Understanding a csproj assembly reference
Solution 1:
Which reference-type you get depends on how you link the assembly.
- select the referenced assembly in the project-explorer
- go to the properties-page
there you find a boolean flag "specific Version"
- true means: the assembly must have version=xxx
- false means: ignore the assembly version
(I only have a german-vs2010 so the english translation for the german "Spezifische Version" may be slightly different)
[update]
I tried the following using vcs2010-express german
add reference with default SpecificVersion=False : no version
<Reference Include="Castle.Core">
<HintPath>..\..\..\lib\fluentNHibernate\Castle.Core.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
modified reference: SpecificVersion=True : added version
<Reference Include="Castle.Core, Version=2.5.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=407dd0808d44fbdc, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<HintPath>..\..\..\lib\fluentNHibernate\Castle.Core.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
modified reference again: SpecificVersion=False : version remains and new element SpecificVersion
<Reference Include="Castle.Core, Version=2.5.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=407dd0808d44fbdc, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
<HintPath>..\..\..\lib\fluentNHibernate\Castle.Core.dll</HintPath>
<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
</Reference>
It seems that the specific version is remembered but ignorede because of <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>