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CHAPTER 1 VISUAL STUDIO 2010
This is different from adding a reference to a DLL that is located within a specifi ed directory. When you create
a reference via a path specifi cation, Visual Studio can check that path for an updated copy of the reference,
but your code is no longer as portable as it would be with a project reference. More important, unless there
is a major revision, Visual Studio usually fails to detect the types of changes you are likely to make to that fi le
during the development process. As a result, you ’ ll need to manually update the referenced fi le in the local
directory of the assembly that ’ s referencing it. For your own code often it ’ s best to leverage project references,
rather than path - based references. However, for third party controls where you ’ ll often only have an installed
location, one which isn ’ t likely to change as you move between machines, a path based reference can work.
On the other hand an alternative solution which is commonly used, is to ensure that instead of referencing
third party controls based on their location, that instead ‘copy local’ references are used so that the version
specifi c copy of the control deploys with the code that depends on it. This means that different versions of the
controls can exist on the same server in different applications. Additionally because a local copy of the control
is with the application, the application can be XCopy deployed without needing to register the controls.
Resources
In addition to referencing other assemblies, it is quite common for a .NET application to need to reference things
such as images, icons, audio, and other fi les. These fi les aren ’ t used to provide application logic but are used at
runtime to provide support for the look, feel, and even text used to communicate with the application ’ s user. In
theory, you can reference a series of images associated with your application by looking for those images based
on the installed fi le path of your application. Doing so, however, places your application ’ s runtime behavior at
risk, because a user might choose to replace, copy for profi t, or just delete your fi les.
This is where project references become useful. Instead of placing the raw fi les onto the operating system
alongside your executable, Visual Studio will package these fi les into your executable so that they are less
likely to be lost or damaged. Figure 1 - 11 shows the Resources tab, which enables you to review and edit all
the existing resources within a project, as well as import fi les for use as resources in your project. It even
allows you to create new resources from scratch.
FIGURE 1 - 11
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