Question

I’d like to keep my components/assemblies clearly separated from a source code point of view but I also need in some circumstances (probably not relevant to expand) to package them in the same dll.

Is it possible to package a number of .NET assemblies in a single dll? If so, How?

IF possible, do you think it is a good idea? Why?

Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

Check out this article : Merging .NET assemblies using ILMerge

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As you know, traditional linking of
object code is no longer necessary in
.NET. A .NET program will usually
consist of multiple parts. A typical
.NET application consists of an
executable assembly, a few assemblies
in the program directory, and a few
assemblies in the global assembly
cache. When the program is run, the
runtime combines all these parts to a
program. Linking at compile time is no
longer necessary.

But sometimes, it is nevertheless
useful to combine all parts a program
needs to execute into a single
assembly. For example, you might want
to simplify the deployment of your
application by combining the program,
all required libraries, and all
resources, into a single .exe file.

csc /target:library /out:ClassLibrary1.dll ClassLibrary1.cs
vbc /target:library /out:ClassLibrary2.dll ClassLibrary2.vb
vbc /target:winexe /out:Program.exe 
    /reference:ClassLibrary1.dll,ClassLibrary2.dll Program.vb

.

ilmerge /target:winexe /out:SelfContainedProgram.exe 
        Program.exe ClassLibrary1.dll ClassLibrary2.dll