Possible VS2003 c# compiler bug: error CS0584: Internal Compiler Error: stage 'COMPILE' symbol ''

[eblanco]

Hi everybody!

It's the second time it happens to me... Working with typed DataSets
and doing copy & paste, I compile and get weirds messages like these:

An internal error has occurred in the compiler. To work around this
problem, try simplifying or changing the program near the locations
listed below. Locations at the top of the list are closer to the point
at which the internal error occurred.

error CS0584: Internal Compiler Error: stage 'BIND' symbol
'WindowsApplication1.Form1.Form1_Load(object, System.EventArgs)'
error CS0584: Internal Compiler Error: stage 'COMPILE' symbol
'WindowsApplication1.Form1'
error CS0584: Internal Compiler Error: stage 'COMPILE' symbol
'WindowsApplication1'
error CS0584: Internal Compiler Error: stage 'COMPILE' symbol ''
error CS0586: Internal Compiler Error: stage 'COMPILE'

Once you get one of these you must exit VS2003, because the compiler
does not work anymore...

Here is how to reproduce it:

Create a Solution, with 2 projects, one client app and one class
library.

In the class library proyect add a typed Dataset, and a class with a
method like this:

public MyDataset FakeFunction (MyDataset.ClassificationDataTable table)

{
return new MyDataset();
}

In the client app, call the method in this way (here's where the error
is):

MyDataset ds2 = MyClass.FakeFunction(ds.ClassificationDataTable);

That is you miss it doing copy-paste, you should have written:

MyDataset ds2 = MyClass.FakeFunction(ds.Classification);

And you got the evil messages, very descriptive, aren't they?

The curious thing about it is that if you place the class with the
method and the Dataset in the client app proyect, the error message is
accourate, so the error only happens when referencing another project:

error CS0572: 'ClassificationDataTable': cannot reference a type
through an expression; try
'ClassLibrary1.MyDataset.ClassificationDataTable' instead