Get rid of pulling 100 dlls after migration from System.Data.SqlClient to Microsoft.Data.SqlCLient

[Rasic10]

We are in the process of migrating a .NET Framework application to .NET Core, aiming to support both platforms during the transition to ensure a seamless experience for our clients.

As part of this migration, we are upgrading from System.Data.SqlClient to Microsoft.Data.SqlClient to align with the latest standards and prepare the application for compatibility with .NET 9.

During the migration, we encountered an issue where additional assemblies are being included in the build output. These additional DLLs, which are introduced due to the dependency on Microsoft.Data.SqlClient, include:

• Microsoft.Win32.Primitives.dll
• netstandard.dll
• System.AppContext.dll
• System.Collections.Concurrent.dll
• System.Collections.dll
• System.Collections.NonGeneric.dll
• System.Collections.Specialized.dll
• System.ComponentModel.dll
• System.ComponentModel.EventBasedAsync.dll
• System.ComponentModel.Primitives.dll
• System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter.dll
• System.Console.dll
• System.Data.Common.dll
• System.Diagnostics.Contracts.dll
• System.Diagnostics.Debug.dll
• System.Diagnostics.FileVersionInfo.dll
• System.Diagnostics.Process.dll
• System.Diagnostics.StackTrace.dll
• System.Diagnostics.TextWriterTraceListener.dll
• System.Diagnostics.Tools.dll
• System.Diagnostics.TraceSource.dll
• System.Diagnostics.Tracing.dll
• System.Drawing.Primitives.dll
• System.Dynamic.Runtime.dll
• System.Globalization.Calendars.dll
• System.Globalization.dll
• System.Globalization.Extensions.dll
• System.IO.Compression.dll
• System.IO.Compression.ZipFile.dll
• System.IO.dll
• System.IO.FileSystem.dll
• System.IO.FileSystem.DriveInfo.dll
• System.IO.FileSystem.Primitives.dll
• System.IO.FileSystem.Watcher.dll
• System.IO.IsolatedStorage.dll
  ...
• System.Xml.XDocument.dll
• System.Xml.XmlDocument.dll
• System.Xml.XmlSerializer.dll
• System.Xml.XPath.dll
• System.Xml.XPath.XDocument.dll
• System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe.dll

We are investigating ways to avoid these dependencies, any ideas?

[mdaigle]

Hi @Rasic10 , when you move to .NET core, many dependencies that we're bundled with the OS for .NET Framework become explicit application dependencies. So you will see more DLLS included like those you've mentioned. There's no way to avoid this. If you have any other specific questions or concerns please let me know.

[JuergenAuer]

Hi @mdaigle

There's no way to avoid this.

I use a list of 17 DLLs, created following the dependencies - list. Ok, may not work with special requirements.

But with my "old application", using SqlConnection / SqlCommand and executing only stored procedures, it works. One year, last update 2024-10.

See the list attached.
info.txt

PS: Started 2006 with NET.Framework 2.0, now NET.8.0.12

[mdaigle]

Hi @JuergenAuer, yes, there are external tools available to cut out dlls. Some folks have experimented with this to remove things like azure dependencies: https://github.com/0xced/ChiseledSqlClient
Understandably, we can't recommend or support this approach. Our dependencies are needed as listed to support the full footprint of our feature set. That said, we are always looking to remove unused dependencies as much as possible. Please feel free to create an issue for any unnecessary dependencies you find. Thanks!

[Rasic10]

Thanks for the comments
I solved the "issue" by updating the .Net Framework version from 4.6.2 to 4.7.2 and after that I only have 10-20 new dlls