Can I search by a reference name, solution-wise, to see in which projects it was referenced?

Question

Is there any possibiliy to searh the whole solution to see a particular refrence's usage?

Let's say, can I see in what projects the reference "Xyxyxyxy.dll" is referenced?

(ReSharper based answers are also acceptable! :) )

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can do this through notepad++ quite easily by giving the solution directory and *.csproj as the filter i.e. searching the csproj files for the references.

• In case you want to search for GAC assembly references, search for the following string

  <Reference Include="System.Data" /> where System.Data is the assembly name

• In case you want to search for a non GAC referenced assembly then search for the following string

  <Reference Include="WindowsFormsApplication2, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL">

  

Answer 2

You can use Project Hierarchy feature of ReSharper to see back and forward reference links. Right click your reference or project, choose Project Hierarchy.

Answer 3

Devendra's answer already shows how you can get an answer to the question by doing a simple text search. I thought it might be worth showing that you can do the same thing using only PowerShell (in case you don't have an editor other than Visual Studio installed):

gci -Recurse -Filter '*.csproj' |
    where { $_ | sls '<Reference.*"System\.Data("|,)' } |
    select -ExpandProperty Name

Replace System\.Data with the full name of the assembly you're searching for.