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Question
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 1:29 PM
Hello,
VS 2013
During Web Site builds I get a series of "Warning: Unable to update auto-refresh reference" messages.
I know the reason this is happening. I did a simple folder/file copy of the actual Web Site being developed into another location to start another project. I then did "Open Web Site" and saved to start a new solution. Then I deleted the projectfolder of the original Web Site that I had copied. The build process is not happy about this...
(1) My first question is, where do I go to reset, delete, or manage what the Build process is using to refresh references so it no longer tries to refresh a project that no longer exists?
(2) My second questions is, what process should I have followed to copy a Web Site to another location to start a new project based on something I had already created AND then delete the original Web Site while avoiding the Build problem I created.
Thanks.
Best Regards,
Alan
All replies (5)
Monday, March 3, 2014 11:53 PM ✅Answered | 7 votes
Hi all,
I finally tracked down the final answer for my problem and will post here for any who experience the same issues.
Solution Explorer > Right Click the website project node > Property Pages > References
This lists the references the build process keeps track of. Some of them will have 'Auto Update' for the version field. This appears to be directed by a file in the Bin folder attached to the .dll in question. The file has an extension of '.refresh'. Inside that file there is a path that the build process tries to refresh during a build.
The path in that file should point to a folder in the current website project. In my case I did some odd copy or moves of website files, and then I deleted the old project folder. But my .refresh files were still pointing to the deleted project folder, and not pointing to my current project folder. Actually, had I not deleted the old project folder I would have never realized my .refresh folders were not addressing my current project folder.
When I updated the applicable .refresh files by changing just the project folder name (inside a fairly long string), the 'Unable to update auto-refresh reference' warnings ended and now my build process is checking the proper folder during builds. You'll know which .refresh files to update by noting the error report and which referenced files are listed there.
Best Regards,
Alan
Thursday, February 20, 2014 5:46 AM
Hi Alan,
Thank you for posting in the MSDN forum.
Since it is related to the web, I provide some suggestions I could get in my side.
For the second issue, I just create a simple default web site project, build and run it well, and then I copy it to the desktop and delete the previous project folder, I open it in my VS2013, and then I still run it well.
So generally we could copy the project to other path, and then re-run it, but the real issue is that it would be related to your app you are developing, I think if you create a simple default web site, it would work well as my previous steps.
"Warning: Unable to update auto-refresh reference"
About this error message, I did some research about it, I found some similar threads in the web development forum here:
A stackoverflow case:
Based on the error message, I doubt that it would be related to your references, for example, if you add a specific library as the references, if you move the project to other folder, it couldn’t find the previous dll files you added. So you would check it in your side, and maybe you could remove them and re-add them again from the new folder or others.
Not the web expert, you know that this issue is related to the web site, if still no help, as the links provided in my previous reply, I suggest you post this issue to http://forums.asp.net where asp.net experts live in, and there you would get dedicated support. In addition, you’d better check which real dll files generate this error, and check this dll files in your project’s references.
If there's any concern, please feel free to let me know.
Sincerely,
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Thursday, February 20, 2014 2:28 PM
Hi Jack,
Thank you for your response. I also had found those references and they didn't seem to quite target my issue. I now believe the warning can occur for multiple reasons. Regarding my original questions.
(2) I am marking your response as an answer because I tried your recommendation for my question #2 and it did work well. Thanks for that encouragement to try it again. There must have been some specific odd problem with that particular site I was copying.
(1) Regarding the first question, I am marking my own reply here as the answer for the following:
In the Property Pages of the Web Site project node in Solution Explorer the References tab lists Reference Names. I deleted all the Reference Names that related to the warnings and those warnings went away. However, there was a single warning for which there was not a Reference Name listed, and I never figured out what that problem was. But, part of the solution lies in removing unnecessary references that were to the old project folder files.
I went on to delete the remaining references to understand the impact and that has prompted this follow-up question regarding references:
For the most part, Visual Studio adds references pretty automatically as you build a project. But if you accidentally delete one and don't remember what it was, how would you find out or know what to add back in? Is there a listing provided somewhere in the build error list that would tell you? I didn't see that. It seems you either know it or don't, yes?
Thanks again for your help.
Best Regards,
Alan
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 1:42 AM
Glad to know that you resolved it.
Have a nice day,
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Wednesday, December 21, 2016 6:06 PM
This is the right answer.
RKP