Pro C# 2010 and the .NET 4 Platform, Fifth Edition

14.9. Configuring Shared Assemblies

Like private assemblies, shared assemblies can be configured using a client *.config file. Of course, because shared assemblies are deployed to a well-known location (the .NET 4.0 GAC), you don't use the <privatePath> element as you did for private assemblies (although if the client is using both shared and private assemblies, the <privatePath> element may still exist in the *.config file).

You can use application configuration files in conjunction with shared assemblies whenever you wish to instruct the CLR to bind to a different version of a specific assembly, effectively bypassing the value recorded in the client's manifest. This can be useful for a number of reasons. For example, imagine that you have ...