Can I embed other files in a DLL?

c# .net winforms dll embedding
Eric Anastas picture Eric Anastas · Dec 11, 2009 · Viewed 18.8k times · Source

I'm writing a plug-in for another application through an API. The plug-ins are distributed a DLLs. Is it possible to embed other files in the DLL file like pdfs, images, chm help files etc... I want to be able to provide documentation with my plug-in but I'd still like to retain the ability to distribute the plug-in as a single file the user can just drag and drop onto the application to install.

Answer

Gregory Pakosz picture Gregory Pakosz · Dec 11, 2009

Sure, you can embed a resource in your DLL. Then at runtime you just do:

Stream stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("com.stackoverflow.plugin.example.Foo.pdf");

This would give you a stream to the Foo.pdf file embedded in your DLL. Pay attention to the fact that the resource name has to be scoped by the namespace of the type from which you're invoking the method.

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