ExcelDnaPack.exe that packs a C++/CLI library

Question

I used ExcelDNA to create an Excel addin, packed into a single xll using ExcelDnaPack.exe. It works beautifully, until I add a reference to a dll created with a C++/CLI project (called CPPLibrary.dll) When I pack the CPPLibrary.dll the addin complains at runtime that it cannot find the dll. If I leave CPPLibrary.dll unpacked and just copy it in the same directory as the -packed.xll everything works. Is there a way to successfully pack a C++/CLI project into an ExcelDNa addin?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I ended up embedding the c++/cli as a resource, and in realtime when the excel dna addin gets loaded I extract the embedded dll to a file in disk and do a Assembly.LoadFrom(extracted path) Like this:

private static void ExtractAndLoadCPPLibrary()
{
    var executingAssembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();               
    string resource_path = "mydnaassembly.Embedded.CPPLibrary.dll";
    var version = executingAssembly.GetName().Version.ToString().Replace(".","_");
    var output_Path = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "CPPLibrary_" + version + ".dll");
    if (!File.Exists(output_Path))
    {
        using (Stream cpplibrary_input = executingAssembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resource_path))
        using (var cpplibrary_output = File.Create(output_Path))
        {
            cpplibrary_input.CopyTo(cpplibrary_output);
        }
    }
    Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(output_Path);
}