How to include files in library in .net core

Question

I have Project A which depends on Project B.

In Project B I am including additional files in the build out like this:

<ItemGroup>
    <None Include="jsfiles/**/*"  CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
</ItemGroup>

In Project B, I'm loading the files like this:

File.ReadAllText("jsfiles/foo.js");

This copies the files successfully into the out directory. But when I include Project B in Project A, the runtime is resolving files relative to the root of Project A and not the output directory. Because the files don't exist in Project A's root (but they do exist in Project A's output dir), they aren't found.

What's the proper way to load the files in Project B so that it still work when Project B is included in Project A?

Basically, I'm just looking for the right way to include additional resources in a project.

Did u manage to find a solution? We are facing a similar problem :/ — eddyP23
– eddyP23, Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 15:22

eddyP23 · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-30 07:10:23Z

Our solution hierarchy:

ProjectA
  Startup.cs       // Uses TextService.cs that uses Text.txt
  ProjectA.csproj  // Does not want to now anything about how TextService works
                   // just has a dependency on Project B
ProjectB
  Text.txt
  TextService.cs   // This one uses Text.txt file
  ProjectB.csproj  // Contains EmbeddedResource with Text.txt here

Your use case might differ, but what I found worked for us is using EmbeddedResource instead of Content tag in the csproj file. This way, the file gets included in both of the above cases:

when building ProjectB
When Publishing ProjectA (that has a ProjectB dependency)

The code block in the ProjectB.csproj:

<ItemGroup>
  <EmbeddedResource Include="path\to\Text.txt">
    <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
  </EmbeddedResource>
</ItemGroup>

Alternatively, this can be done in Visual Studio (tested on 2019) by going to Properties of the txt file and setting Build Action: Embedded resource.

Alex Riabov · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-11 15:59:46Z

1

You can use linking. You'll need to add link in Project A to the file in Project B:

<ItemGroup>  
  <Content Include="..\Project B\jsfiles\foo.js" Link="jsfiles\foo.js" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
</ItemGroup>

Though you have to create a link to each file in your folder with this approach.

answered Jul 11, 2018 at 15:59

Alex Riabov

9,2865 gold badges50 silver badges48 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to include files in library in .net core

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related