Question

In the build process for a .NET C# tool, I have been using ILMerge to merge the assemblies into a single exe.

I added a new class library recently, and now the ILMerge is failing. I have remembered to tell it to merge in the new DLL!

It is now giving me this error, which I don’t really understand:

ILMerge.Merge: The assembly
‘DataObjects’ was not merged in
correctly. It is still listed as an
external reference in the target
assembly.

All of the assembly references I have done using ‘project’ references, and it has not failed in the past.

Can anyone explain this error for me, or suggest a workaround please?

Answer 1

I had to use the /closed argument. According to the official docs:

Closed

When this is set before calling Merge,
then the “transitive closure” of the
input assemblies is computed and added
to the list of input assemblies. An
assembly is considered part of the
transitive closure if it is
referenced, either directly or
indirectly, from one of the originally
specified input assemblies and it has
an external reference to one of the
input assemblies, or one of the
assemblies that has such a reference.
Complicated, but that is life…