Zip up project: Unzipping has missing .dll

I tried zipping up my project using the built-in zip up function under File/Packaging. However, when I unzip it, it says it’s missing a .dll file.

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So I try to rebuild them, but it encounters an error.

87185-screenshot_2.png

From what I can tell from online searching, this can’t build because it doesn’t have the necessary C++ files to rebuild the .dll. How do I make the engine zip up those files as well, or do I just have to manually drop them in there?

Hello,

I have attempted to reproduce your issue, but have not been able to do so. Here are my steps:

  1. Create a new C++ project
  2. Zip up project
  3. Delete the project files from my computer
  4. Unzip the project files
  5. open the project

I am getting the rebuild message, but my project is opening successfully. Is there a step that you are performing that I am missing?

Quick question: did you use the built-in ue4 zip-up, or did you go to the files directly and zip those up? Because, zipping up the entire project works fine, it’s only the built-in zip up that doesn’t load.

I’m still not sure what the problem is, but I found a solution, just go into the project’s file directory and copy-paste the entire “Source” folder into the zip file. Still unsure why the engine doesn’t see the source files as necessary.

So, if you are using the built-in zip up functionality, does your zip at the end contain the “Source” folder?

My zip contained the source folder and did require a rebuild, but it was able to build successfully and I didn’t have any issue opening the project. Does this occur for you in any project, or only in a particular project?

It occurs with any project.

This:

is a full and manual zip of the project (minus intermediate and .sdf visual studio files). I went directly to the folder that contains the project, and right-clicked, then added it to archive. This comes up with a message that says it needs to rebuild the .dll. It builds with no problems. This is not the problem I’m having.

This:

is the result when I open the project (the first link) and go to File->Package Project->Zip Up Project. This also opens with a message saying it needs to rebuild the .dll file, but does NOT rebuild properly. It comes up with the same error message from my first post that says “Try rebuilding from source manually.” This is the problem I’m having. It doesn’t automatically place the “Source” folder into the zip.

Here’s a list of every single step I made:

  1. Make an empty project.
  2. Delete the Starter Content.
  3. Add New->New C++ file.
  4. Make a new class called “MyClass” extending from none.
  5. Manually add in extension to UObject and make it a UCLASS(BlueprintType) to make it show up in blueprints and other stuff involved with that (I forgot to make it a UObject from the start).
  6. Build
  7. Make a blueprint that contains the class as a variable.
  8. Save everything.
  9. File->Package Project->Zip Up Project.

The result is the second zip file linked in this post. It does NOT contain the “Source” folder. If I manually add in the “Source” folder, it rebuilds the .dll file just fine, but without manually inputting the “Source” folder, it does not rebuild properly.

P.S. Not sure it it would even make a difference to the zip-up functionality, but I tried all three Build Configurations in File->Package Project->Build Configurations. All three resulted in the same zip-up without a “Source” folder.

Hello,

After further investigation, it appears that this issue is fixed in 4.11. I followed your steps, but was unable to reproduce the issue, as my zip contained a source folder as expected. Go ahead and try it out in 4.11 and let me know if that solves your issue.

Have a great day