Adding resources(XML) to DLL in C#

Question

I have follow project structure

    /build-out/MyApp.dll
    /dependencies/ResFile.xml
    /src/MyFile.cs

In MyFile.cs I want to open mine ResFile.xml that is in /dependencies directory and read it for some needs. All works like a charm in Visual Studio but when I make an dll and use it with another apps(as external library) I get an error because it can't find dependencies/ResFile.xml file.

So, how resorce file can be added to result MyApp.dll file?

You'll have a bigger problem after you deploy your app on the user's machine. No project directory. A simple solution is to just copy the .xml file into the same directory as the .exe, you'll never have a problem finding it that way. Or actually embedding it as a real resource. Project + Properties, Resources tab. — Hans Passant
– Hans Passant, Commented Dec 22, 2011 at 19:22
@HansPassant, is there any way to include the "non-dll" dependencies of a library into the host project so that these dependencies (e.g. text file) can be changed without having to recompile the library. (If it is embedded resources we'd need to recompile the library if changing the (txt) file) — ANewGuyInTown
– ANewGuyInTown, Commented Feb 22, 2019 at 0:34
@ANewGuyInTown a potential solution here is to have a default file embedded in the dll, and use this to create an on-disk file if none exists. Then load from the on-disk file which the user can edit. If you load from the program files directory (exe location) you may need admin permissions, so could look standard app data directories instead. — Wilco
– Wilco, Commented Aug 21, 2020 at 14:18

ryan1234 · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-22 17:32:30Z

5

There are a few articles on StackOverflow about it, but some quick notes and code ...

Make sure you mark the file as an "Embedded Resource" in the properties under Build Action.

I am using some code to read html files from a DLL and this is roughly how I get it into a string. Gives you the general idea I hope.

    foreach (string resource in Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceNames())
    {
        if (resource.EndsWith("Snippet.htm"))
        {
            Stream s = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream(resource);
            byte[] buff = new byte[s.Length];
            s.Read(buff, 0, buff.Length);

            string snippet = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buff);
        }
    }

answered Dec 22, 2011 at 17:32

ryan1234

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1 Comment

ANewGuyInTown Over a year ago

How do you do it without making and Embedded resources? In other words, change can happen in the file without having the dll to recompile.

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