What causes the error "The "ResolveManifestFiles" task failed unexpectedly. Illegal characters in path

Question

The "ResolveManifestFiles" task failed unexpectedly.
System.ArgumentException: Illegal characters in path.
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.HasIllegalCharacters(String[] str)
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.AddPathList(FileIOPermissionAccess access, AccessControlActions control, String[] pathListOrig, Boolean checkForDuplicates, Boolean needFullPath, Boolean copyPathList)
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission..ctor(FileIOPermissionAccess access, String[] pathList, Boolean checkForDuplicates, Boolean needFullPath)
   at System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(String path)
   at Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Deployment.ManifestUtilities.Util.RemoveDuplicateItems(ITaskItem[] items)
   at Microsoft.Build.Tasks.ResolveManifestFiles.set_NativeAssemblies(ITaskItem[] value)

The "NativeAssemblies=@(NativeReferenceFile);@(_DeploymentNativePrerequisite)" parameter for the "ResolveManifestFiles" task is invalid.

The "ResolveManifestFiles" task could not be initialized with its input parameters.

Answer 1

I was getting the same build errors until I allowed VFP to automatically register my COM Library after it was built. After I did that I had to remove my reference to the .dll from my project and re-add it and after that my project built and ran just file.

If your having this problem you may want to look to make sure that you don't have a reference to a native library that isn't registered. To register such a .dll manually use the Regsvr32 utility.