asp.net mvc 3 - Could not load file or assembly 'System.Data.Entity

Question

I am working within a Solution (a jokes website). The Solution has 2 Projects:

1. Model (C# Class Library)
2. MVC 3 Empty Application

I am trying to get my view to list the Jokes in the Database, but I get the following error:

Could not load file or assembly 'System.Data.Entity, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified

As you can see from the Error message, I have already added the System.Data.Entity to the web.config of the MVC 3 application.

No matter what I do, I seem to be unable to fix the error! I have added using statements for the Entity class, to the HomeController and the Index.cshtml.

Answer 1

To use an external Entity Framework model (embed in a DLL for example) with ASP.NET MVC 3 you must :

1. Add the following reference to your MVC project : System.Data.Entity (Version 4.0.0.0, Runtime v4.0.30319)
2. Add the following line in your web.config

...

< compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0">

  <assemblies>
    <add assembly="System.Data.Entity, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" />
  </assemblies>
</compilation>