Prevent generation of proxy classes in Reference.cs when adding/updating a web reference

Question

I have a web service and a client. The classes used in parameters and return types are in a common DLL shared by both. However, whenever I update the web reference, visual studio generates copies of the classes with the same names and public properties and methods. Then the solution won't compile because the client code tries to use the versions in the common DLL. I can solve the problem by deleting the "duplicate" classes every time I update the web reference, and adding a using statement to point at the common dll's namespace. Is there a way to fix this permanently?

UPDATE: See my comments below. This is a "feature" of asmx web services. There is no way around it other than one of the following: 1) Use a more modern type of web service. 2) Don't use a common DLL 3) Manually fix every time you update the web reference, as in the original question above.

Answer 1

This is a "feature" of asmx web services. There is no way around it other than one of the following:

• Use a more modern type of web service.
• Don't use a common DLL
• Manually fix every time you update the web reference, as in the original question above.

Sources: Other stackoverflow questions:

• "Reuse existing types" is ignored when adding a service reference
• How does Visual Studio 2008 and svcutil decide which types to re-use from referenced assemblies when generating a web service proxy class?

Answer 2

I had the same problem, but I had neglected to add the reference the correct assembly with the request/response types in my client. Once I added that reference, and ensured that the "Reuse types" checkbox was on in the Add Service Reference dialog, it worked properly.