Referencing external assemblies from plugin or custom workflow activity

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Posted on by cranialsurge Microsoft Employee

As per my understanding if I have a plugin dll or a custom workflow activity dll that references another dll (my own class library not registered in the GAC) the only way to register such a plugin with CRM Online is after I run ILMerge to merge both the dlls in to one correct? Because CRM does not support external references in its Sandboxed mode.

Are there any alternatives here?

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Royal King 27,686 on at

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There is no other option other than merging dll's using ILMerge tool to refer your custom DLL in plugin or workflow. One other option would be writing your own web service or WCF service and consume that service using actions in CRM. in this case you can have all your logic within the service.

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ScottDurow 21 on at

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If it is your own assembly - you would be better off adding the code to your plugin and compiling it in rather than using ILMerge.

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Community Member on at

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Merging the Dlls is the only option.

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cranialsurge Microsoft Employee on at

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Thanks Scott, is there a reason behind the preference? Does ILMerge have any perf. concerns?

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