.NET Driver Upgrades

The .NET Driver (GridServerNETClient.dll) is strongly named. This means that when a new major version of the .NET Driver is released in an update, steps might need to be taken for existing clients to allow the assembly to be loaded. For example, that version changed from 5.1.x to 6.0; however, it has remained the same for all 6.x versions.

There are two ways of doing this:

•

Rebuild the .NET application with the new GridServerNETClient.dll.

or

•

Configure the application to allow the new version.

You can do this in various ways, depending on your .NET policy; that is, whether the assembly is deployed into the GAC or used locally.

An example of how to do this when the GridServerNETClient.dll is used locally is as follows:

Method 1: Using the Microsoft .NET Framework Configuration tool:

1.

Select Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Microsoft .NET Framework x.y Configuration, where x.y is the version of .NET.

Note that the tool is no longer included with Windows or in the .NET runtime; you must install the .NET Framework SDK to obtain the file.

2.

Select Applications > Add an Application To Configure.

3.

If your application is in the list, click it; otherwise, find it using the Other… button.

4.

Your application is now in the Applications list. Expand your application, and select Assembly Dependencies.

5.

Drag the GridServerNETClient, noting the version number, to the Configured Assemblies icon.

6.

Click the Configured Assemblies icon. Double-click GridServerNETClient, and select Binding Policy.

7.

Under Requested Version, enter the version you noted in step 5. This is the version with which you built your application. Under New Version, enter the new version of the GridServerNETClient.dll that you just installed. This enables your application to bind with the new version even though you built it with a previous version.

Method 2: Directly creating the file

In Method 1, the .NET tool creates an Application Configuration file in the directory of the application. However, you can create this file yourself.

Procedure 

1.

Create a file next to your application executable called my.exe.config, where my.exe is the name of your executable.

2.

Add the following as the file’s content:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="GridServerNETClient"
                          publicKeyToken="42129437978483df" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="5.0.0.1-5.1.2.30"
                         newVersion="6.0.0.1" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
</configuration>

Note that the oldVersion is the version you built your application with, and the newVersion is the version of the new assembly. In this example, oldVersion is a range of versions. If your applications already have a configuration file, edit the configuration file appropriately.

If you have a .NET Service implementation that links to the GridServerNETClient.dll, you do not need to perform either of these steps. An invoke.exe.config file is included in any .NET upgrade that manages this for you. However, you can rebuild your implementation if you wish.