How to add VB.NET Class to GAC, and use it in Code-Behind

Question

I created a VB.NET Class, and created a strong key, and added it to the GAC using the GacUtil. That part has gone smoothly. The Assembly is installed in the GAC and seems to be installed/configured correctly.

FYI, the assembly is a Class called Tester, that exposes one public static method called HelloWorld, which returns a string, "Hello World".

The next step was to create a test web application (VB.NET and ASP.NET 2.0), using Visual Studio 2005, Windows XP SP3. I created the test web application and added the following to the web.config file's configuration section.

<assemblies>
<add assembly="BenGACTest, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=3e5b6cecb56999ca" />
</assemblies>

I then added some inline code to my aspx page as follows:

<div><%=BenGACTest.Tester.HelloWorld()%></div>

When I run the page in the web browser, indeed everything works as expected. The page outputs "Hello World" and all seems good.

However, I don't know how to use this code in the code-behind page. I try to import the assembly, just like "imports system" and it doesn't appear in the IntelliSense.

Also, when I try to add the assembly as a reference to the project, the assembly is not found in the list of installed assemblies. I believe this is because the list is pulled from the registry, not from a dynamic list of installed assemblies.

My goal is to add the assembly via the web.config file, not by adding it as a project reference, and to use the assembly in the code-behind page.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

You can just reference a local version to use the DLL in Visual Studio, .NET will favour the GAC version when running the application. Furthermore, I don't believe you have to ship the DLL when it's available in GAC, yet you have to reference it through menu Project->Add Reference.

Edit: This forumpost might be helpful: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/63bf8d34-42ad-4f3c-b0c9-cf7c33d77918.