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.NET Forum / Languages / C# / March 2008A simple class library question
Well - at least I hope it is :-) Having spent some time developing my c# application, using Visual Studio 2005, I would now like to start re-factoring some of my code into a class library so that I can use it in other applications I will want to write and distribute (by which, BTW, I mean sell to a wide audience). Either I'm looking in the wrong book / help topic / whatever, or this doesn't seem to be as easy as I would have liked. I understand that I want to build a DLL, and that Visual Studio lets me do that easily enough. I'm not sure how easy it will be to keep both library and current application open at the same time so that I can migrate code across - so I guess that's my first question. Ideally, then, I should have some sort of distribution system for my applications set up so that an app only uses the latest version of the dll. In other words, if I distribute the DLL with app1 and app2, and app2 has a more recent version of the DLL than app1, but app1 is installed after app2, then the more recent DLL will not be over- written. Is that when I need to stick the DLL in the GAC and start looking at versioning? Then there's the business of public/private key encoding, which appears to me to be performed by a utility which presumably is getting access to my company name from my PC? I mean, how does this tool (sn) guarantee uniqeness? And should I bother with it. Cheers Richard <snip> > I understand that I want to build a DLL, and that Visual Studio lets > me do that easily enough. I'm not sure how easy it will be to keep > both library and current application open at the same time so that I > can migrate code across - so I guess that's my first question. The easiest way is to have the class library project in the same solution as the application. > Ideally, then, I should have some sort of distribution system for my > applications set up so that an app only uses the latest version of the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > written. Is that when I need to stick the DLL in the GAC and start > looking at versioning? Personally I'd avoid using the GAC for this as it complicates things. So long as app1 and app2 are installed in different directories, there shouldn't be any issues. > Then there's the business of public/private key encoding, which > appears to me to be performed by a utility which presumably is getting > access to my company name from my PC? I mean, how does this tool (sn) > guarantee uniqeness? And should I bother with it. Strong naming isn't about getting access to your company name - but unless you actually *need* strong naming, I'd avoid it personally. Life is *easier* in an unsigned world, although obviously there are downsides too. Jon > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Jon Thank you for your answer, once again :-) Just on the business of the shared library between app1 and app2 - if I install app2 after app1, how can I get app1 then to pick up the updated library (now in app2's directory)? Cheers Richard <snip> > Thank you for your answer, once again :-) > > Just on the business of the shared library between app1 and app2 - if > I install app2 after app1, how can I get app1 then to pick up the > updated library (now in app2's directory)? You shouldn't - you may have some breaking changes, whether deliberately or not. It's a much better idea to keep the library effectively separate, IMO.  SignatureJon Skeet - <skeet@pobox.com> http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet World class .NET training in the UK: http://iterativetraining.co.uk > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Jon Skeet - <sk...@pobox.com>http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog:http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet > World class .NET training in the UK:http://iterativetraining.co.uk Thank you once again. One last question (for now :-) ) Would you build both applications under the same solution? Or would you have them as separate solutions but sharing the library project? Cheers Richard > Thank you once again. > > One last question (for now :-) ) > > Would you build both applications under the same solution? Or would > you have them as separate solutions but sharing the library project? That depends on how big they are and how independent they are. A single solution often makes life easier - but I wouldn't share the library project, I'd refer to the DLL if you have the two applications in separate solutions. Sharing a project between solutions has occasionally been a pain in my experience. SignatureJon Skeet - <skeet@pobox.com> http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet World class .NET training in the UK: http://iterativetraining.co.uk >> <snip> >> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Richard I can describe what I do personally. I have my class library, a rather big one now, containing about 27 sub-projects with different categories of classes. These are in their own right added to one big honking solution and added to Subversion. In a project, where I need to use some of the class library projects, but not all, I use Subversions externals support to make a solution directory that have sub-directories containing "shared copies" of the projects from the class library. This way I can easily modify both the application project, as well as the individual class library projects. Inside Subversion, only the solution folder + the application folder is actually committed in one place, but the solution folder "knows" it needs some sub-folders coming from a different place in source control, and I can then easily grab a copy that can be compiled in total by itself. With VisualSVN, addin for Visual Studio for Subversion support, this works *almost* seamless. Only downside is that the class library projects and the application project is not considered to be the same "local working copy", so I can't do one commit and commit changes to both my application project and the class library project in one go, but that's it. If, on the other hand, you're not using source control that allows for such easy sharing of code, then I would probably keep the source control solution in one place, open in one Visual Studio instance, and the application project in another place, with references to the dlls, but I would most likely make sure the application project has all it needs if I just makes a copy of it to a new machine, so I would probably add a directory where I would store binary copies of the class libraries, and reference those, instead of having a relative reference from the application project that reaches out outside the application project folder and relies on explicit locations of the class library. Not sure I made much sense here, but if not, and you want me to explain something better, let me know. SignatureLasse Vågsæther Karlsen mailto:lasse@vkarlsen.no http://presentationmode.blogspot.com/ PGP KeyID: 0xBCDEA2E3
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