Reference non-GAC version of DLL in Visual Studio 2010

Question

This is similar to Add Non-GAC reference to project but the solutions presented there don't seem to help.

I have a WinForms UI Library (Krypton from ComponentFactory) installed in the GAC. There's a bug I want to track down in that library, so I added the source code to my solution, removed the old references from my WinForms project to Krypton DLLs, added them back as a project references, ensured Copy Local is set to true, double-checked that the path (on reference properties tab) points to my local project, and...

...the GAC version is still being used while debugging. I cannot set a breakpoint in the Krypton source, Debugger.Break() or other code changes to not execute, and when I start the Visual Studio 2010 debugger, I see a Loading from ... GAC_MISL message relating to the Krypton DLLs flash by in the VS 2010 status bar. The DLLs are not copied to the WinForm's Debug folder.

How can I reference the "project" version of the files while debugging while leaving them registered in the GAC?

Answer 1

The CLR will always look in the GAC first. Don't hesitate to use gacutil.exe /u to remove them. Hacking the [AssemblyVersion] if you've got the source would work, as long as you know where's it is at.