Understanding a csproj assembly reference
C#Visual Studio-2010Reference.Net AssemblyCsprojC# Problem Overview
I am using VS2010 and I tried to add a few assemblies from local hard disk to my C# project through file reference. Peeking into the csproj
file, I found sometimes the file reference appears as
<Reference Include="name">
However sometimes it appears as
<Reference Include="name, Version=xxx, Culture=neutral,
processorArchitecture=MSIL">
What could cause the difference?
Inspired by k3b's answer, I did another test. I created a new class library project.
-
Add a file reference. The initial value of Specific Version in Properties pane is False. The
csproj
file look like<Reference Include="Name"> <HintPath>...</HintPath> </Reference>
-
Change Specific Version in Properties pane to True. VS adds version in the
Include
attribute.<Reference Include="Name, Version=..."> <HintPath>...</HintPath> </Reference>
-
Change Specific Version in Properties pane to False again. VS adds a child element
SpecificVersion
.<Reference Include="Name, Version=..."> <HintPath>...</HintPath> <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion> </Reference>
So it seems that the rule is:
- When Version is present in Include attribute and there is no
SpecificVersion
child element, the file assembly is configured to be Specific Version - The
SpecificVersion
child element is only appended with value False.
One thing I still do not understand:
- For my new test project, if I remove the file reference and add it back again, it goes back to format in point 1, which is the default.
- For my existing project, if I remove the file reference and add it back again, I get back format in point 3. Although it also means that Specific Version is not used, I am wondering why it does not go back to format in point 1.
C# Solutions
Solution 1 - C#
Which reference-type you get depends on how you link the assembly.
- select the referenced assembly in the project-explorer
- go to the properties-page
there you find a boolean flag "specific Version"
- true means: the assembly must have version=xxx
- false means: ignore the assembly version
(I only have a german-vs2010 so the english translation for the german "Spezifische Version" may be slightly different)
[update]
I tried the following using vcs2010-express german
add reference with default SpecificVersion=False : no version
<Reference Include="Castle.Core">
<HintPath>..\..\..\lib\fluentNHibernate\Castle.Core.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
modified reference: SpecificVersion=True : added version
<Reference Include="Castle.Core, Version=2.5.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=407dd0808d44fbdc, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<HintPath>..\..\..\lib\fluentNHibernate\Castle.Core.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
modified reference again: SpecificVersion=False : version remains and new element SpecificVersion
<Reference Include="Castle.Core, Version=2.5.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=407dd0808d44fbdc, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<HintPath>..\..\..\lib\fluentNHibernate\Castle.Core.dll</HintPath>
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
</Reference>
It seems that the specific version is remembered but ignorede because of <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>