How to add folder to assembly search path at runtime in .NET?

Question

My DLLs are loaded by a third-party application, which we can not customize. My assemblies have to be located in their own folder. I can not put them into GAC (my applicatio

Answer 1

look into AppDomain.AppendPrivatePath (deprecated) or AppDomainSetup.PrivateBinPath

Answer 2

Sounds like you could use the AppDomain.AssemblyResolve event and manually load the dependencies from your DLL directory.

Edit (from the comment):

AppDomain currentDomain = AppDomain.CurrentDomain;
currentDomain.AssemblyResolve += new ResolveEventHandler(LoadFromSameFolder);

static Assembly LoadFromSameFolder(object sender, ResolveEventArgs args)
{
    string folderPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
    string assemblyPath = Path.Combine(folderPath, new AssemblyName(args.Name).Name + ".dll");
    if (!File.Exists(assemblyPath)) return null;
    Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(assemblyPath);
    return assembly;
}

Answer 3

I've used @Mattias S' solution. If you actually want to resolve dependencies from the same folder - you should try using Requesting assembly location, as shown below. args.RequestingAssembly should be checked for nullity.

System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve += (s, args) =>
{
    var loadedAssembly = System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies().Where(a => a.FullName == args.Name).FirstOrDefault();
    if(loadedAssembly != null)
    {
        return loadedAssembly;
    }

    if (args.RequestingAssembly == null) return null;

    string folderPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(args.RequestingAssembly.Location);
    string rawAssemblyPath = Path.Combine(folderPath, new System.Reflection.AssemblyName(args.Name).Name);

    string assemblyPath = rawAssemblyPath + ".dll";

    if (!File.Exists(assemblyPath))
    {
        assemblyPath = rawAssemblyPath + ".exe";
        if (!File.Exists(assemblyPath)) return null;
    } 

    var assembly = System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom(assemblyPath);
    return assembly;
 };

Answer 4

For C++/CLI users, here is @Mattias S' answer (which works for me):

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Reflection;

static Assembly ^LoadFromSameFolder(Object ^sender, ResolveEventArgs ^args)
{
    String ^folderPath = Path::GetDirectoryName(Assembly::GetExecutingAssembly()->Location);
    String ^assemblyPath = Path::Combine(folderPath, (gcnew AssemblyName(args->Name))->Name + ".dll");
    if (File::Exists(assemblyPath) == false) return nullptr;
    Assembly ^assembly = Assembly::LoadFrom(assemblyPath);
    return assembly;
}

// put this somewhere you know it will run (early, when the DLL gets loaded)
System::AppDomain ^currentDomain = AppDomain::CurrentDomain;
currentDomain->AssemblyResolve += gcnew ResolveEventHandler(LoadFromSameFolder);

Answer 5

I came here from another (marked duplicate) question about adding the probing tag to the App.Config file.

I want to add a sidenote to this - Visual studio had already generated an App.config file, however adding the probing tag to the pregenerated runtime tag did not work! you need a seperate runtime tag with the probing tag included. In short, your App.Config should look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
    <startup> 
        <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.7.2" />
    </startup>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="System.Text.Encoding.CodePages" publicKeyToken="b03f5f7f11d50a3a" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-4.1.1.0" newVersion="4.1.1.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>

  <!-- Discover assemblies in /lib -->
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <probing privatePath="lib" />
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
</configuration>

This took some time to figure out so I am posting it here. Also credits to The PrettyBin NuGet Package. It is a package that moves the dlls automatically. I liked a more manual approach so I did not use it.

Also - here is a post build script that copies all .dll/.xml/.pdb to /Lib. This unclutters the /debug (or /release) folder, what I think people try to achieve.

:: Moves files to a subdirectory, to unclutter the application folder
:: Note that the new subdirectory should be probed so the dlls can be found.
SET path=$(TargetDir)\lib
if not exist "%path%" mkdir "%path%"
del /S /Q "%path%"
move /Y $(TargetDir)*.dll "%path%"
move /Y $(TargetDir)*.xml "%path%"
move /Y $(TargetDir)*.pdb "%path%"

Answer 6

You can add a probing path to your application's .config file, but it will only work if the probing path is a contained within your application's base directory.