I have a solution with two C# projects: One WinForms application (exe) and one library (dll). Multiple external dll files are referenced. I would like to merge the output of my projects into one exe file, while keeping the other dll files separately, i.e. instead of
- myApp.exe
- myLib.dll
- externalLib1.dll
- externalLib2.dll
- ...
I would like to have
- myMergedAppAndLib.exe
- externalLib1.dll
- externalLib2.dll
- ...
Is this actually possible? I am aware of the ILMerge tool, but it seems to be deprecated and I don't know whether it is ok not to include all referenced dll files. I am also aware of the publishing option in Visual Studio Produce single file, but to my understanding this will also merge the external dll files, right?
I cannot merge the two projects, because the library project is also used for a third project (another WinForms exe).
Related SO question: merge-dll-into-exe