xmlns where the assembly varialble refers to a dll that localized with an file URL - possible?

Question

Like to do:

xmlns:Modul="clr-namespace:CustomControlLibrary1;assembly=CustomControlLibrary1"

but where  assembly  refers to something like   "C:\MyLiib\CustomControlLibrary1.dll"

I'd hope this be possible ... but i must have got the syntax wrong.

What to do?

It´s because i am using Kaxaml to visualize my xaml.

Thanks,
Paul

Answer 1

Hi Paul,

I don't know whether it'd be possible to, at runtime, reference a DLL in a path (I doubt it).
However, if you have your DLL in a sub-directory of your solution, then you can add a reference to it. In your solution, right-click References and select Add Reference . In the dialog, click the Browse tab and locate your DLL, then click OK.

I usually have a separate AppReferences folder in my solutions and copy additional DLLs into that folder, i.e. DLLs like WPFToolkit.dll or RibbonControlsLibrary.dll. In your XAML-files, you can then add your NS as desired; IntelliSense will also be able to locate your assemblies after you have added the DLL-reference to help you create your NS-reference.

Cheers,
Olaf

Answer 2

i'm using something else to view xaml rather than VS.

i'm using (in my case :-)) Kaxaml. 

it might be an idea to find a tool to see the folder from where kaxaml is executed (instead of doing a long disk search) and then put my dll in this folder.

but using a absolute file url would solve a lot, pending the above.

what does add references actually do, that allows the designer to "see" the dll .. ?  Well i assume it is for linking after doing the compiling.  Allows the executable to be linked to the executable.  But why require this with xaml namespaces?

... Pending the writing plugins for other xaml viewers that add the ..."Add Reference ..." feature to them...  the absolute file url to the dll would do .. it is after-all all based on reflection (i think)...  Well i dont know actually which is why i like this thread :-)

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Thanks, Paul

Answer 3

As Olaf stated, you have to add a reference to the library and then you can use it to refer to the assembly in your XAML. However, Kaxaml is unable to deal with this, so you'll have to use a different editor.

Answer 4

Hi Paul,

if you want to visualize your XAML outside of VS (like KaXaml or XamlPad), you'll have to use an editor that can actually resolve those namespaces, no way around that, I'm afraid.

Cheers,
Olaf

Answer 5

Hi Schwartzenberg,

Since Kaxaml tool does not provide functionality to import .dll file by adding the absolute path in XAML markup, you can switch to use Visual Studio to add references to the necessary .dll files, then you can use the types in the assembly.

Thanks.
Sincerely.

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Jim Zhou -MSFT

Answer 6

Hi Schwartzenberg,

Do you have some special reason that you do not want to use Visual Studio? Have you considered the ideas other community members shared above?

Thanks.
Sincerely.

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Jim Zhou -MSFT

Answer 7

Your right ... i could simply create a new solution with one simple WPF project ... and then add references to the dll's i need, and then use the syntax available for baseing xaml namespaces on the included assembly content.

The dll's are produced in the more complicated VS solution, and complexities (like long build times) would be abstracted away.

Where BTW could i make the suggestion for future versions of the VS XAML editor to allow assembly="c:\my_voll_url_path" syntax?
When also being able to add references to a project, it would (possibly) be a nice redundancy. 
At the proper place where i could make this suggestion, i believe i'd hear something coherent on the (possibly many) minuses concerning it.

Thanks,
Paul

BTW ...these links help get a larger WPF soluton to build faster (use more memory - info here helped; allowing more handles on the machine - info here helped).  Thus constantly making external sand-box solutions for testing ideas ... a bit less necessary.

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Thanks, Paul

Answer 8

The problem will be that this information will be used to locate the assembly at runtime. So if the assembly isn't at that location, the application will crash (ex. on you user's machine where the file is in C:\Programme\... or C:\Program Files (x86)\... instead of C:\Program Files\...).

Answer 9

Hi Schwartzenberg,
-->Where BTW could i make the suggestion for future versions of the VS XAML editor to allow assembly="c:\my_voll_url_path" syntax?

As far as I know, in the latest WPF release, the absolute assembly path in XAML markup is not supported, I will try to contact producd team to consult weather they have plan to add this functionality in the next release.

Thanks.
Sincerely.

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Jim Zhou -MSFT

Answer 10

Hi Schwartzenberg,

I got the feecback from product team, they said that there are no changes in "clr-namespace:" uri support in WPF4 or SL4, however, in .NET4.0, you may be able to build support for this yourself, you could subclass XamlSchemaContext (which handles finding types given an xmlns and a type name).

Hope this makes sense for you.
Thanks.

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Jim Zhou -MSFT