Move manifest file to dll?

Question

I use a third-party component in my application, which is distributed either as a COM component or can refer to a .manifest file. In any case, it is loaded using CoCreateInstance (). Files required for a third-party component are located in a subfolder. The component developer told me to include the .manifest file in the settings of Visual Studio 2010 (in the "Manifest" section) of the executable file, and loading the component works without problems.

Now I use a third-party component only from a DLL to encapsulate functions used from a third-party component. I load a DLL dynamically using LoadLibrary (). Using the component is still working, I can use the component from the DLL that loads the EXE on which the manifest file is indicated.

To further separate the EXE from the third pary component, I would also like to move the manifest to a DLL where this is the only place the component is used. This way, every new EXE that I would like to write can use a DLL and use functions indirectly. At the moment, I have to add mainfest for each new EXE, but I do not want to do this.

Is there a way to move the manifest used by the EXE to a DLL?

Answer 1

You can put a manifest in a DLL, but it cannot be activated automatically. You may need to do this manually using the activation API. I think a lot depends on what the manifest is used for. I suspect that you are trying to use the free free COM, but this is only an assumption.

In any case, these links may be useful to you:

• resource RT_MANIFEST and ISOLATION_AWARE_ENABLED (Junfeng Zhang)
• Isolation Components (MSDN)