Question

I have written a Visual Studio C# project and I have the need to create two executable, one for a “lite version” and one for a “full version” of the same project.

The “lite version” will be a stripped down version of the full one so I want to share everything (code, resources, etc.) and, if possible, use compiling directive to isolate code blocks.

Can you tell me a way to do this in a clean way?

Answer 1

You can create a new Conditional compilation symbol in your project (say FULLVERSION). Create a new Solution configuration (say ReleaseFullversion) using the Configuration Manager, and in this configuration, define the FULLVERSION constant.

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You can then wrap code block with

#if FULLVERSION
 ...
#end if

or use the Conditional atrribute

[Conditional("FULLVERSION")]
void MyMethod()
{...}

to create a stripped down version your application.

Code within these #if-blocks and these Conditional attributes won’t be compiled into your assembly if the FULLVERSION constant is not set (the Conditional attributes just removes the call to that code block, actually).

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Then you would either build a lite version of your solution, or a Fullversion, which includes the full code.