Can Json.Net be embedded into the executable?

Question

I set the 'Embed Interop Types' property of the Netwonsoft.Json library to true and it returns an error:

Cannot embed interop types from assembly
'c:\path\packages\Newtonsoft.Json.9.0.1\lib\net45\Newtonsoft.Json.dll'
because it is missing either the 'ImportedFromTypeLibAttribute' attribute or
the 'PrimaryInteropAssemblyAttribute' attribute
c:\path\packages\Newtonsoft.Json.9.0.1\lib\net45\Newtonsoft.Json.dll

It looks like looking for missing references within the Newtonsoft.Json library, but I am not entirely certain. Is it possible for Json.Net to be embeded into the executable?

Answer 1

You didn't say which language you were using but here is how you'd do it for C#

---

First, turn off "Embed Interop Types"

Then, to the main executable project, unload and edit the .csproj file, and below the following line:

<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />

Add this XML to the project file, save, and load it back up.

 <Target Name="AfterResolveReferences">
  <ItemGroup>
    <EmbeddedResource Include="@(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths)" Condition="'%(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Extension)' == '.dll'">
      <LogicalName>%(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.DestinationSubDirectory)%(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Filename)%(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Extension)</LogicalName>
    </EmbeddedResource>
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

You’ll then add a new code file to the main project and add the following code to it (modified to fit how your application is named / structured, in a WPF application, a good place to put it would be App.xaml.cs):

[STAThread]
public static void Main()
{
    AppDomain.CurrentDomain.AssemblyResolve += OnResolveAssembly;

    App.Main(); // Run WPF startup code.
}

private static Assembly OnResolveAssembly(object sender, ResolveEventArgs e)
{
    var thisAssembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

    // Get the Name of the AssemblyFile
    var assemblyName = new AssemblyName(e.Name);
    var dllName = assemblyName.Name + ".dll";

    // Load from Embedded Resources - This function is not called if the Assembly is already
    // in the same folder as the app.
    var resources = thisAssembly.GetManifestResourceNames().Where(s => s.EndsWith(dllName));
    if (resources.Any())
    {

        // 99% of cases will only have one matching item, but if you don't,
        // you will have to change the logic to handle those cases.
        var resourceName = resources.First();
        using (var stream = thisAssembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName))
        {
            if (stream == null) return null;
            var block = new byte[stream.Length];

            // Safely try to load the assembly.
            try
            {
                stream.Read(block, 0, block.Length);
                return Assembly.Load(block);
            }
            catch (IOException)
            {
                return null;
            }
            catch(BadImageFormatException)
            {
                return null;
            }
        }
    }

    // in the case the resource doesn't exist, return null.
    return null;
}

Finally, make sure you update the target method for your main application to be the main method for the project you just added

Source: http://www.paulrohde.com/merging-a-wpf-application-into-a-single-exe/