How to change the default namespace for Embedded Resources with MSBuild?

embedded-resource, msbuild, visual-studio-2010

Solution

The one method that can address this issue is to set the `LogicalName` of the embedded resource. By default when you embed a resource, you will find an entry in your csproj file similar to

<EmbeddedResource Include="path to embdedded resource"/>

In the case of resources that are added using `Add as Link`, you will find an additional `Link` attribute. In this case, the `Link` attribute is the path of the resource relative to your project structure and the `Include` attribute is the pointing to file's location on your machine (relative to your project).

<EmbeddedResource Include="path to embdedded resource"/>
  <Link>Libs\x86\My1st.dll</Link>
</EmbeddedResource>

In order to get the assemblies embedded using a different namespace the `LogicalName` attribute can be added to the above which allows one to override the default msbuild behaviour.

<EmbeddedResource Include="path to embdedded resource"/>
  <Link>Libs\x86\My1st.dll</Link>
  <LogicalName>$(TargetName).Libs.x86.My1st.dll</LogicalName>
</EmbeddedResource>

The downside it would seem, is that one will need to do this for every resource added. I would however have preferred that this convention be set in some way such that this can be the default way to embed any resource in my project i.e. use the `$(TargetName)` as a replacement for the default namespace

Problem

I am attempting to embed an unmanaged dll in my console project. The default namespace of the project is `Company.Project1Exe`. The Assembly Name (output exe ) is named `project1.exe` The dlls are added to the project using the `Add as Link` option and are located in a `Libs\x86` subfolder ``` Company.Project1Exe | |--Program.cs |--Libs |--x86 |-My1st.dll |-My2nd.dll ``` They have been added to the project using the `Add as Link` option, thus are not physically locate in the `Libs` subfolder. I have set the Build Action of both these dlls to 'Embedded Resource'. By default, MSBuild will embed these dlls using the `DefaultNamspace.ExtendedNamespace.FileName` where the `ExtendedNamespace` represents the directory structure of the project. This results in resource being embedded as `Company.Project1.Libs.x86.My1st.dll` and `Company.Project1.Libs.x86.My2nd.dll` respectively. I want these resources to embedded using the Assembly Name so that they are embedded as `Project1.Libs.x86.My1st.dll` and `Project1.Libs.x86.My2nd.dll` respectively. How can I do this?

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