Problem with merging assemblies using ILmerge

[kulabhishek]

Hello,

I have used ILMerge tool to merge the multiple dlls into one. The dlls were merged successfully and the out file was also dll.
But when i am using this dll with other application, it is giving me error with Resources.

The resources are there in same assembly, with build action None.

Like :
The resource file is Expression.xml in Resources folder with build action None.
Then after merging the dlls, with new dll I am getting exception with the line
TextReader reader = new StringReader(Properties.Resources.Expression);

So the application is not able to find the resource Expression, but if I check the dll in the Reflector, the resource is there.

Can anyone tell me what to do with this problem?

Regards
Abhishek

[kulabhishek]

Actually problem is, the application using the merged dll is not able to find the resources inside merged DLLs.

Let me explain the problem with the help of a demo project.

Here is what I have done in demo project

Inside one solution, I have 4 projects.

Project 1: DLL with name A.B.C.Resources1.dll and namespace A.B.C
Project 2: DLL with name A.B.C.Resources2.dll and namespace A.B.C
Project 3: DLL with name A.B.D.Resources3.dll and namespace A.B.D
Project 4: EXE with name X.Y.Z.ResourcesTest.exe and namespace X.Y.Z . This project has the above three projects added as
references.

Each of the first three projects contains :
A. Image resource (The resources are added the way you told).
B. One form and one button added to it.

I am simply setting the image for the button inside constructor of each project, as :

Button_Name.Image = Properties.Resources.Image_Name;

The fourth project has three buttons, each for one DLL and I am calling appropriate constructor on button click event.

Now, if i use three DLLs separately : everything works fine.

If I merge three dlls with command :

ILMerge /log:A.B.C.Resources.log /t:library /copyattrs /allowdup /out:A.B.C.Resources.dll A.B.C.Resources1.dll A.B.C.Resources2.dll A.B.D.Resources3.dll

and

use the merged DLL in the 4th project : The image for button of the 2nd DLL is not visible (Resources not found).

Observations and Findings :

1. After merging, the Resource class is getting renamed by the ILMerge for the 2nd DLL. This happens because the namespace of
the first and second DLL is the same.

Ex : I saw the merged DLL inside Reflector, It shows, inside namespace A.B.C.Properties,
Class Resources for the A.B.C.Resources1.dll DLL is as it is : Resources
Class Resources for the A.B.C.Resources2.dll DLL is renamed to A.B.C.Resources23043.Resources

2. For the 3rd DLL everything works fine, as it has different namespace.

3. If I change the namespace for the 3rd DLL to A.B.C and merge the DLLs, the image for buttons of the 2nd as well as 3rd DLLs are
missing.

4. If I use the different namespace for each DLL and merge them and use, everything works fine.

5. So, basically I think this is due to renaming of the Resource class in the A.B.C.Properties namespace.

Is there any way to solve this, without changing the namespaces?? Because I want all the dlls to have the same namespace.

Is there any way to stop renaming by ILMerge?

Regards
Abhishek