Missing assembly but when I add it it says metadata file could not be found C# .NET

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Hello!

I seem to be facing a small dilemma and that would be that my application wont compile the C# code i need it to compile

If I dont add the reference it says

C#

[The type or namespace name 'Window' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

and when I add

C#

PresentationFramework.dll

it says

C#

Metadata file 'PresentationFramework.dll' could not be found

I've done some reasearch and it seems like

C#

The type or namespace name 'Window' needs PresentationFramework.dll

Why is my application throwing me this error when I try to compile inside my application (not from VS)

My source code

C#

using Microsoft.CSharp;
using System.CodeDom.Compiler;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows;


namespace SimpleBuilder
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// store code
    /// select what features
    /// print out textfile with all the code from the features
    /// compile that textfileContent to a exe
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        
        private void fakeMessageOne()
        {
            if(fakeMessageCheckbox.IsChecked == true)
            {
                fakeMessage1 fkmsg = new fakeMessage1();
                fkmsg.fakeMessage();
            }
        }

        private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            
            

            CSharpCodeProvider csc = new CSharpCodeProvider(new Dictionary<string, string>() { { "CompilerVersion", frameworkTextbox.Text } });
            CompilerParameters parameters = new CompilerParameters(new[] { "mscorlib.dll", "System.Core.dll" }, outputTextbox.Text, true);
            parameters.GenerateExecutable = true;
            parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("Microsoft.CSharp.dll");
            parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.dll");
            //parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("PresentationFramework.dll"); commented this out since it wasnt working.

            CompilerResults result = csc.CompileAssemblyFromSource(parameters, sourceTextbox.Text);
            if (result.Errors.HasErrors)
            {
                result.Errors.Cast<CompilerError>().ToList().ForEach(error => errorTextbox.Text += error.ErrorText + "\r\n");
            }
            else
            {
                errorTextbox.Text = "--- Build Succeeded! ---";
            }

        }
    }
}

The code im trying to compile

C#

using Microsoft.CSharp;
using System.CodeDom.Compiler;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows;


namespace SimpleBuilder
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// store code
    /// select what features
    /// print out textfile with all the code from the features
    /// compile that textfileContent to a exe
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void fakeMessageOne()
        {
            Messagebox.Show("Hello World");
        }
    }
}

What I have tried:

I've done some rerearch about the dll but cant find any others

Posted 28-Sep-16 6:21am

Goober S. Johnsson

Updated 28-Sep-16 7:17am

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Comments

Richard Deeming 28-Sep-16 12:46pm

Are you adding the reference in Visual Studio, or trying to compile via the csc.exe command-line?

Goober S. Johnsson 28-Sep-16 12:48pm

I already have it in VS, Im trying to add it through

parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("PresentationFramework.dll");

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Richard Deeming · Answer 1 · 2016-09-28T07:17:00

The problem is that the PresentationFramework.dll assembly isn't in a directory that's in the compiler's search path. Instead, it's in a sub-directory called "WPF" under the main framework directory:

C#

parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("WPF\\PresentationFramework.dll");

You'll also need some other references:

C#

parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Xaml.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("WPF\\WindowsBase.dll");
parameters.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("WPF\\PresentationCore.dll");

You'll also need to correct the case of the MessageBox class in your code to compile.

With those changes in place, you'll then find a single compiler error:
The name 'InitializeComponent' does not exist in the current context

That's because your compilation unit doesn't include any of the artefacts that Visual Studio generates for you when you create a new WPF window, including the BAML (compiled XAML) and the other part of the partial class.

If you look at an existing WPF project in Windows Explorer, you'll see a folder called obj. Under that, in a folder with the same name as the configuration (typically Debug or Release), you'll see that each WPF window has three compiler-generated files:

WindowName.baml - the compiled version of the XAML markup;
WindowName.g.cs - defines the fields, the InitializeComponent method to load the BAML from the embedded resources, and code to connect the fields to the loaded BAML;
WindowName.g.i.cs - seems to be a duplicate of .g.cs, possibly used for Intellisense;

Since you're generating the code manually, you'll need to duplicate these artefacts somehow, or move the code from the .g.cs file into your main class.