VS.NET Add reference to GAC assemblies

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Ken Varn - 09 Oct 2006 21:05 GMT

Is there any particular reason why VS.NET 2003 does not list assemblies in
the GAC when trying to add a reference?

I understand that there is a special area in the registry where assemblies
need to be listed in order for VS.NET to show them in the Add Reference
dialog, but I don't understand why it was not designed to just list all
assemblies in the GAC outright instead of having to have them in a registry
listing..

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Ken Varn
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Diebold Inc.

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Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP] - 10 Oct 2006 15:10 GMT

The bottom line is that GAC is a deployment feature, not a development
feature. During development you don't have to mess with the GAC. Only when
you are ready to build the setup, you decide if your DLLs are shared among
apps and therefore they go to the GAC.

See for example:

http://dotnetjunkies.com/WebLog/anoras/archive/2005/11/29/134046.aspx

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Carlos J. Quintero

MZ-Tools: Productivity add-ins for Visual Studio
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> Is there any particular reason why VS.NET 2003 does not list assemblies in
> the GAC when trying to add a reference?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> registry
> listing..

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javatopia - 19 Oct 2006 16:12 GMT

Hi,

VS2003 caches the GAC contents. So, if you have VS running, open the "Add
Reference" dialog, then later install some assemblies into the GAC, they will
*NOT* show up in the "Add Reference" dialog. Very frustrating, to be sure.

This is fixed in VS2005 from what I can tell.

Carlos' advice about the GAC is solid. Avoid trying to reference any GAC
assemblies that you own in your development projects during the course of
development. That will cause you grief in the long run. Having tight control
over what assemblies are being reference in your projects may make your life
easier as a programmer.

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> The bottom line is that GAC is a deployment feature, not a development
> feature. During development you don't have to mess with the GAC. Only when
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> > registry
> > listing..

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VS.NET Add reference to GAC assemblies

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