Newtonsoft.Json.dll is installed in the GAC

[Tricia]

We are evaluation Telerik Test Studio as a possible replacement to the Microsoft testing tools.    However, I noticed that you install the Newtonsoft.Json.dll in the GAC.  We also use that particular dll in the products we develop and having Telerik Test Studio installed causes our products not to run -- getting a runtime binder exception on the Newtwonsoft.Json.dll. 

Why are you installing this dll in the GAC?  This is a common, opensource dll that should not be placed in the global assembly cache.

This is a deal breaker for us, so I'm hoping you have an alternative.

[Cody]

Hello Tricia,

Thank you for taking the time to evaluate Test Studio. I have alerted our development team to this problem and explained it's a deal breaker for you. As soon as I receive a response from them I will update you on this problem.

Regards,
Cody
the Telerik team

[Cody]

Hi Tricia,

I heard back from our development team about this problem. First it is high on their priority list to fix (i.e. get that DLL out of the GAC). The bad news is that we're in the middle of finishing our Service Pack 2 release. it is due to go live next week. We don't have time to include the fix for this in that service pack. They have agreed to work on it as a high priority as soon as Service Pack 2 goes live. Also once we have a fix in place we'll can create a private build just for you and send it to you... thus you will not have to wait until our next official public release many weeks away.

In the meantime one of our developers suggested a workaround you may be able to implement yourself. There is a way to configure an application to look for a required DLL in an alternate location. By modifying the .config file your executable you should be able to force it to load Newtonsoft.Json.dll from somewhere other than the GAC per this documentation and this documentation. In theory this should get around the issue until we can officially fix it in Test Studio.

Please keep me updated on your progress with this.

Regards,
Cody
the Telerik team

[Winston]

The workarounds don't work. The assembly version of the Json.NET library is frozen at 4.5.0.0 even for newer releases so the assembly binding redirect won't work and the probing path is only applied after the GAC is checked so it's only useful if the assembly binding redirect worked.

The only workarounds appear to be:

• Build the Json.NET source code yourself and update the assembly version
• Install a newer version of Newtonsoft.Json.dll into the GAC and hope it doesn't break Test Studio which would now use the newer version

[Cody]

Hello Winston,

Here's our current status on the Newtonsoft.Json.dll problem: in our upcoming 2013 R1 release we've managed to remove most of our dependencies on this DLL. This means upgrading the version of this DLL stored in the GAC is less likely to break anything in Test Studio, but no I cannot guarantee it.

Unfortunately we ran out of time for us to remove all dependencies on this DLL. We will continue our work to break our dependence on this DLL post 2013 R1 release. For now you're right there is no reasonable solution to this problem. It's still a high priority on our list of things to fix. We will address it ASAP once 2013 R1 is officially released.

Regards,
Cody
Telerik

[Parashar]

Hi,

We have recently upgraded to Test Studio 2013 R1 and identified the Json.dll caused errors in our Application Under Test.
Our developers have investigated and figure out for sure that json.dll is the root cause of failure in AUT.

Can we please know when do Telerik plan to completely resolve this issue ?

Thanks,
Parashar

[Cody]

Hi Parashar,

We have already done the work to not install Newtonsoft.Json.dll in the GAC. Our next release (due out this week) will include this fix.

Regards,
Cody
Telerik

[Parashar]

Hi Cody,

Thanks a lot for prompt response with positive news.

Please advice once the release is available with this fix.

Much appreciate your assistance.

Regards,
Parashar

[Cody]

Hi Parashar,

I must apologize, I just discovered I had wrong information. The build I was talking about was released on Wednesday, but it does not contain the fix for the Newtonsoft.Json.dll in the GAC problem. I am told that development deliberately withheld that change from our service pack 1 release fearing the changes were to great and carried too much risk breaking something else in the process.

The good news is that I got development to escalate this and are now working on creating a custom build just for you containing this fix. We should be able to have this ready fairly quickly. I will contact you as soon as we have something ready for you to try.

Regards,
Cody
Telerik

[Craig]

HI,

Does the Latest Internal Build (2013.1.1002) fix the Newtonsoft.Json.dll problem ???

If not do you have a estimated time frame of when this is going to be included in a build ??

Cheers

Craig

[Cody]

Hi Craig,

Yes, I can confirm (as also stated here) that our build 2013.1.1002 (finally) gets Newtonsoft.Json.dll out of the GAC. To make sure your upgrade goes smoothly, I recommend doing a full uninstall first, just to insure Newtonsoft.Json.dll is removed from the GAC, then install this LIB.

Normally you don't need to do an uninstall first to upgrade Test Studio. This case is different however because we want to insure Newtonsoft.Json.dll is properly removed as needed by you.

Regards,
Cody
Telerik

[Craig]

Hi Cody,

Thanks for the Awesome news.

We will follow your instructions to completely uninstall the existing application before installing the 2013.1.1002 build and hopefully this will resolve the issues we had in using Test Studio with our Application.

Great job to all involved :)

Cheers

Craig

[Cody]

Hello Craig,

The Kudos are always welcome and will be passed along to the entire team. I look forward to hearing some positive results from you (when you're able to try it out).

Regards,
Cody
Telerik