.NET Framework 2.0

Ever received a "Could not load file or assembly" ... "The system cannot find the file specified" on your ASP.NET web application

Murray Gordon — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:17:00 GMT

Well I did, and the issue seemed to be intermittent. Here’s what it looked like for me:

Here’s what I found out.

You can read about the issue on Microsoft’s Help and Support at FIX: You may receive an InvalidCastException error in an ASP.NET-connected Web application (http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=915782)

Unfortunately, there’s no immediate download or fix. You have to call Microsoft Support to find out if the secret fix applies to your scenario.

In my case it did not. I have already received a fix pack taking me from .NET Framework 2.0.50727.80 to 2.0.50727.210, which meant they didn’t have a fix for me.

Fortunately my good buddy Bill Ryan, MVP and “Master of ADO.NET” had a recommendation:

Yah, I've gotten that a bunch actually. Usually it's b/c of temp files. Clear your temp directory and give it another try. What's happening is that the temp file name generated when the assembly is loaded exceed 255 characters. So it's truncated. That in turn means that what it's trying to access doesn't exist.

Here’s a related support kb addressing the issue: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823196

Also, set the compilation directory's tempDirectory property specifically. You can point it to C:\whatever or some shorter path name than it normally would use and thereby not have the really long path name problem.

Needless to say, that worked for me.

Thanks Bill!

And to anyone out there having this problem, hope this helps.

Thanks,

Murray

How to: Include a Data File in a ClickOnce Application

Murray Gordon — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 23:44:00 GMT

How to: Include a Data File in a ClickOnce Application

How to: Include a Data File in a ClickOnce Application.

How to add Desktop Shortcut to ClickOnce Deployment Application

Murray Gordon — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:04:00 GMT

Here's a great post on how to add a desktop shortcut to ClickOnce Deployed Application. (Scott Schecter's post)
http://blog.scottschecter.net/TheZenOfTheClickOnceDeployedApplicationDesktopShortcut.aspx

Here's the version of this solution in VB. (Julia Lerman's post)
http://blog.ziffdavis.com/devlife/archive/2006/07/28/42695.aspx

If you don't want to follow the link, here's the code:

/// <summary>

/// This will create a Application Reference file on the users desktop

/// if they do not already have one when the program is loaded.

// If not debugging in visual studio check for Application Reference

// #if (!debug)

// CheckForShortcut();

// #endif

/// </summary

void CheckForShortcut()

{

ApplicationDeployment ad = ApplicationDeployment.CurrentDeployment;

if (ad.IsFirstRun)

{

Assembly code = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

string company = string.Empty;

string description = string.Empty;

if (Attribute.IsDefined(code, typeof(AssemblyCompanyAttribute)))

{

AssemblyCompanyAttribute ascompany = (AssemblyCompanyAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(code,

typeof(AssemblyCompanyAttribute));

company = ascompany.Company;

}

if (Attribute.IsDefined(code, typeof(AssemblyDescriptionAttribute)))

{

AssemblyDescriptionAttribute asdescription = (AssemblyDescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(code,

typeof(AssemblyDescriptionAttribute));

description = asdescription.Description;

}

if (company != string.Empty && description != string.Empty)

{

string desktopPath = string.Empty;

desktopPath = string.Concat(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop),

"\\", description, ".appref-ms");

string shortcutName = string.Empty;

shortcutName = string.Concat(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Programs),

"\\", company, "\\", description, ".appref-ms");

System.IO.File.Copy(shortcutName, desktopPath, true);

}

Hope it helps out.

Thanks,
Murray

Globalization & ClickOnce, ASP.NET Globalization

Murray Gordon — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:19:00 GMT

Great post from dasBlonde: http://www.dasblonde.net/PermaLink,guid,8d2a4b2c-c2f4-4dab-9bb6-b3218bf17c71.aspx

Here’s the details:

The blog is about globalization and how to architect Windows Forms and ASP.NET applications for localization, leveraging .NET resources where appropriate. Here’s the samples she listed:

Here’s the Additional globalization resources she listed:

She’s got some awesome content on ClickOnce. Check out the rest of her posts if you are looking for some great ClickOnce samples.

Here’s Microsoft recommendation on this subject (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnaspp/html/aspnet-globalarchi.asp?_r=1). The article is a bit dated, but the concepts are consistent.

FYI – there’s an interesting contrast to this approach I found on “The Code Project”. Very interesting approach http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/GlobalizationSample.asp?print=true

Thanks,
Murray