How do I set the path to a DLL file in Visual Stud

Question

I developed an application that depends on a DLL file. When I debug my application, the applicationwould complain that:

"This application has failed to start because xxx.dll was not found."

So I have to copy the DLL file into the same directory as my .vcproj file.

Is there a way to set the project to look for the DLL file in (preferably) some relative path or (not preferred) some absolute path?

Similar concept to how we set include and library path in the project settings.

I mean when I debug my application (hitting F5) the above error would pop up.

Answer 1

Another possibility would be to set the Working Directory under the debugging options to be the directory that has that DLL.

Edit: I was going to mention using a batch file to start Visual Studio (and set the PATH variable in the batch file). So then did a bit of searching and see that this exact same question was asked not long ago in this post. The answer suggests the batch file option as well as project settings that apparently may do the job (I did not test it).

Answer 2

The search path that the loader uses when you call LoadLibrary() can be altered by using the SetDllDirectory() function. So you could just call this and add the path to your dependency before you load it.

See also DLL Search Order.

Answer 3

1. Go to project properties (Alt+F7)
2. Under Debugging, look to the right
3. There's an Environment field.
4. Add your relative path there (relative to vcproj folder) i.e. ..\some-framework\lib by appending PATH=%PATH%;$(ProjectDir)\some-framework\lib or prepending to the path PATH=C:\some-framework\lib;%PATH%
5. Hit F5 (debug) again and it should work.

Answer 4

I know this question had been answered years ago, but for those like me who needed to change where the debugger starts the application, change the command property under Project Properties -> Debugging.

Answer 5

Go through project properties -> Reference Paths

Then add folder with DLL's