Hello Tomasz,
As for the dll search path, it is called assembly probing path of .net
framework runtime. For normal .net framework application, at runtime when
it load a certain assembly, it will go through the following steps to
locate the assembly:
#How the Runtime Locates Assemblies
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yx7xezcf.aspx
** if strong-named, first check GAC
** if there is a <codebase> setting for the matche assembly, the code base
location will be used:
#<codeBase> Element
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/efs781xb.aspx
Note that if the assembly has a strong name, the codebase setting can be
anywhere on the local intranet or the Internet. If the assembly is a
private assembly, the codebase setting must be a path relative to the
application's directory.
** looking for the assembly in application's private probing path, and here
it will differ for different .net applications:
1) for normal winform or console application, by default the private
assembly probing path is the same directory of the application root
directory. And we can add additional sub directories for probing through
app.config file:
#<probing> Element
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/823z9h8w.aspx
2)if the application is ASP.NET web application, it always uses the fixed
"bin" sub directory as the only probing path. We can not add additional one
because ASP.NET CLR host is a customized host.
Therefore, for your scenario, if your common assemblies are strong-named,
you can put them into GAC to make them globally shared. If they're not
strong-named, it will be hard for them to share among multiple ASP.NET
applciations due to the existing limitation.
BTW, though it is not supported at .net /ASP.NET level, we can consider
using the windows NTFS's symbolic links(hard link) feature to link one
physical file directory to another physical file directory. You can have a
look at the "Symbolic links" feature to see whether it helps you some:
#Symbolic links in Windows
http://www.thierryb.net/site/Symbolic-links-in-Windows.html
There is also a tool from sysinternals site that can help create symbolic
links conveniently.
#Sysinternals Freeware - Junction
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Junction.html
Thus, you can link your mutiple application's private bin path to the same
physical directory(if they will not have other non-shared assembly which
has conflict name).
Hope this helps. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions
on this.
Sincerely,
Steven Cheng
Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead
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