Where can I locate DLLs so other s/w picks them up

[Valerie Hough]

Hi,
I have several .NET applications developed with c# that require some Crystal
Reports runtime DLLs like:
CrystalDecisions.ReportSource.dll,
CrystalDecisions.Shared.dll, etc. etc

Currently I have just placed these DLLs in the same directory as my
application EXEs and DLLs, which works, but I would rather put them
somewhere central and have any and all of my applications be able to 'know'
where they are.

I have tried the PATH, LIB and other environment settings but without
success.

Could someone please help? Thanks in advance.
Valerie Hough

 

[David Browne]

Hi,
I have several .NET applications developed with c# that require some
Crystal Reports runtime DLLs like:
CrystalDecisions.ReportSource.dll,
CrystalDecisions.Shared.dll, etc. etc

Currently I have just placed these DLLs in the same directory as my
application EXEs and DLLs, which works, but I would rather put them
somewhere central and have any and all of my applications be able to
'know' where they are.

Why would you want to do that? If you put them in your \bin folder you know
exactly what you're running and can always find it.

That being said, you can add folders for the CLR to search when loading
assemblies in the application configuration file.

EG:

<configuration>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<probing privatePath="bin;bin2\subbin;bin3"/>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
</configuration>

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpgenref/html/gngrfprobing.asp

Or you can install the assemblies in the Global Assembly Cache.

David

 

[Brad Wood]

From what I've read, it's not improper to do what you're doing; you're
simply taking up more disk space than necessary if multiple apps of
yours are installed on the same machine.

Installing the DLLs to the gac will save on disk space (and would seem
the "proper" way to deploy crystal), but will make your install more
complex.

 

[Valerie Hough]

Thanks for the reply. My application consists of 35 or so executables and
200-220 DLLs. A number of the DLLs are common to two or more executables.
Normal user activity involves having several windows open at one time and
switching between them as needed.

Right now all .EXEs and DLLs are in one directory on the user computers.

I was unable to evaluate whether there was a more advantageous way to
arrange things, hence my post. Thanks for any suggestions you might offer.