VS2010 "Type universe cannot resolve assembly" has nothing to do with relativity

If you happen to see this error be concerned, but do not be alarmed... :-)

If you find this error message confusing, it is simply due to the fact that you did not read it with the correct understanding of the "Type universe." You see, the Type universe is, evidently, the collection of all the types and assemblies in the deployment framework. In other words, System.Design.dll could not be found in the target framework for the application.

Why does this matter, and what does this mean?

The Microsoft Visual Studio team decided in VS 2010 to change the default Target framework for application to .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. The intent of this change is reasonable- "to improve the deployment size, time, reliability and overall deployment experience for client application users."

Unfortunately, GrapeCity, along with many ISVs, did not become aware of this change in Visual Studio 2010 behavior until too late. Therefore we have not yet had time to adjust Spread for Windows Forms to work to target the Framework-Client Profile.

The above error occurs when dragging Spread for Windows Forms from the Toolbox to a WindowsForm, and results from the Spread assembly containing designtime classes that have dependecies on classes in System.Design.dll. The System.Design assembly is not included in the Client Profile - so there you have it. We have reasons for including the designtime classes in the Spread assembly, but they are not good enough reasons so we have plans to provide full support for the VS2010 default, Client Profile, behavior by separating Spread for Windows Forms 5 design functionality into a separate assembly. However, until a maintenance release is published to address this issue, the work-around in VS2010 is to change the Target framework to a non-Client Profile Framework.

Good coding!