Publish with .dll files

Question

I made an application which controls the parallell port and i want to publish it so i can install it in other PCs.
The app i made uses some libraries or .dll files which i copied manually to the C:/WINDOWS/system folder.
When i use the option Build>Publish Project.. i can create an installer but it doesnt install the .dll files.
My question is:
¿Can i create some sort of installer that includes those files into the system folder, or should i always manually copy them?

Answer 1

You can use the Copy to Output Directory in the Properties window to make it copy the DLLs to the project's folder. Go Project > Add Existing Item..., and add the DLLs you want.

Answer 2

Using the Publish tab is using ClickOnce Deployment. ClickOnce can not copy files into the system folder.

You can try deploying them and including them locally by adding the dll's to the project, and setting "build action" to "none" and "copy to local output directory" to "no".

Then delete your references to those dll's and re-add them, pointing to the files you just added to your project, and in the properties for the reference, set "copy local" to true.

If you add them locally and try running the app in VS and it works, then you can deploy them locally.

If it doesn't work, and you find that you MUST install the dll's in the GAC or the system folder, you have to write a small setup project to do that, then use the Bootstrapper Manifest Generator to add it to the prerequisites in Visual Studio, and select it as a prerequisite to your ClickOnce deployment.

RobinDotNet

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