Specifying Which Version of a .NET Assembly to Use

Note The following content applies to .NET Framework only. LabVIEW has been gradually adding support for .NET Core since LabVIEW 2024 Q3. Refer to LabVIEW New Features and Changes for specific .NET Core support added in different releases.

If you have multiple versions of the same assembly on your machine, you must specify which version of the assembly to use in the following situations:

  • You originally configure a .NET Constructor Node to load one version of the assembly but later want the node to access a different version of the assembly. LabVIEW permanently associates the original version of the assembly with your application. Therefore, you cannot access properties, methods, and behaviors of the alternate version until you create the configuration file.
  • You distribute your application to another machine that may have multiple versions of the assembly. Specifying which version of the assembly to use ensures that the distributed application detects and uses the correct version. You must distribute the configuration file with the application.

To guarantee that a LabVIEW project or built application refers to a specific version of a .NET assembly, close the project and create a .NET configuration file similar to the following example, replacing the italicized code according to the table later in this topic:

        <configuration> <runtime> <assemblyBinding
          xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"> < probing
            privatePath="Assembly\ver2"/ > <dependentAssembly>
          <assemblyIdentity name=" AssemblyName " publicKeyToken="
            xee7d93a67000dr7 " culture="Neutral" /> <bindingRedirect
          oldVersion=" oldVersionNumber " newVersion="
            newVersionNumber " /> </dependentAssembly>
          </assemblyBinding> </runtime> </configuration>
Code to Replace Guidelines
probing privatePath="Assembly\ver2" Specifies the directory within the project from which LabVIEW must load the assembly. If you can guarantee that the assembly is in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), omit this line from the configuration file. Otherwise, this line forces LabVIEW to search in this directory before anywhere else.
AssemblyName Represents the name of the assembly with multiple versions.
xee7d93a67000dr7 Uniquely identifies the assembly. Generate this key using the Strong Name tool, available on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN).
oldVersionNumber Refers to the version of the assembly that LabVIEW is currently using in the form n.n.n.n. To prevent LabVIEW from using multiple different versions of the assembly, specify a range of versions here using the form n.n.n.n - n.n.n.n.
newVersionNumber Refers to the version of the assembly that you want LabVIEW to use instead of oldVersionNumber.

For examples of using .NET configuration files with LabVIEW, refer to the KnowledgeBase at ni.com.