How do you share code between projects/solutions i

Question

I have two solutions which have some common code, so I'd like to extract it out and share it between them. Furthermore, I'd like to be able to release that library independently because it might be useful to others.

• What's the best way to do it with Visual Studio 2008?
• Is a project present in more than one solution?
• Do I have a separate solution for the separate piece of code?
• Can a solution depend on another one?

Answer 1

Two main steps involved are

1- Creating a C++ dll

In visual studio

New->Project->Class Library in c++ template. Name of project here is first_dll in 
visual studio 2010. Now declare your function as public in first_dll.h file and 
write the code in first_dll.cpp file as shown below.

Header File code

// first_dll.h

using namespace System;

namespace first_dll 
{

public ref class Class1
{
public:
    static double sum(int ,int );
    // TODO: Add your methods for this class here.
};
}

Cpp File

//first_dll.cpp
#include "stdafx.h"

#include "first_dll.h"

namespace first_dll
{

    double Class1:: sum(int x,int y)
    {
        return x+y;
    }

 }

Check This

**Project-> Properties -> Configuration/General -> Configuration Type** 

this option should be Dynamic Library(.dll) and build the solution/project now.

first_dll.dll file is created in Debug folder

2- Linking it in C# project

Open C# project

Rightclick on project name in solution explorer -> Add -> References -> Browse to path 
where first_dll.dll is created and add the file.

Add this line at top in C# project

Using first_dll; 

Now function from dll can be accessed using below statement in some function

double var = Class1.sum(4,5);

I created dll in c++ project in VS2010 and used it in VS2013 C# project.It works well.

Answer 2

Extract the common code into a class library project and add that class library project to your solutions. Then you can add a reference to the common code from other projects by adding a project reference to that class library. The advantage of having a project reference as opposed to a binary/assembly reference is that if you change your build configuration to debug, release, custom, etc, the common class library project will be built based on that configuration as well.

Answer 3

You can wild-card inline using the following technique (which is the way in which @Andomar's solution is saved in the .csproj)

<Compile Include="..\MySisterProject\**\*.cs">
  <Link>_Inlined\MySisterProject\%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
</Compile>

Put in:

    <Visible>false</Visible>

If you want to hide the files and/or prevent the wild-card include being expanded if you add or remove an item from a 'virtual existing item' folder like MySisterProject above.

Answer 4

Now you can use the Shared Project

Shared Project is a great way of sharing common code across multiple application We already have experienced with the Shared Project type in Visual Studio 2013 as part of Windows 8.1 Universal App Development, But with Visual Studio 2015, it is a Standalone New Project Template; and we can use it with other types of app like Console, Desktop, Phone, Store App etc.. This types of project is extremely helpful when we want to share a common code, logic as well as components across multiple applications with in single platform. This also allows accessing the platform-specific API ’s, assets etc.

for more info check this