Using Rotativa results in a 'Could not load file or assembly' error

Question

I'm trying to use Rotativa in an MVC application (downloaded the NuGet package using Visual Studio) to print a view to PDF yet whenever the method is called I'm getting a 'Could not load file or assembly' error. I've tried looking for solutions online but I can't find an adequate one. Below is the full Stack Trace of the error:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Could not load file or assembly 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

Source Error:

Line 48: "ViewOrder", Line 49: new { id = id }) { FileName = "Order.pdf" }; Line 50: } Line 51: Line 52: [HttpGet]

Source File: c:\Users\André\Documents\WAD\Assignment1\7-10-2015\Controllers\OrdersController.cs Line: 50

Assembly Load Trace: The following information can be helpful to determine why the assembly 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' could not be loaded.

=== Pre-bind state information === LOG: DisplayName = System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35 (Fully-specified) LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Users/André/Documents/WAD/Assignment1/7-10-2015/ LOG: Initial PrivatePath = C:\Users\André\Documents\WAD\Assignment1\7-10-2015\bin Calling assembly : Rotativa, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null. === LOG: This bind starts in default load context. LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Users\André\Documents\WAD\Assignment1\7-10-2015\web.config LOG: Using host configuration file: C:\Users\André\Documents\IISExpress\config\aspnet.config LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config. LOG: Post-policy reference: System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35 LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/André/AppData/Local/Temp/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/66e12f45/a5c0a521/System.Web.Mvc.DLL. LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/André/AppData/Local/Temp/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/66e12f45/a5c0a521/System.Web.Mvc/System.Web.Mvc.DLL. LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/André/Documents/WAD/Assignment1/7-10-2015/bin/System.Web.Mvc.DLL. WRN: Comparing the assembly name resulted in the mismatch: Major Version ERR: Failed to complete setup of assembly (hr = 0x80131040). Probing terminated.

Stack Trace:

[FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)]
_7_10_2015.Controllers.OrdersController.PrintOrder(Int32 id) in c:\Users\André\Documents\WAD\Assignment1\7-10-2015\Controllers\OrdersController.cs:50 lambda_method(Closure , ControllerBase , Object[] ) +161
System.Web.Mvc.ActionMethodDispatcher.Execute(ControllerBase controller, Object[] parameters) +59
System.Web.Mvc.ReflectedActionDescriptor.Execute(ControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary2 parameters) +435
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionMethod(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor, IDictionary2 parameters) +60
System.Web.Mvc.Async.ActionInvocation.InvokeSynchronousActionMethod() +76 System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.b__36(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ActionInvocation innerInvokeState) +36
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult2.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +73
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +136
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +102
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeActionMethod(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +49
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncInvocationWithFilters.b__3c() +117 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass45.b__3e() +323 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass30.b__2f(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +44
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +47
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +136
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +102
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeActionMethodWithFilters(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +50
System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass28.b__19() +72 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass1e.b__1b(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +185
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +42
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +133
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +56
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +34
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +70
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +133
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +56
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +37
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +44 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.b__15(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller) +39
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +62
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +133
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +56
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +37 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.b__4(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +39
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +70
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +133
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +56
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +37
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +38
System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +9721605 System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +155

And the code sample where I used Rotativa's ActionAsPDF:

[HttpGet]
public ActionResult ViewOrder(int id)
{
    Order GetOrder = new CartBL().GetOrderById(id);
    return View(GetOrder);
}

[HttpGet]
public ActionResult PrintOrder(int id)
{
    return new ActionAsPdf(
         "ViewOrder",
         new { id = id }) { FileName = "Order.pdf" };
}

I'd really appreciate it anyone could help me fix this.

Answer 1

System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.1 is not installed on your system, or is installed in a location where the worker process cannot access it.

Probably what you need to do is find the reference in your solution and mark it as copy local

There are other methods of fixing this problem, which I'll outline here for completeness.

You've got fusion binding logging on, which is nice, but you're not using it. It tells you where the binder went looking for the assembly. Go look at each location where the binder sought the assembly.

Is it actually in one of those locations? Then the account running the app pool can't access the file/directory. That's a permissions issue--fix it.

Is it not in one of those locations? Then it isn't installed on that machine. If the assembly is installed using an msi/setup.exe, run that on the target system. If not, make your reference copy-local, as I stated at the top of this question. Or copy it manually yourself.

Answer 2

I guess, Rotativa may be built using ASP.NET MVC, and referencing to a particular version (i.e., System.Web.Mvc version - 3.0.0.1), and your MVC application may be using a different version of System.Web.Mvc. Try adding assembly binding similar to following inside assemblyBinding section in web.config of your project.

  <dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Mvc" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
    <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-5.0.0.0" newVersion="5.0.0.0" />
  </dependentAssembly>

Here, you may need to replace 5.0.0.0 by the version of System.Web.Mvc in your project.

Answer 3

For me after spending about 1 and half hrs finally uninstalled version 1.7.3 and install 1.6.4 everything is working as expected.

Use NuGet package manager console command prompt to install the previous version: Install-Package Rotativa -Version 1.6.4