Info only: how to get (and solve) a WPF DLL version problem

[ic2]

Below a problem & how it was solved, some of you may find this useful. This has nothing to do with X# (it is a C# project even) but it seems a Visual Studio issue.

I use the Syncfusion Essential Wpf library for a PDF utility program. I found some issues in the PDFViewer and Syncfusion acknowledges and fixed those and eventually advised to install the weekly updates via NuGet. I was reluctant to do so because NuGet often meant trouble in the past, and this time again. The installation worked fine but I now had to add a license key in my code (which was not necessary for the regular installations from an exe) and that didn't work. Instead of finding out why, I decided for now to wait for a regular update and remove the NuGet installations via the Package manager in the VS Tools menu which worked. I removed the references and assigned the previous DLL's. But now my program wouldn't start; only in debugging mode I saw the message was Can't load Syncfusion.Shared.Wpf version 23.1460.42.0, which was the version supposed to be removed. But why?

I suspected the GAC (Storing something in the GAC cause comparable trouble as using NuGet) and de-installed syncfusionessentialwpf.exe, checked to remove GAC settings, reinstalled without copying anything into the GAC, copied all the DLL's I used, deleted and recreated the reference. However the problem remained.

Overnight Syncfusion support handed me the solution. In the App.config, I found these lines as they suspected:

Code: Select all

  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Syncfusion.Shared.Wpf" publicKeyToken="3d67ed1f87d44c89" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-23.1460.42.0" newVersion="23.1460.42.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>

This was still pointing to the "42.0" removed version and apparently caused the problem. Removing this section solved my problem.

Dick

[wriedmann]

Hi Dick,
this is the cause why I don't use App.config at all - there are some things I don't like, for example login data to webservices and others.
Wolfgang

[ic2]

Hello Wolfgang,

App.config is standard added to a WPF solution. You mean that you can just delete it (which would have prevented this issue)?

Dick

[wriedmann]

Hi Dick,
none of my WPF applications has a App.config file.
It ist only needed if your application needs to read some configuration data from it like database parameters or webservice access configurations.
Wolfgang