Specifying a DLL reference - vb.net

I'm having trouble setting the path to a DLL that is not in the same directory as the executable.
I have a reference to dllA.dll. At present, everything is just copied into the same directory and all is well; however, I need to move the executable to another directory while still referencing the DLL in the original directory.
So, it's setup like:
C:\Original\Dir
program.exe
dllA.dll
dllB.dll
dllC.dll
But I need to have it setup like:
C:\New\Dir
program.exe
dllB.dll
dllC.dl
Such that it is still able to reference dllA.dll in C:\Original\dir
I tried the following, but to no avail:
Set the "Copy Local" value to false for dllA.dll because I want it to be referenced in its original location.
Under "Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > VC++ Directories" I have added the path to "C:\Original\Dir"
Added "C:\Original\Dir" to both the PATH and LIB environment variables
At runtime, it informs me that it cannot locate dllA.dll Maybe the above steps I took only matter at compile time?
I was able to find this
C# : Specifying a location for Dll reference
But I was thinking that my above method should've worked.
Any ideas?

Your compile-time settings won't affect the run-time path. Try adding C:\Original\dir
to the system-wide path, and you should see that it picks up the DLL correctly. If so, then your solutions appear to be:
1) modify the system path permanently. May or may not be feasible.
2) alter the environment path at run-time.
3) use relative paths when referring to the DLL.
4) record the path to the DLL at installation time, perhaps in the registry, so that your exe can load it explicitly.

While I may still foolishly believe this can be accomplished through specifying the proper path variables, I was able to overcome this issue by adding some entries to my app.config
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="dllA" publicKeyToken="blah" culture="neutral" />
<codeBase version="blah" href="file:///C:/Original/Dir/dllA.dll" />
</dependentAssembly>
</runtime>

Working from the above answer (Thanks Karl), it wasn't clear to me about the syntax for href, especially for relative paths:
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="SVDInterface" culture="neutral" />
<codeBase version="1.0.3114.29282" href="./System/SVD/SVDInterface.dll" />
</dependentAssembly>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Math Functions" culture="neutral" />
<codeBase version="1" href="./System/SVD/Math Functions.dll" />
</dependentAssembly>
The version number for the 1st dll I got from the references tab.
Having looked into lots of ways of specifying where a dll is, this was by far the easiest way - still took me all day to get it to work fully.
The last nugget of information is that the App.config entries above get written out to yourappname.exe.config which you must copy with your app to its final destination otherwise it will never find your dlls.
Hopefully of use to someone.
Kristian

Related

Load assembly from folder and specific version

In a VB.net solution I need to load some dll from a specific folder. I have read
Could not load an assembly from specific folder and many others but in my case no luck. I have tried to add in app.config lines to reference to the file I need :
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Eplan.EplApi.Starteru" publicKeyToken="57aaa27e22f7b107" />
<publisherPolicy apply="yes" />
<codeBase version="1.0.0.0" href="C:\Program Files\EPLAN\Platform\2023.0.3\Bin\Eplan.EplApi.Starteru.dll"/>
</dependentAssembly>
But when I try to start my solution I have a System.InvalidOperationException without any other message. I have also tried this solution https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/53408.vb-net-dynamically-load-assemblies.aspx without luck.Any idea for solving?

how to change web.config when upgrading to Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient 4.3

I'd like to know how to change web.config when upgrading to Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient 4.3. Current web.config is like
<assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" culture="neutral" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-1.7.0.0" newVersion="1.7.0.0" />
You can directly delete it. This configuration is used for binding "Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient" reference which is older than 1.7.0.0 to the assembly whose version is 1.7.0.0. For example, originally the project references Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient 1.5.0.0 in compile time, after this part is added to web.config, it can leverage Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient 1.7.0.0 instead of 1.5.0.0 in run time, as long as the assembly is backward-compatible.
Because you have replaced "Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient.dll" with "Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.dll" (both name and version are different), this configuration is not needed at all.

Could not load file or assembly Telerik.Sitefinity

having some issues upgrading my Sitefinity 4.1.1339.0 installation to 4.3 (and ultimately to Sitefinity 5). It is giving me the following error:
Could not load file or assembly 'Telerik.Sitefinity, Version=4.1.1339.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b28c218413bdf563' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)
I was thinking it was the /bin/Telerik.Sitefinity.dll file but everything seems to be updated in there.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
I agree with #Josh, plus you might try looking through all your files in the App_Data\Sitefinity\Configuration folder. I had to update all of the references in those files manually for some reason to match the exact DLL version. Make sure you completely restart your cassini/IIS/sitefinity instance to pick up the changes.
If you are using 'assemblyBinding' in your Sitefinity web.config, you will need to update that section of the config to the latest dll versions. Assembly Binding is a common solution to map out of date third party Sitefinity modules/plugins to the current Sitefinity dlls.
The following are correct versions for Sitefinity 5.1.3210. Note that Telerik.Web.UI is a different version as it is from a different Telerik product line.
<!-- From web.config - not complete file -->
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Telerik.Sitefinity" publicKeyToken="b28c218413bdf563" culture="neutral"/>
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" newVersion="5.1.3210.0"/>
</dependentAssembly>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Telerik.Sitefinity.Model" publicKeyToken="b28c218413bdf563" culture="neutral"/>
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" newVersion="5.1.3210.0"/>
</dependentAssembly>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Telerik.Web.UI" publicKeyToken="121fae78165ba3d4" culture="neutral"/>
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" newVersion="2012.2.607.40"/>
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
If you will be upgrading through many versions 4.1 -> 4.4 -> 5.0 -> 5.1, you may wish to comment out this section of the config until you are complete with your upgrades, then add it back in. Otherwise, you'll have to edit these three lines after each upgrade.
Note: to get the dll version, browse to the bin folder. Right click dll file, click properties, then select the 'details' tab.

Error adding policy file to GAC

I'm trying to add a publisher policy file to the gac as per this thread but I'm having problems when I try and add the file on my test server.
I get "A module specified in the manifest of assembly 'policy.3.0.assemblyname.dll' could not be found"
My policy file looks like this:
<configuration>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="*assemblyname*"
publicKeyToken="7a19eec6f55e2f84"
culture="neutral" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="3.0.0.0"
newVersion="3.0.0.1"/>
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
</configuration>
Please help!
Thanks
Ben
I've recreated the problem from scratch with a new assembly that has no dependancies (apart from the defaults) itself - all works fine on my local development machine (and redirects fine too) but gives the same error adding the policy file to the GAC on the server!
<configuration>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="TestAsm"
publicKeyToken="5f55456fdcc9b528"
culture="neutral" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="3.0.0.0"
newVersion="3.0.0.1"/>
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
</configuration>
linked in the following way
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\al.exe /link:PublisherPolicy.xml /out:policy.3.0.TestAsm.dll /keyfile:..\..\key.snk /version:3.0.0.0
pause
Please help!
Wow - ok got it.
I should have paid more attention to exactly what this meant
(MSDN) How to: Create a Publisher Policy
Important Note: The publisher policy
assembly cannot be added to the global
assembly cache unless the original
publisher policy file is located in
the same directory as the assembly .
That requirement is, frankly, so bizarre that it didn't register. The original policy file, that was compiled into the assembly i'm trying to add to the gac, has to be in the same folder as the policy assembly as you add the policy assembly.
Ok...just want to check some basics....
You definitely have got both versions of the dependent assembly installed to GAC?
And have you verified that the version numbers in the [assembly: AssemblyVersion()] attribute are correct.
And you did use [assembly: AssemblyVersion()] and NOT [assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("1.0.0.1")].
Update: My mistake, you only need the latest version of the assembly in the GAC. I just tried that here and it works. My only other thoughts are to check that the public key tokens are the same and that you've not misspelled the assembly name.
Also when you generate the policy file make sure you use the /version switch in the assembly linker to explicitly set the version number to 3.0.0.0 AND don't specify the /platform switch. e.g.
al.exe /link:assembly.config /out:policy.3.0.assembly.dll
/keyfile:mykey.snk /version:3.0.0.0
To add policy assemblies to the GAC using Wise, you do the same thing as you do to add the assembly the policy is for. So you add the policy assembly to the "Global Assembly Cache" in Wise, and as long as you have the policy file (.config) in the same location on the machine, Wise will automatically add it to GAC as well.

How to solve: Custom MSBuild task requires assembly outside of AppBase

I have a custom Task that I want to execute when building my C# projects. This task is located in MyTask.dll, which references another assembly, MyCommon.DLL.
The problem is that MyCommon.dll is located at "..\Common\MyCommon.dll" relative to MyTask.dll, which puts it outside the AppBase dir for MSBuild process. I've confirmed that this is indeed the problem by analyzing MSBuild's log and seeing Fusion's report about the binding failure.
What can I do to make Fusion find MyCommon.dll during the build process? Note that moving the assembly would break my app, which also depends on it.
UPDATE: Well, it seems I'll go with using a copy afterall. Other solutions all require system-wide modifications, which isn't really warranted here.
So copy it instead? Just a thought. Have a copy there just to support the build that you delete once you're done with it.
I see multiple solutions :
1st : Add the assembly in the GAC (your assembly must have a strong name)
gacutil /I <assembly name>
2nd : Locate the assembly through Codebases or Probing, in your machine.config file or in msbuild.exe.config .
<configuration>
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="MyCommon"
publicKeyToken="32ab4ba45e0a69a1"
culture="neutral" />
<codeBase version="2.0.0.0"
href="file://C:/yourpath/MyCommon.DLL"/>
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
</configuration>
3rd : copy the assembly in the same directory before and delete it after, like David M said.
All of these "solutions" create more dependencies which complicate the environment. There should be an easier way to update the probing path at runtime..
Specifically MSBuild should allow you to add probing paths in your .proj file, or to specify the dependant dlls
You can define a custom UsingTask:
<UsingTask TaskName="Task" AssemblyFile="Assembly.dll" />
but you cant add dependencies? it should be included... here with something like
<UsingTask TaskName="Task" AssemblyFile="Assembly.dll">
<DependantAssembly AssemblyFile="dependant.dll"/>
</UsingTask>
But, no this isn't supported...
An option is to use ILMerge to merge the dependency into the task assembly.