DevStudio locks up loading solution.

[Simon Jefferies]

Hello,

I'm getting a strange problem where when I load up my solution that has
three projects:-

a managed C++ .NET, one C++ lib, and a VB library.

It locks up and doesn't load completely, I have to do the following to work
around it.

Rename the vcproj file, load the solution, rename the vcproj back and then
get the visual studio to reload the project.

Any ideas what causes this?

TIA
Regards
Simon Jefferies
Tools Programmer, Headfirst Productions
mailto:[email protected]
www.callofcthulhu.com www.deadlandsgame.com
-

 

[Guest]

I have hat to wait up to 10 mins for VS to Compile interop classes when loading a solution with references to some large com objects.

During this time VS.net appears to have died, but as long as you don't recompile your com dll it should only need to do this once.

Perhapse this is what you are experiencing

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi Simon,

In addition to b.reese1's suggestion.
First of all, I would like to confirm my understanding of your issue.
From your description, I understand that you have three projects in a
solution. When you load the solution not all of the projects will be loaded.
1. Managed C++ .NET (which kind of the project type, a class library, a
windows application or others?)
2. C++ lib( it is a ATL,MFC or just a legacy DLL)
3. VB library(It is a VB.NET class library, is it?)
Have I fully understood you? If there is anything I misunderstood, please
feel free to let me know.

Also is there any project dependent between the three projects?
Please post more detailed reproduce steps for us to reproduce the produce,
also can you create a new solution and add the projects one by one to see
if the problem persists. If you can package the reproduce solution and send
it to me by removing the online from my email will be helpful for us to
reproduce the problem.

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Simon Jefferies]

Hello and Thanks for replying,

In answer to your questions:-

[1] It is a Managed C++ .NET Windows application
[2] It is a standard C++ Library (.lib), no ATL or MFC usage.
[3] Yes, it is a Visual Basic class library containing user controls

Yes, project [1] is dependent on both projects [2] and [3]. Project [2] is
selected through the Project dependencies option, whereas project [3] is
referenced.

I've tried to create a new solution with the same projects and have had no
problems. I did find that adding a setup project tended to cause the
solution not load. When I removed the setup project it was fine. But, on one
PC it fails to load with just the three projects.

I can try to package up the solution if it would be helpful to you.

Regards
Simon Jefferies
Tools Programmer, Headfirst Productions
mailto:[email protected]
www.callofcthulhu.com www.deadlandsgame.com
-

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi Simon,

Is the Setup Project a new one or the original one?
I think there may be something wrong with the setup project, so I think you
may try to add a new setup project to see if the problem persists and let
me know the result.

Also on the PC that has problem to load a solution with just the three
projects, I think we may try to do the same steps as before, i.e. create a
new blank solution and add the project one by one to see if the problem
persists, so that we can isolate the problem.

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Simon Jefferies]

Hello,

Yes the setup project is a new one, it tended to cause problems when I added
it to the solution of three.

I've created a new solution and it appears to be okay. I did a comparison
between the two solution files and noticed these lines were not in the test
solution:

GlobalSection(DPCodeReviewSolutionGUID) = preSolution
DPCodeReviewSolutionGUID = {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
EndGlobalSection

Do you think having these lines in would cause this problem? I've removed
from my original solution and so far it appears to be happy.

But when .NET crashes (black box with white writing in it) or locks up after
a while and have to restart .NET this is when it fails to reload the
solution.

Regards
Simon Jefferies
Tools Programmer, Headfirst Productions
mailto:[email protected]
www.callofcthulhu.com www.deadlandsgame.com
-

 

[Simon Jefferies]

Further to my post,

Removing these lines does not have any effect, as when my .NET studio
crashes I have trouble reloading the solution.

Further research into this and I have found that the trouble loading my
solution is caused by a .NET studio crash.

Once studio crashes I have to rename the project etc and load the solution,
then rename the project back etc and click reload project...

Then if I close studio down and load it back again, it happily loads the
solution.

I get a lockup after a certain number of runs of the program and sometimes I
get a black DOS style box come up for a split second but its random and
doesn't occur that frequently.

Any ideas on these issues?

Regards
Simon Jefferies
Tools Programmer, Headfirst Productions
mailto:[email protected]
www.callofcthulhu.com www.deadlandsgame.com
-

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi Simon,

Based on my understanding your senario so far, the problem will occur just
after the VS.NET IDE crash because of a certain cause. And if you close the
VS.NET IDE and reopen the solution, the solution will work again?
Am I right?

But I am confusion that if the VS.NET IDE is crashed, then why we need to
close it and reopen it again.
If we close the VS.NET IDE and reopen the solution, all will work, I think
in this moment the solution file and the project should be OK, i.e. they
are not corrupted, so we do not need to create a new blank solution and add
the new project.

In all, I think the senario may be as follows.
We open a solution with three projects and when we work on it, all of a
sudden it crash for some reason, and now the solution file or the project
files may be corrupted. That is why we need to create a new blank solution
and add the projects to recreate a healthy solution file. Or the VS.NET may
hold the reference to the projects because of its crash(improper
termination), so we need to change its name for it to be loaded again.

Also you may try to delete the .suo file (please backup first,it is a
hidden file) and then open the solution file to see if the problem
persists. I assume that the problem will not persist if the VS.NET did not
crash, if I have any misunderstanding, please feel free to tell me. If so,
now I think we need to troubleshooting, why the IDE will crash?
Did you add any addin, which is possible to cause the IDE crash.


Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Simon Jefferies]

Thanks for your reply,

In all, I think the senario may be as follows.
We open a solution with three projects and when we work on it, all of a
sudden it crash for some reason, and now the solution file or the project
files may be corrupted. That is why we need to create a new blank solution
and add the projects to recreate a healthy solution file. Or the VS.NET
may
hold the reference to the projects because of its crash(improper
termination), so we need to change its name for it to be loaded again.

This is exactly what is happening...

Also you may try to delete the .suo file (please backup first,it is a
hidden file) and then open the solution file to see if the problem
persists. I assume that the problem will not persist if the VS.NET did not
crash, if I have any misunderstanding, please feel free to tell me. If so,
now I think we need to troubleshooting, why the IDE will crash?
Did you add any addin, which is possible to cause the IDE crash.

The problem doesn't persist if the VS.NET didn't crash.
I have the following addins:

"Generate XML documentation"
"VBCommenter"
"Visual Assist.NET"
"Xbox Direct3D State Viewer"

I have noticed VB Commenter does tend be a bit fussy on forms and brings up
a dialog box, and can make the IDE completely disappear as well if you type
a comment in the wrong location. I will try removing this addin to see if it
improves the stability of the IDE.

Thanks
Simon Jefferies
Tools Programmer, Headfirst Productions
mailto:[email protected]
www.callofcthulhu.com www.deadlandsgame.com
-

 

[Simon Jefferies]

Futher to my previous message,

By Renaming/Deleting the .suo file it helped to load the project without
having to rename my project etc as previous described. Although, this is
still frustrating.

Also, I get studio lockups when closing code windows too.

Regards
Simon Jefferies
Tools Programmer, Headfirst Productions
mailto:[email protected]
www.callofcthulhu.com www.deadlandsgame.com
-

 

[Peter Huang]

Hi Simon,

Thank you for you response.
We can not guarantee the behavior when the VS.NET IDE is crash not closed
properly, because crash may cause the VS.NET IDE did not write the correct
information into the underlying files which may cause the solution will not
opened correctly next time.

So I think we would better to close the VS.NET IDE normally so that we can
avoid the problem.

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.