XML documentation file name

[Bob Altman]

Hi all,

I have a VS 2005 SP1 Visual Basic solution that creates a bunch of
assemblies (both main programs and DLLs). All of the projects have
"Generate XML documentation file" selected on the Compile tab of the My
Project designer. Now here's the weird part that I need help with: 2 of
the 8 projects generate XML documentation in a file whose name is identical
to the assembly name (plus a .XML extension) as expected. The other 6
generate XML documentation in files whose name does not match the assembly
name. When I reference one of those 6 assemblies from another solution, I
don't get intellisense because VS doesn't find a matching .XML file.

How does VS decide on a name to give to the XML documentation file that it
creates? Is there some setting somewhere that I'm not stumbling across?

TIA - Bob

 

[Linda Liu [MSFT]]

Hi Bob,

MSDN document on VB.NET Project Designer says "The Generate XML document
file property is set on the Compile page of the Project Designer. When this
option is selected, XML documentation is automatically emitted into an XML
file, which will have the same as your project and the .xml extension."

The MSDN document doesn't mention there's a setting for the name of the XML
document to be generated in VB.NET projects. I tried to find in the options
window(Tools|Options), and didn't find a setting for the name of the XML
document for VB.NET projects, either.

What application types are the projects in your solution, whose own XML
document's name is incorrect, Windows Application, Class Library or
something else?

In fact, when we select the 'Generate XML document file' option in the
Compile page of the Project Designer and then save the changes, the name of
the XML document to be generated is saved to the project file. Navigate to
the project file(.vbproj) in Windows Explorer and open the project file
with Notepad. You should see the name of the XML document in the
<DocumentationFile> tag within the <PropertyGroup> tag.

I think a workaround to your problem is to modifty the name of the XML
document in the project file with Notepad manually, and then build the
project.

Hope this helps.
If you have anything unclear, please feel free to let me know.


Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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[Bob Altman]

I think a workaround to your problem is to modifty the name of the XML
document in the project file with Notepad manually, and then build the
project.

Thanks Linda. I manually fixed the vbproj files and now everything works as
it should.

MSDN document on VB.NET Project Designer says "The Generate XML document
file property is set on the Compile page of the Project Designer. When
this
option is selected, XML documentation is automatically emitted into an XML
file, which will have the same as your project and the .xml extension."

Actually, the desired behavior seems to be that the xml file must have the
same name as the assembly (which may not match the project name).

The MSDN document doesn't mention there's a setting for the name of the
XML
document to be generated in VB.NET projects. I tried to find in the
options
window(Tools|Options), and didn't find a setting for the name of the XML
document for VB.NET projects, either.

I guess I could have tried changing the assembly names in the My Project
designer (to "xxx" and then back to their proper names) to see if something
in the designer magically changes the documentation file to match, but that
didn't occur to me until after I had changed the vbproj files.

 

[Linda Liu [MSFT]]

Hi Bob,

Thank you for your feedback.

Actually, the desired behavior seems to be that the xml file must have

the
same name as the assembly (which may not match the project name).

I performed a test on this and did see the name fo the xml file has the
same name as the assembly, not the project. Thank you for pointing it out :
)

I am sorry that I am not sure what causes the problem that the xml file's
name doesn't match the assembly name in your project, unless you modify the
vbproj file with Notepad manually. But at least, we have a workaround for
this problem.

If you have any other question in the future, please don't hesitate to
contact us. It's always our pleasure to be of assistance!

Have a nice weekend!

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support