Assembly Question -- Finding Them

[Camel Software]

Hi,

I just installed a 3rd party assembly on my machine, and now when I bring up
Visual Studio, it shows the assembly in the list when I choose Add
Reference.

My 1st question is, how can I get my assemblies to show up in that list?

2nd question -- how can I get assemblies to be automatically found by
applications when the apps are deployed to servers that just have the
runtime?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Matt Hawley]

Steve,

I can answer your first question. First, you should sign your assembly with a strong name key pair. Then, you should install your assembly in the GAC. Once you've installed it in the GAC, you should also place a copy in the Program Files (or somewhere else that you can reference). Then, you need to create a registry key at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\AssemblyFolders\<CustomName> and the default key should be the location of the assebly on the file system.

Matt Hawley, MCAD .NET http://www.eworldui.net Hi,

I just installed a 3rd party assembly on my machine, and now when I bring up
Visual Studio, it shows the assembly in the list when I choose Add
Reference.

My 1st question is, how can I get my assemblies to show up in that list?

2nd question -- how can I get assemblies to be automatically found by
applications when the apps are deployed to servers that just have the
runtime?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Camel Software]

Thanks. I don't remember reading about the GAC (Global Assembly Cache)
before, but now that you put me on the right track, I found lots of stuff on
it.

I bet that if I put my assembly in the GAC on a "runtime only" server, it
will be available to apps on that server. If I can find the time to test it
soon, I'll post my results here.

- Steve

Steve,

I can answer your first question. First, you should sign your assembly

with a strong name key pair. Then, you should install your assembly in the
GAC. Once you've installed it in the GAC, you should also place a copy in
the Program Files (or somewhere else that you can reference). Then, you need
to create a registry key at:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\AssemblyFolders\<CustomN
ame> and the default key should be the location of the assebly on the file
system.