.NET Assemblies Legal Issues.

When I compile a type library in Visual C# it copies all of the assemblies I
reference into the /bin/release/ folder. I am assuming it does this so I can
zip this whole directory, distribute it and the user will have all the files
required to run my program within that directory.

Now my question is am I legally allowed to distribute these files? Say I'm
working on a community project, can I post a zip including the binary files
acdbmgd.dll and acmgd.dll on a website? Otherwise I am going to have to
develop some sort of install script that either builds the project from
source.

TIA,
Tim Riley

 

For the references, set the Local Copy property to false then they won't be
copied local.

-- Mike
___________________________
Mike Tuersley
___________________________
the trick is to realize that there is no spoon...

 

Mike:
Thanks for the info. But how then do the end users use my dll? When I
referenced acdbmgd.dll and acmgd.dll I had to manually select them at the
path "c:\program files\autodesk\acadm 2005\". Does this mean that if I
release my dll and the end user is using AutoCAD 2005 but not AutoCAD
Mechanical 2005 that the program will not work because the paths don't
match?

Tim Riley

 

path "c:\program files\autodesk\acadm 2005\". Does this mean that if I

Tim,

I was just reading about this in a C# standards manual for Classes. The
author was adamant about not hard coding any paths in your classes. For
just this reason. I would obtain the version and location from the local
computer. Otherwise Try Catch? I'm not the expert here.

gl
Paul

 

I don't see why not. .NET makes it very easy to install assemblies which
are to be referenced from the GAC. Autodesk didn't go that route so
either it's an oversight or a design choice.

 

Paul:

I'm not hardcoding any paths. The References required to access AutoCAD from
..NET are not available in the normal .NET GAC I have to click the browse tab
and add them manually. It is beyond me how I could find these .NET
assemblies automatically.

Tim Riley

 

Very true. I'm still a little nervous as the last thing I need is Autodesk
coming after me because I made their proprietary files available to pre-2005
people.

Tim Riley

 

When you set reference in .NET app to COM base app (Acad), a .NET interop
wrpper .DLL file is created (or you use PIA provided by the COM App
manufacturer). I think you are free to send these Interop .Dll assemblies to
your user. However, in the case of AutoCAD, I doubt you can legally send the
COM dll that wrpped by the Interop. dll. On the other hand, if your users
have the same AutoCAD product installed, they do not need these COM dll
file. If they do not have the same AutoCAD product, your .NET app will not
work, even you give them those COM dll files.

File location is irrelevant: the com dlls are registered with Windows
registry, the Interop dll wrapper uses Registry to locate COM dll.

 

Norman:

I am not using COM at all, only AutoCAD's .NET API (acdmgd.dll and
acmgd.dll).

Tim Riley

 

net dll don't need published, signed, or strong named to be used, only if
you want them in the GAC. I never do that with mine, either.

For 2005, Adesk strong named their dlls so you need to provide a copy of
the ones you are using and create an acad.exe.config file with binding
redirects if you are using different versions than those already installed
- i.e. you wrote in vanilla acad, enduser has mechanical.

If you are writing to 2006, don't use the local copy and you don't need to
send the dlls. Strong names are gone in 2006 and 2006 is set to handle
adjusting to the appropriate dll version.

-- Mike
___________________________
Mike Tuersley
___________________________
the trick is to realize that there is no spoon...

 

I'd say both =)

Oversight -
For 2005, Adesk strong named their dlls so you need to provide a copy of
the ones you are using and create an acad.exe.config file with binding
redirects if you are using different versions than those already installed
- i.e. you wrote in vanilla acad, end user has mechanical. It'd look
something like this:

<configuration>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="acmgd" publicKeyToken="7208edf2a10162b1"
culture="neutral" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535"
newVersion="16.1.84.0" />
</dependentAssembly>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="acdbmgd" publicKeyToken="7208edf2a10162b1"
culture="neutral" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535"
newVersion="16.1.84.0" />
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
<startup>
<!--Adesk always uses the latest version of the framework installed on the
computer. If youare having problems then explicitly specify the framework
version. For example, to specify .NET 1.1 uncomment the following line.
<supportedRuntime version="v1.1.4322"/>
-->
</startup>
</configuration>

Design choice -
If you are writing to 2006, don't use the local copy and you don't need to
send the dlls. Strong names are gone in 2006 and 2006 is set to handle
adjusting to the appropriate dll version.

-- Mike
___________________________
Mike Tuersley
___________________________
the trick is to realize that there is no spoon...

 

Oh, I should add that I don't strong name my dlls because they are not
exposed to COM - otherwise I would

-- Mike
___________________________
Mike Tuersley
___________________________
the trick is to realize that there is no spoon...

 

Isn't strong naming required for COM components?

 

He said he's not using COM so he doesn't have to strong name.

Tim Riley

 

That's not what I asked. His comments imply that strong naming is
optional so I'm checking my memory to make sure it's still functioning
correctly.

 

for COM components.

 

I believe strong naming is required for COM component access but that may
very well have changed. I haven't done one in ages and haven't kept up on
it - that's the nice part of writing stand alone, self contained apps ;-)

Having said all that, since adesk has abandoned using sn in 2006, that
would suggest that it is optional....not really sure, I'll have to test it.

-- Mike
___________________________
Mike Tuersley
___________________________
the trick is to realize that there is no spoon...