Reference alternate to reference assembly in Visual Studio 2010?

Question

I'm trying to use an alternative core framework library while still targeting .NET Framework 4.0. When I add a manual reference to the alternate file, Visual Studio instead creates a reference to the same named file in C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\.

Can I disable this behavior?

seldary · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-26T15:05:17.197

3

If the dll is already in the GAC, removing existing dlls will not work.
Try to mark the reference as Specific Version = true (Right click -> Properties).

EDIT:
After you have added the reference (even if the wrong one was actually added), edit your csproj file, find the reference, and edit it with your specific dll properties:

<Reference Include="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging, Version=5.0.414.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <SpecificVersion>True</SpecificVersion>  
  <HintPath>..\..\ExternalLibrary\Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>

edited Jan 26 '12 at 15:05

answered Jan 26 '12 at 14:50

seldary

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I can't mark `Specific Version = true` without first being able to add the reference. – David Pfeffer Jan 26 '12 at 14:54
Doing this, plus finding the new strong name of the replacement assembly, worked perfectly. Thanks! – David Pfeffer Jan 27 '12 at 12:41
P.S. You also want to do `True` so it does `Copy Local`; otherwise on deployment you will have problems. – David Pfeffer Jan 27 '12 at 12:42

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 26 '12 at 14:21

0

Try this:

1 - Remove the reference.

2 - Clear your project bin/debug folder. If possible delete these
folders!

3 - Add the reference again.

You may need to restart Visual Studio between the steps described above.

answered Jan 26 '12 at 14:21

Leniel Maccaferri

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Try to run the Clean solution command in Visual Studio... Are you sure you can use this alternative DLL with .NET 4.0? Does it support .NET 4? Take a look at this too: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5575253/old-dll-keeps-being-used – Leniel Maccaferri Jan 26 '12 at 14:46
Tried Clean as well. The DLL definitely supports .NET 4.0. – David Pfeffer Jan 26 '12 at 14:52
Unfortunately I can't remove core DLLs from the GAC, so that solution won't work. – David Pfeffer Jan 26 '12 at 15:00

Reference alternate to reference assembly in Visual Studio 2010?

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