Please please please fix the IDE

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lloyd Sheen
  • Start date Start date
L

Lloyd Sheen

So MS where is the error that is reported on last line, says 1 failed. No
indication as to what failed. VS 2003, (reinstalled more times than should
have been).

------ Build started: Project: SQLEditor, Configuration: Debug .NET ------

Preparing resources...
Updating references...
Performing main compilation...
Building satellite assemblies...



------ Build started: Project: ArgumentControl, Configuration: Debug
..NET ------

Preparing resources...
Updating references...
Performing main compilation...
Building satellite assemblies...



------ Build started: Project: SQLServer, Configuration: Debug .NET ------

Preparing resources...
Updating references...
Performing main compilation...
Building satellite assemblies...



------ Build started: Project: ToadUI, Configuration: Debug .NET ------

Preparing resources...
Updating references...
Performing main compilation...
Building satellite assemblies...



---------------------- Done ----------------------

Build: 3 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 skipped
 
I have run into this kinds of thing one or two times (VS2002). It simply
does not tell you where and what the error is.

Once I was able to narrow it dow to a particular class, by excluding class
from project one by one (you know how difficult this will be, because a
class may be referenced by other class. I had to comment out referencing
codes and tried built numerous times). And then I commented out code portion
by portion and biult it. Finally, it was a ";" missing. I wondered why,
'cause VS usually report missing "}" or ";".
 
Yes but there are MS lurkers. Perhaps they will get the message to fix the
IDE before they release another one with so many problems.

Even things like setting OPTION STRICT ON does not work. Create a new VB
class and the OPTION clause is not generated.

Lloyd Sheen
 
Lloyd

I may be wrong, but I think that the OPTION STRICT setting in the IDE
options dialog is not designed to cause the clause to be created in new
classes. Rather, it is a default to apply in the absence of an explicit
declaration at the top of the file.

That said, I know what you mean about the IDE. For the most part it works
fine, but I also frequently get erroneous errors reported, which disappear
on a repeat build or closing and restarting the IDE.

One thing I would say is that I have found some of the apparently erroneous
errors reported to be caused by complicated linkage in multi-project
solutions. If coupling is high, the IDE gets 'confused' about from where to
satisfy references. This is made worse if names are re-used in different
projects. Even if the declarations are the same they will have different
signatures, and therefore may lead to confusion. I have stared at an
unexplained error for hours, convinced that it is not an error, only to
realise later that I had used the same control name or namespace in two
projects, and that the compiler was getting its reference from one place
whilst I was expecting it to get it from another. Qualifying the reference
sorted the problem (although changing the name was ultimately the best
solution).

If you have a multi-project solution, you could look carefully at the
Reference Paths set up in each project, and ensure they are consistent with
the project inter-dependencies set up in he solution explorer.

I am not suggesting that this will completely cure your problems, but I
found that the incidence of erroneous errors falls off when coupling is low
and inter-dependencies are minimised.

HTH

Charles
 
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