What should I do about content files when sharing an assembly dll with another programmer?

Question

I have a library project that has some content files (e.g., XML and schema files, image files, etc.) all with Build Action set to Content (copy always).

This library project lives in a Visual Studio solution that also has a test application (WPF) that references the library.

When I build the solution, all the content files from the dependent library project get copied to the bin folder of my test application. (They also get copied to the bin folder of the library project.)

Today, I gave the assembly dll generated by my library project to another programmer for him to reference. It didn't even occur to me, however, that this was not enough. I needed to give him the content files as well. So I did, and he added them to his project.

This solution works, but I'm uncomfortable with it. I don't like that the content files are mixed in with his project files. This makes it more likely they could be accidentally changed or deleted.

So, I'm hoping I can get some advice on how to share libraries with other programmers when content files are involved.

Note: It's not that I'm trying to hide the content files (it's actually important that programmers referencing this library have access to them), but I would like them to remain separate from the referencing project yet still get copied properly to the bin folder when their project is compiled. I guess what I'm saying is, I want it to be as if they have the library project in their solution, just not the code files and xaml files.

Thanks.

EDIT:

One idea that occurs to me is that I could copy just the folder structure and content files from my library project into a new class library project. Then, anyone referencing my library project could add this minimal class library in their solution. They would still have to reference the dll as a separate step, but this is definitely better than the current solution. Maybe I could even write a post-build event that automatically copies all content files from my library project to the minimal class library. (Now, I just have to research how to actually write a build event :)). Comments welcome.

EDIT 2:

I built on my original edit to come up with a solution I think I'm going to be happy with. See my answer below.

Answer 1

Make the content files embedded resources. You can then get at them with Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(). It makes your assembly a lot more portable - you're no longer relying on file system locations at execution time.

Answer 2

I decided to remove the content files from the library project and put them in a new "content-only" library project that contains only content. If anyone needs to use the library project, I just share the dll and the content-only library project folder. This way, the relationship between projects and content files in the solution folder remains exactly the same, and everything updates automatically when I compile.