ASP.NET 2.0:1, Bil:0
I just spent the better part of the evening chasing down the dumbest error I've ever seen. ASP.NET decided to litter my web.config file in a web app I'm setting up with a reference to stdole.dll (not a web dll nor is it anything I reference directly or even need). I finally tracked down someone who came up with a resolution and explanation here.
Of course I couldn't figure out which assembly that was causing the problem, so I just threw my GAC'd version of stdole.dll into the bin folder of the website. I'm using a few dlls including Enterprise Libraries, but nothing fancy. In any case, if you ever see this crazy message when deploying a website:
Parser Error Message: Could not load file or assembly 'stdole, Version=7.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
You might want to check out the link above. Either a) manually edit the web.config file [which I'm sure I'll forget one of these days during deployment] or b) toss the file into your bin directory or c) hunt down the culprit and set "Specific Version" to false.
Man, what a @!#!!!%!&! PITA this stupid, stupid, stupid thing is. I'm not sure if I'm peeved at MS for coming up with such a wonderful design, or for me for killing my brain all night over it. Now I feel as foolish as this and this.
Sigh, I need a hug (or a beer, not sure which).