Is it necessary to deploy the XML file in a class

Question

I have developed a lot of class library projects in VS 2012 to be used in Windows Forms and Web forms applications.

The question is simple. Do I need to deploy the DLL file itself together with the XML file that is created?

For example, the class library project is called DataWare. Upon building, I got 5 files in Release folder (this project reference Entity Framework):

• DataWare.dll
• DataWare.pdb
• DataWare.dll.config
• EntityFramework.dll
• EntityFramework.xml

I know that ".pdb" file contains debugging information, so there is no need to deploy. The ".config" file is not taken into account. Instead the App.config or Web.config are.

Regarding this, I think I have to deploy just DataWare.dll and EntityFramework.dll.

However, the main doubt is if I need to deploy EntityFramework.xml as well.

Regards Jaime

Answer 1

The XML file contains the doc comments for the public types & members in the assembly.

You only need it if you want Visual Studio to show documentation in IntelliSense.

If you're deploying a consumer-facing app (as opposed to a developer-facing reusable library), you do not need it.

Answer 2

No, in most cases you do not need it. If there is an external DLL that needs to be copied local and referenced using the config, then you might need to, but that is somewhat rare.