Merging dlls into a single .exe with wpf

I'm currently working on a project where we have a lot of dependencies. I would like to compile all the referenced dll's into the .exe much like you would do with embedded resources. I have tried ILMerge but it can't handle .xaml resources.

So my question is: Is there a way to merge a WPF project with multiple dependencies into a single .exe?

Solution 1:

http://www.digitallycreated.net/Blog/61/combining-multiple-assemblies-into-a-single-exe-for-a-wpf-application

This worked like a charm for me :) and its completely free.

Adding code in case the blog ever disappears.

1) Add this to your .csproj file:

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

2) Make your Main Program.cs look like this:

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

3) Add the OnResolveAssembly method:

private static Assembly OnResolveAssembly(object sender, ResolveEventArgs args)
{
    Assembly executingAssembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
    AssemblyName assemblyName = new AssemblyName(args.Name);

    var path = assemblyName.Name + ".dll";
    if (assemblyName.CultureInfo.Equals(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) == false) path = String.Format(@"{0}\{1}", assemblyName.CultureInfo, path);

    using (Stream stream = executingAssembly.GetManifestResourceStream(path))
    {
        if (stream == null) return null;

        var assemblyRawBytes = new byte[stream.Length];
        stream.Read(assemblyRawBytes, 0, assemblyRawBytes.Length);
        return Assembly.Load(assemblyRawBytes);
    }
}

Solution 2:

Use Costura.Fody - It is available as Nuget Pkg for best and easiest way to embed resources in your assembly.

Install-Package Costura.Fody

After adding it to the project, it will automatically embed all added references to your main assembly.

Solution 3:

{smartassembly} is one such product. It can obsfucate or embedd your dlls.

Try this: http://www.smartassembly.com/

You can also do a lot of improvements on your application so it will run faster.

And yes. You can use it for WPF.

Update 8/06/2015: ILRepack 2.0.0 (which is an open-source alternative to ILMerge) has now support for most of WPF cases merging: https://twitter.com/Gluckies/status/607680149157462016