Regenerate missing AssemblyInfo.cs in VS 2005

Question

I'm trying to build a small VS 2005 solution I've just checked out of source control, and I'm getting this easy to understand error:

...\AssemblyInfo.cs' could not be opened ('The system cannot find the file specified. ') (The file is fairly obviously missing)

Because this file's automatically generated, I've never paid it much heed before, and in VS 2003 (which I still work with day to day - pity me) it never seems to matter if it's missing.

So 2 questions: 1. How can I get VS 2005 to regenerate the file. 2. Could anyone explain to me in a couple of sentences what the assembly info file is all about, why it's generated, why it's a good idea to have an automatically generated file critical to my solution building etc etc.

Thanks - Andrew.

Edit: OK, I've googling some more, and it's probably significant that this is in an Nunit Test Project.

Update: Deleting the reference in solution explorer an Alex suggested did the trick, and the project now builds, but I'm not entirely happy with that as a solution. If the file is so unimportant, why is it generated in the first place? And if the file does perform a vital task, what am I missing out on by just deleting it?

Also, is it even possible to get it back? Either by getting VS to regenerate it, or by manually hacking one up (possibly using another as a template)?

Answer 1

This file contains assembly-wide settings like assembly version, name, etc. It is automatically generated when you change those settings using properties pages of the project. You should have this file in the project with sort of transparent icon (I think it is in resource folder or something like this by default). Locate it in the project tree and delete it. Visual studio will stop looking for it during build.

PS: assuming the path starts with .. and not ... then this file should be located one folder up from the project in the source control. So you can try looking there.