Question

I have two different files, Foo1.exe and Foo2.dll.

When I try to use an object declared in Foo2.dll in Foo1.exe, everything works as expected.

When I try to use an object declared in Foo1.exe in Foo2.dll, everything compiles as expected.

But when I try to pass an object from Foo1.exe to Foo2.dll, Foo1.exe cannot compile because it has a type conflicting with an object in Foo2.dll which is not actually there, but was just referenced from Foo1.exe.

How do I make it so Foo2.dll can reference Foo1.exe, but the types do not cause conflictions when compiling Foo1.exe?

The actual error message is The type Foo in Foo1.cs conflicts with the imported type Foo in Foo2.cs

Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

You have somehow managed to have Foo1.exe reference a different copy of Foo2.dll that doesn’t reference Foo1.exe. Because the C# compiler will prevent you from doing what you’re trying to do – which is create circular references.

So the fact that yours is even compiling is a fluke and you should try a different approach.

You need to isolate the classes that are common to both Foo1.exe and Foo2.dll into a third assembly, Foo3.dll which is referenced by both. Then Foo3.dll should reference neither Foo1.exe or Foo2.dll.