Reference hell

[McBainUK]

For new version of my Cinema Listings plug-in I've moved the update.exe into gbpvr\Plugins\InternationalCinemaListings as sub wants.

The exe uses 4 dlls:

• GbpvrUiElements.dll
  
• CommonGBPVRUtilities.dll
  
• GBPVRPublic.dll
  
• InternationalCinemaListingsPlugIn2.dll

The last dll is loaded ok (as its in the same directory) but the others are 2 folders up, in devnz/gbpvr/ and for some reason the .NET linker can't find them.

Anyone know how to make this work?

[whurlston]

Did you try adding a reference path? Open the project (not solution) properties and click on "Reference Paths". Add "..\..\" and it should work. You can also use a hardcoded path like "C:\devnz\gbpvr" but using the relative should ensure that it will work no matter where GB-PVR is installed.

[McBainUK]

Hmm, I tried adding ..\..\ but VS 2005 changed it to D:\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\InternationalCinemaListingsUpdater\..\..\ (the projects path).

Something I did wrong?

[McBainUK]

Out of desperation I removed all the references and then re-added them and now it compiles and runs fine.

edit: actually it still fails to run - adding the refs made it copy the dlls used to the plugin folder - it still can't find the files :mad:

[whurlston]

Hmm, I tried adding ..\..\ but VS 2005 changed it to D:\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\InternationalCinemaListingsUpdater\..\..\ (the projects path).

Something I did wrong?

Doh! I forgot that you would have to change the working directory when using virtual paths.

Out of desperation I removed all the references and then re-added them and now it compiles and runs fine - only 3 hours wasted ... lol

Hmm.. Must have been set to "always copy" the references the first time. Glad you got it sorted.

[McBainUK]

Have you read the edit? Do I need to edit my working dir? How?

[whurlston]

Have you read the edit? Do I need to edit my working dir? How?

I didn't see the edit. To change the working directory, go to the project properties and click "Debug". There is a "Working Directory" option. Unfortunately, I was wrong about the relative paths in the Reference paths. It bases it from the project directory not the build directory, so you would have to copy the project to the working folder and use it from there as well. I'll play around tonight and see if there is a better way.

[McBainUK]

I'll play around tonight and see if there is a better way.

Its late so I'm off to bed. Will check the forums in the morning. Really do appreciate your help, this problem is the only thing holding back a v1.0.x release of the Cinema Listings plug-in.

[bgowland]

My immediate thought was the GAC but it's not something I've played with myself.

Is there anything in here that helps?...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837908

Cheers,
Brian

[McBainUK]

Thanks for the link Brian, just what I needed.

I've changed the updater.exe to a windows form based app. This means I can use the AssemblyResolve event talked about in method 3 to dynamically load the dlls from the gbpvr installation directory (looked up via the registry).

Thanks for all replies.