Import References Not Being Recognized during Runtime

Question

I have an aspx file and a config file...

<%@ Page Language="C#" Debug="true"%>
<%
    ....
%>

---

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
    <appSettings>
        ....
    </appSettings>
    <system.web>
        <compilation debug="false" strict="false" explicit="true" />
        <pages>
            <namespaces>
                <clear/>
                ....
                <add namespace="OnTimeApi"/>
                <add namespace="Newtonsoft.Json"/>
            </namespaces>
        </pages>
    </system.web>
</configuration>

---

I put these two files in a blank VS solution and included an App_Data/ folder, which has OnTimeApi.dll and Newtonsoft.Json.dll. In VS, it recognizes both these dll files, as the syntax is highlighted correctly. When I run it using iis, however, it gives the following error:

Compiler Error Message: CS0246: The type or namespace name 'Newtonsoft' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

Source Error:

Line 33:         <add namespace="System.Collections.Generic"/>
Line 34:         <add namespace="OnTimeApi"/>
Line 35:         <add namespace="Newtonsoft.Json"/>
Line 36:       </namespaces>
Line 37:        </pages>

Source File: c:\inetpub\ontimeconnector\Web.config Line: 35

Answer 1

Make sure that you don't just add the reference to the App_Data folder, but also the project. Right click the project --> Add Reference, select these DLLs. This should resolve your issue.

If the DLLs are not marked as references for the project, it will not necessarily correctly link/copy them to output at compile time, and thus may not load them at runtime.

Answer 2

I found out the reason. It was an incorrect configuration in the iis manager. I probably should have been more specific with the question.