Building release project with references - winforms

I have a Winforms project with references to DLL's from subprojects. I need to build as release for production and debug normally. However when I switch to release build then I have to change all the references (because they are linked to debug version).
What should I be doing to be able to switch between debug and release easily?
Addendum: I add the reference by right clicking on reference and adding the file reference. The problem is I am getting a hard link to debug or release versions.

You need to remove all of that hard links to the BIN\DEBUG folder of your projects.
Then go back on the References folder of you project, right click and select Add References
In the mask select Projects and double click the Sub-Project name.
The following image is from Visual Studio 2010, but the concept is the same for other IDE versions
In this way, you let the IDE switch automatically the compiler references between DEBUG and RELEASE projects folder when you change the build output

You need to use Macros for Build Commands and Properties like this: $(Configuration) as the name of the current project configuration (for example, "Debug") rather then the absolute path.
Take a look: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c02as0cs.aspx

I think the solution is to use a project reference -- which I thought I was doing. But perhaps I need to select the project instead of the dll.

Related

Package tab missing from project properties

Attempting to create nuget package to upload to our own nuget sever, and would like to eliminate the manual process of creating and editing the nugspec file. Everything I've read, says the setting can be pulled from the project file (if using package reference). And that the settings exist on the Package tab of the project properties window. But that tab is not there.
Using vs 2019, .NetFramework 4.7.2, project is a library, and has been migrated to package reference.
I took an existing project, right clicked the references, and used the migrate option. Package tab is non-existent
I also set the nuget package manager to default to packageReference, and create a new class library.
Package tab also non-existent
The required package (when using non-SDK Style with package reference) nuget.build.tasks.pack has bee added to the references of both projects mentions
Any help would be appreciated
The package tab is only available for SDK style projects. Non-SDK style projects use a different project system in Visual Studio, which doesn't contain that project properties tab. The new project system (on github, the old one is closed source) was initially made to look the same as the old project system, but slowly they're diverging. The Reference/Dependencies node in Solution Explorer is one obvious example, as is the Package tab in the project properties window.
To create the MSBuild properties used by pack, you'll need to manually edit the project file as XML. Within Visual Studio, you need to right click the project in Solution Explorer, select "unload project", now when you single click the project, or right click and select edit, you'll see the project XML. Once done, right click the project again and select reload project. Alternatively, edit it with a text or XML editor outside of Visual Studio, and Visual Studio will detect the change and prompt you to reload the project when you alt-tab back.
My suggestion, however, is to convert your non-SDK style project to an SDK style project. "Standard" class library projects work fine, and I'm not aware of any disadvantages (unless some developers on your team are using Visual Studio 2015 or earlier still), given the non-SDK style project is already using PackageReference. Some other project types might have limited Visual Studio experiences when targeting .NET Framework in an SDK style project. Other project types might not be compatible with SDK style projects at all. However, most people creating NuGet packages are doing so with standard class library projects, which shouldn't have any problems.
There is a "unsupported" tool try-convert to convert non-SDK style projects to SDK style. Personally, I just delete the csproj, create an empty directory, run dotnet new classlib on the console, move the csproj to my existing project's directory, rename the project file, and delete that temporary/empty directory. If you have anything other than .cs files in your project that need explicit entries in the csproj, hand edit the csproj if you're comfortable with msbuild, otherwise load the project in Visual Studio and use the Solution Explorer and Properties windows.
Some people believe that SDK style projects are only for .NET Core or .NET Standard. That's not true, but unfortunately the Visual Studio new project templates give that impression. You will need to create the class library project targeting .NET 5, .NET Standard, or .NET Core. But once the csproj is created, edit the csproj (with SDK style projects it's no longer necessary to unload the project) and change <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework> to <TargetFramework>net472</TargetFramework>. Another advantage of SDK style projects is it's easy to multi-target, a useful technique to slowly modernize your projects to newer runtimes. Add an s to the XML element name to make it plural, and add extra target frameworks as a semi-colon delimited list <TargetFrameworks>net472;net5.0</TargetFrameworks>. When changing between TargetFramework and TargetFrameworks, Visual Studio should prompt you to reload the project, but I found that it still has some issues. So I suggest closing the solution and opening it again, then everything should work great.

WPF publish application files

I am trying to publish a WPF application using the publish section in the project properties. When I attempt to specify application files (i.e. references) for the publish, I see lots of old dlls that were once in the project but were deleted later.
Is there a way to clean up this list so that it matches the references actually used in the project ?
It is not possible without extensions. However you can check this question for more details. There are also some extensions listed you could use.

The name does not exist in the namespace error in XAML

Using VS2012 working on a VB.NET WPF application. I have a simple MusicPlayer tutorial app I am using to learn WPF. I am converting a C# version of the tutorial to VB.NET step by step.
It has 2 classes in the app that are both under the same namespace. I am able to reference the namespace in the XAML but when I try to reference the class object in XAML I get an error and I am not able to compile.
Strange thing is that the IntelliSense works fine with both referencing the namespace via the xmlns:c= tag and also when typing the class object using <c:
But the object is underlined and errors are generated trying to build or work in the designer.
The .vb class files are in a folder called \Controls. The Main project Root Namespace is intentionaly left blank. The class is coded like this...
Namespace MusicPlayer.Controls
Public Class UpdatingMediaElement
.... code here
End Public
End Namespace
The xaml looks like this
(namespace defined in the <Window > tag
xmlns:c="clr-namespace:MusicPlayer.Controls"
(object defined in a <Grid> )
<c:UpdatingMediaElement Name="MyMediaElement" />
(error displayed)
The name "UpdatingMediaElement" does not exist in the namespace "clr-namespace:MusicPlayer.Controls".
Not sure what is wrong or how to fix it?
When you are writing your wpf code and VS tell that "The name ABCDE does not exist in the namespace clr-namespace:ABC". But you can totally build your project successfully, there is only a small inconvenience because you can not see the UI designing (or just want to clean the code).
Try to do these:
In VS, right click on your Solution -> Properties -> Configuration Properties
A new dialog is opened, try to change the project configurations from Debug to Release or vice versa.
After that, re-build your solution. It can solve your problem.
If the assembly is different from the namespace in which your class is contained, you have to specfiy it explicitly.
ex:-
xmlns:Local="clr-namespace:MusicPlayer.Controls;assembly=MusicPlayer"
In my case it was because of other compile errors. When other errors have been solved this seemingly related error was also removed from the list. Specially the errors at the bottom of the errors list and on pages you have recently changed.
So do not pay attention to this error directly and focus on other errors at first.
I've seen this issue go away by clearing the Xaml Design Shadow Cache. I had the issue with Visual Studio 2015 Update 1.
In Visual Studio 2015 the Cache is located here:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Designer\ShadowCache
Process:
Right-Click on the solution in the Solution Explorer and Choose "Clean Solution"
Shutdown Visual Studio
Delete the ShadowCache folder
Reopened the Visual Studio project
Rebuild the solution
And voila no more namespace errors.
Try changing the build target platform to x86 and building the project.
I noticed via Subversion that I apparently changed the project build Platform target to x64. This was the only change I had made. After making that change, the code was working for a short while before it started showing the same error you experienced. I changed the platform target to x86 to test and suddenly my designer was working again. Subsequently, I changed it back to x64, and the problem has disappeared completely. I suspect that the designer builds some kind of cached code in x32 and changing the x64 build platform breaks it when you make code changes.
Maybe another solution for when the project compiles but the XAML error is showing :
In solution explore, on the project node that contains the xaml
Right-click on the project and choose 'Unload Project'
Right-click on the project and choose 'Reload Project'
Make sure that your project is still choosen as "startup project". If not :
Right-click on the project and choose 'Set as startup project'
No need to rebuild, or close visual studio.
Jesus... This is still a problem five years later in Visual Studio 2017. Since I'm new to WPF, I was sure the problem was somehow me, but no, everything compiled and ran correctly.
I tried rebuilding, cleaning and rebuilding, switching between x86/x64 output, rebooting Windows, cleaning the ShadowCache folder, adding ";assembly={my main assembly name}" to the XML namespace declaration, nothing worked! The single thing that did:
Put my static class of Commands (in my case the deal was about making the design discover my WPF Commands) in its separate assembly and changing the assembly name to that one's instead.
Dunno if this will help anyone else
I'm new to WPF and still a novice with VB.net - so I was assuming that getting this error was being caused by me doing summit silly........ suppose I was really! I've managed to get rid of it by moving my project from a shared drive to one of my local drives.
Error's disappeared, project compiles perfectly no further issues - yet. Looks like VS2015 still has problems with projects held on a shared drive.
I had this problem recently using VS 2015 Update 3 for my WPF project in .NET 4.6.2. The copy of my project was in a network folder, I moved it locally and that solved the problem.
This may solve other sort of problems, as it looks like VS 2015 doesn't like network paths. Another issue that is a big problem for them is syncing git repositories if my project is in a network path, also solved by moving it locally.
I went through all the answers and none helped me. Finally was able to solve it by myself, so presenting the answer as it might help others.
In my case, the solution had two projects, one containing the models (say the project and assembly name was Models) and another containing the views and view models (as per our convention: project, assembly name and default namespace were Models.Monitor). The Models.Monitor referred Models project.
In the Models.Monitor project, in one of the xaml I included the following namespace:
xmlns:monitor="clr-namespace:Models.Monitor"
I suspect that MsBuild and Visual Studio then were erroring out as they were trying to find a 'Monitor' type in the assembly 'Models'. To resolve I tried the following:
xmlns:monitor="clr-namespace:Models.Monitor;assembly=" - which is valid if the namespace is in same assembly as per https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms747086(v=vs.110).aspx
also tried the explicit namespace declaration:
xmlns:monitor="clr-namespace:Models.Monitor;assembly=Models.Monitor"
Neither of the above worked.
Finally I gave up, and as a work around moved the UserControl I was trying to use to another namespace: 'ModelsMonitor'. I was able to compile fine after that.
I'm also having a lot of trouble with this one! Intellisense helps me complete the namespace and everything, but the compiler cries. I've tried everything I found in this and other threads. However in my case what helped in the end was writing something like this:
xmlns:util="clr-namespace:LiveSpielTool.Utils;assembly="
Leaving the assembly name empty. No idea why. But it was mentioned here. I must add I am developing an assembly, so the assembly attribute might make sense. But entering the assembly name did not work. So weird.
I had the same problem , and in my case the the Markup Design View asked me to rebuild the solution and did not show me the form layout with this message:
Design view is unavailable for x64 and ARM target platforms, or Build the Project to update Design view.
It does not get solved by rebuilding the solution (neither the design view nor the "The name does not exist in the namespace" error)
I think it was because I had played with the settings on Solution -> Properties > Configuration Properties
I finally resolved the problem with 2 jobs:
Checking all check boxes on Build Column of the page: Solution -> Properties -> Configuration Properties
Changing the solution configurations from Debug to Release or vice versa.
I think it's a bug in Visual Studio2012 Update 2.
The same problem plagues Visual Studios 2013, Service Pack 4.
I also tried it with Visual Studios 2015 Preview with the same results.
It's just a limitation of the WPF visualizer which the Visual Studios team hasn't fixed.
As proof, building in x86 mode enables the visualizer and building in x64 mode disables it.
Strangely enough intellisense works for Visual Studios 2013, Service Pack 4.
In my case the problem was due to some phantom files under the project's obj directory. The following fixed the issue for me:
Clean project
Exit VS
rm -rf /obj/*
Invoke VS and rebuild
In my case, it was just a weird bug.
I had the class I was trying to use in my namespace however Visual Studio kept throwing an error saying the class did not exist in the given namespace.
What I did to fix it was really silly but worked like a charm.
I commented out all the lines of code where I was trying to use the class, cleaned the build, rebuilt and the project was up and running.
Then I just uncommented the lines of code I had commented earlier and well, Visual Studio was no longer throwing me any errors.
Rebuild again and you are ready to go.
Looks like this problem may be solved through a variety of "tricks."
In my case, I had been building/rebuilding/cleaning the entire solution, instead of just the project that I was working on within the solution. Once I clicked "Build [my project]," the error message went away.
Try verifying your assembly references. If you have a yellow exclamation mark on the project references there's a problem there and you'll get all kinds of errors.
If you know the project reference is correct, check the Target framework. For instance, having a project using the 4.5 framework reference a project with 4.5.2 framework is not a good combination.
The solution for me was to unblock the assembly DLLs. The error messages you get don't indicate this, but the XAML designer refuses to load what it calls "sandboxed" assemblies. You can see this in the output window when you build. DLLs are blocked if they are downloaded from the internet. To unblock your 3rd-party assembly DLLs:
Right click on the DLL file in Windows Explorer and select Properties.
At the bottom of the General tab click the "Unblock" button or checkbox.
Note: Only unblock DLLs if you are sure they are safe.
In my case, the user control was added to the main project. I tried various solutions above to no avail. Either I would get Invalid Markup but the solution would compile and work, or I would add the
xmlns:c="clr-namespace:MyProject;assembly=MyProject" and then the markup would show, but I would get a compile error that the tag does not exist in the XML namespace.
Finally, I added a new WPF User Control Library project to the solution and moved my user control from the main project into that one. Added the reference and changed the assembly to point to the new library and finally the markup worked and the project compiled without error.
In my case I had a namespace and class spelled exactly the same, so for example, one of my namespaces was
firstDepth.secondDepth.Fubar
which contains its own classes (e.g. firstDepth.secondDepth.Fubar.someclass)
but I also had a 'Fubar' class in the namespace
firstDepth.secondDepth
which textually resolves to the same as the Fubar namespace above.
Don't do this
This problem can also be caused if the assembly that you're referencing isn't actually built. For example, if your xaml is in Assembly1 and you're referencing a class also in Assembly1, but that assembly has errors and isn't building, this error will be shown.
I feel silly about it, but in my case I was tearing asunder a user control and had all sorts of errors in the related classes as a result. As I was attempting to fix them all I started with the errors in question, not realising that xaml relies on built assemblies to find these references (unlike c#/vb code which can work it out even before you build).
I get this problem all the time. My views are in a WPF Custom Control Library project (a variant on Class Library). I can reference pre-built assemblies, but cannot reference any code in another project of the same solution. As soon as I move the code to the same project as the xaml it's recognized.
This happened to me already twice in a complex WPF app, in it there are 4 multi platform projects, 1 shared project, 2 support libraries, and 1 test project..
This very specific XAML namespace error happened twice on very recently modified files on the Shared project. In both of my cases, it was a new c# file added with a repeating namespace entry;
Like namespace MyProgram.MyFolder.MyProgram.MyFolder
I double pasted it once by mistake, and once it was due to JetBrains Rider double pasting the namespace. (If you ever rename a project in Rider, it time to time starts double pasting namespaces on new file creations, especially on Shared projects..). These c# files with repeating namespaces were then called in the ViewModels where XAML files were referencing to. Well you then get these unrelated and misleading errors, you can have a problem with one file, all your Xaml files will start erroring out eventually.
Anyways, if you get these kind of errors, it's most of the time an issue on a very newly added file or code change. My suggestions would be to look at your very recent changes.
If non of the answers worked
For me was .Net Framework version compatibility issue of the one i'm using was older then what is referencing
From properties => Application then target framework
VB.NET does not automatically add the Namespace information based on the folder structure as it does in C#. I think I am going through the same tutorial as you (Teach Yourself WPF in 24 Hours), and doing the same conversion to VB.
I found you have to manually add the Namespace information to Both the XAML Class and the XAML.VB code behind to be able to use the Namespaces as described in the book. Even then, VB doesn't automatically Assign the Namespace to the Assembly as it does in VB.
There is another article here that shows how to include this in your project templates so it does build the Namespace information automatically - Automatically add namespace when adding new item
In the solution property page, check the platform of the assembly that contains "UpdatingMediaElement" and the assmeblies that contain any of the superclasses and interfaces from which "UpdatingMediaElement" subclasses or implements. It appears that the platform of all these assemblies must be "AnyCPU".
Another possible cause: A post-build event is removing the project DLL from the build folder.
To clarify: WPF designer may report "The name XXX does not exist in the namespace...", even when the name does exist in the namespace and the project builds and runs just fine if a post-build event removes the project DLL from the build folder (bin\Debug, bin\Release, etc.). I have personal experience with this in Visual Studio 2015.
Ok, so none of these tips worked for me, unfortunately. I was able to eventually solve the issue. It seems that Visual Studio does not play nicely with network drives. I solved this issue by moving the project from the shared drive to my local and recompiled. No more errors.
Adding to the pile.
Mine was the assembly name of the WPF application was the same assembly name as a referenced dll. So make sure you don't have duplicate assembly names in any of your projects.
I had the solution stored on a network share and every time I opened it I would get the warning about untrusted sources. I moved it to a local drive and the "namespace does not exist" error went away as well.

Visual Studio Project Linker: is it possible to populate destination project automatically?

I have a Silverlight project with lots of source files. Now I want to create a new WP7 project using the same source code files (but obviously, target WP7).
I link the WP7 project to the existing Silverlight project using Project Linker. However, this does not automatically generate links to the existing files in the source project.
Is there any way using Project Linker to automatically populate the destination project with the already existing files in the source project? Or do I manually have to add links in the WP7 project to all previously existing files in the source project?
I have the same problem, but I resolved it.
Simply exclude all files from "source" project and then re-include them.
In this way project linker refresh its references adding all links!
It worked for me!
I'm not quite sure what you but I think you'll have to do manually in VS.Net, but if all the files in the same directory you can add all the files in one go, it sounds as though you want to select the 'Add as Link' option once the add 'Existing items' dialog is displayed.

Add a assembly to GAC and Add reference dialog in visual studio 2010

HY,
Know someone how can i add a assembly to GAC and Add reference dialog automatically in same time.
I have a setup project which i set him to add the assembly automatically to GAC, but i can`t add that in add reference dialog from visual studio 2010. I search on the internet but i didn't found how to do it.
The idea is that i have a project template from a project which use two assembly. I want to placed the 2 assembly in GAC when he is running the setup of the framework which i give to him.
Thanks.
Your English is hard to decode but it sure sounds like you are on the wrong track with this. The GAC is a deployment detail. You'll have no trouble putting an assembly in the GAC with your Setup project.
That assembly does not belong in the GAC on your dev machine. To add the reference, simply use the Add Reference dialog and use either the Project or Browse tab.
If your assembly is intended to be used by another programmer so that she can use your product in her own project then you need to deploy your assembly twice. It needs to go into the GAC and a copy of the assembly needs to go in a dedicated folder so your client can add the reference to it in her own project. The c:\program files\reference asssemblies directory is a good place to put it.
Putting it in the GAC for her is optional btw, it isn't that commonly done. I think most programmers would prefer that you don't do this, unless you work for a Big Company that needs to automatically distribute security updates. Putting it in the GAC just makes it harder for your client to write her own Setup project since she has to run yours first.
tribanp
I've created a sexy visual studio extension that will help you to achieve your goal. Muse VSReferences will allow you to add a Global Assembly Cache reference to the project from Add GAC Reference menu item.
Regards...
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