[.net] ResourceDictionary in a separate assembly

I have resource dictionary files (MenuTemplate.xaml, ButtonTemplate.xaml, etc) that I want to use in multiple separate applications. I could add them to the applications' assemblies, but it's better if I compile these resources in one single assembly and have my applications reference it, right?

After the resource assembly is built, how can I reference it in the App.xaml of my applications? Currently I use ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries to merge the individual dictionary files. If I have them in an assembly, how can I reference them in xaml?

I'm working with .NET 4.5 and couldn't get this working... I was using WPF Custom Control Library. This worked for me in the end...

<ResourceDictionary Source="/MyAssembly;component/mytheme.xaml" />

source: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wpf/thread/11a42336-8d87-4656-91a3-275413d3cc19

I'm working with .NET 4.5 and couldn't get this working... I was using WPF Custom Control Library. This worked for me in the end...

<ResourceDictionary Source="/MyAssembly;component/mytheme.xaml" />

source: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wpf/thread/11a42336-8d87-4656-91a3-275413d3cc19

Using XAML:

If you know the other assembly structure and want the resources in c# code, then use below code:

 ResourceDictionary dictionary = new ResourceDictionary();
 dictionary.Source = new Uri("pack://application:,,,/WpfControlLibrary1;Component/RD1.xaml", UriKind.Absolute);
 foreach (var item in dictionary.Values)
 {
    //operations
 }

Output: If we want to use ResourceDictionary RD1.xaml of Project WpfControlLibrary1 into StackOverflowApp project.

Structure of Projects:

Resource Dictionary:

Code Output:

PS: All ResourceDictionary Files should have Build Action as 'Resource' or 'Page'.

Using C#:

If anyone wants the solution in purely c# code then see my this solution.

Resource-Only DLL is an option for you. But it is not required necessarily unless you want to modify resources without recompiling applications. Have just one common ResourceDictionary file is also an option. It depends how often you change resources and etc.

<ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/
     <MyAssembly>;component/<FolderStructureInAssembly>/<ResourceFile.xaml>"/>

MyAssembly - Just assembly name without extension

FolderStructureInAssembly - If your resources are in a folde, specify folder structure

When you are doing this it's better to aware of siteOfOrigin as well.

WPF supports two authorities: application:/// and siteoforigin:///. The application:/// authority identifies application data files that are known at compile time, including resource and content files. The siteoforigin:/// authority identifies site of origin files. The scope of each authority is shown in the following figure.

For UWP:

<ResourceDictionary Source="ms-appx:///##Namespace.External.Assembly##/##FOLDER##/##FILE##.xaml" />

Resource-Only DLL is an option for you. But it is not required necessarily unless you want to modify resources without recompiling applications. Have just one common ResourceDictionary file is also an option. It depends how often you change resources and etc.

<ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/
     <MyAssembly>;component/<FolderStructureInAssembly>/<ResourceFile.xaml>"/>

MyAssembly - Just assembly name without extension

FolderStructureInAssembly - If your resources are in a folde, specify folder structure

When you are doing this it's better to aware of siteOfOrigin as well.

WPF supports two authorities: application:/// and siteoforigin:///. The application:/// authority identifies application data files that are known at compile time, including resource and content files. The siteoforigin:/// authority identifies site of origin files. The scope of each authority is shown in the following figure.

An example, just to make this a 15 seconds answer -

Say you have "styles.xaml" in a WPF library named "common" and you want to use it from your main application project:

1. Add a reference from the main project to "common" project
2. Your app.xaml should contain:

<Application.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/Common;component/styles.xaml"/>
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>

For UWP:

<ResourceDictionary Source="ms-appx:///##Namespace.External.Assembly##/##FOLDER##/##FILE##.xaml" />