将第三方程序集复制到子文件夹

Question

I use various 3rd party assemblies in my project (native, nuget packages) that are sometimes optimized for different platforms (x86/amd64). Visual Studio automatically copies them in the application root (usually bin\\Debug\\PLATFORM), which creates a completely unstructorized mess.

Now I'm looking for a way to automatically copy 3rd party dlls into a custom subdirectory. I'm aware of various ways to LOAD assemblies from a different location than the application root (privatePath in app.config or in code), but not how to automatically copy them there.

Desired structure

bin\
    release\
        x64\
            MyApp.exe
            MyApp.exe.config
            cfg\
                custom.config
            lib\
                ninject\
                    Ninject.dll
                    Ninject.Extensions
                    Ninject.Extensions.Logging
                SomeNativeDll\
                    native_x64.dll
                OtherStuff.dll
        x86\
            ...

I've already found a way with Post Build Events, but declaring every reference with some batch like script language is a PITA!

Answer 1

One possible solution is to add one extra project with your structure. The following steps recreate that:

1. Add a dll project:placeholder.csproj
2. Create the folder 'lib'
3. Create the subfolder 'ninject'
4. Add the file 'Ninject.dll' to that folder
   1. set the BuildAction to 'Content'
5. Add the placholder.csproj as a reference to yourt main project
6. Build

The Content files (but really being your dll's) are now copied in the same folder structure in the output folder of your main project.

To support the platform specfic dll's it becomes a little trickier.

Unload the project and find your native file:

<Content Include="test\Some_X86.dll" >
 <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>

and add a condition to it

<Content Include="test\Some_X86.dll" Condition="'$(Platform)' == 'x86'" >
  <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>

if you only want to have the files for the x86 target in the output.