.dll/exe.

So create a new project in your solution (Ab.Shared.dll maybe:-)) and move your utiilty classes into it. You can now reference that dll from both project A and project B.

Update: Just read about your comment about sucking code out.

The shared dll is the most common way of sharing the code about, but there are other ways. Theoretically you can simply “include” the same *.cs files in both projects and share them that way (use the drop down on the Add existing item dialog and select Add as link) . However in practice it becomes more awkward maintaining this scenario so most people use a shared dll.