How do I handle dependency DLLs that aren't referenced by my code but are required to be in the bin?

Question

I'm developing a series of plugins for a 3rd part application, and the vendor gives us all of their plugin assemblies along with some helper assemblies for working with their system.

Our code usually references these helper assemblies, but the their plugin assemblies still need to be copied to the external bin/debug or bin/release directory. Normally I would make this a post-build event on the main project, but since this project is a collection of individual projects with their own dependencies I am not sure what to do.

What are some recommendations (or best practices) for handling this situation in Visual Studio?

Answer 1

Add the DLLs to your project in a folder with a descriptive name (libs, third-party etc...).

Set the Copy to Output Directory property on them (F4) to Copy if Newer or Copy Always.