Designer not loading: System.InvalidOperationException: Designer load encountered an error. Please ensure that the project can be built successfully.

[jaliyaudagedara]

Environment

Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise 2022 (64-bit) - Preview
Version 17.10.0 Preview 1.0

.NET version

.NET 8.0

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <UseWindowsForms>true</UseWindowsForms>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
  </PropertyGroup>

</Project>

Did this work in a previous version of Visual Studio and/or previous .NET release?

Can't recall it worked

Issue description

Following commands were already exceuted.

Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess 'devenv.exe'
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess 'DesignToolsServer.exe'

However, closing Visual Studio and reopening seems to solve the issue.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a Windows Forms Application

Diagnostics

[09:49:13.627374] info: Creating VsDesignerLoader
[09:49:13.718618] info: [Thread 1] Creating design-time ITypeResolutionService.
[09:49:13.756584] info: Start processing enqueued assemblies
[09:49:13.756584] trce: Loaded Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Protocol in 00:00:00.0000078 [thread 69]
[09:49:13.757587] trce: Processed 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Protocol' in 00:00:00.0008524
[09:49:13.759587] info: Added 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Protocol'
[09:49:13.759587] trce: Loaded Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Client in 00:00:00.0000059 [thread 69]
[09:49:13.765588] trce: Processed 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Client' in 00:00:00.0053722
[09:49:13.766587] info: Added 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Client'
[09:49:13.781584] info: BasicDesignerLoader.BeginLoad - Setting _loadDependencyCount to 0.
[09:49:13.783619] info: BasicDesignerLoader::BeginLoad - Calling AddLoadDependency
[09:49:13.787620] info: VsDesignerLoader::PerformLoad - Calling AddLoadDependency.
[09:49:13.790601] info: BasicDesignerLoader::BeginLoad - Calling DependentLoadComplete
[09:49:14.051632] info: Visual Studio culture: en-US (0x0409)
[09:49:14.051632] info: [Thread 10] Launching server...
[09:49:14.056631] info: Is processor architecture ARM64: False
[09:49:15.460926] info: Added 'mscorlib'
[09:49:15.460926] trce: Loaded System.Windows.Forms in 00:00:00.0000202 [thread 70]
[09:49:15.463925] trce: Processed 'System.Windows.Forms' in 00:00:00.0028683
[09:49:15.480926] info: Added 'System.Windows.Forms'
[09:49:15.480926] trce: Loaded System in 00:00:00.0000111 [thread 70]
[09:49:15.481923] trce: Processed 'System' in 00:00:00.0007721
[09:49:15.500607] info: Added 'System'
[09:49:15.500607] trce: Loaded System.Drawing in 00:00:00.0000076 [thread 70]
[09:49:15.500607] trce: Processed 'System.Drawing' in 00:00:00.0000938
[09:49:15.502608] info: Added 'System.Drawing'
[09:49:15.502608] trce: Loaded System.Design in 00:00:00.0000071 [thread 70]
[09:49:15.516231] trce: Processed 'System.Design' in 00:00:00.0142382
[09:49:15.527923] info: Added 'System.Design'
[09:49:15.527923] trce: Loaded System.Drawing.Design in 00:00:00.0000115 [thread 14]
[09:49:15.527923] trce: Processed 'System.Drawing.Design' in 00:00:00.0001963
[09:49:15.527923] info: Added 'System.Drawing.Design'
[09:49:16.329565] fail: OutputGroupService didn't return output group DesignerRuntimeImplementationProjectOutputGroup.

                        For information on how to troubleshoot the designer refer to the guide at https://aka.ms/winforms/designer/troubleshooting.
[09:49:16.329565] fail: Could not retrieve DesignerRuntimeImplementationProjectOutputGroup for current project.

                        For information on how to troubleshoot the designer refer to the guide at https://aka.ms/winforms/designer/troubleshooting.
[09:49:16.337555] fail: System.InvalidOperationException: Designer load encountered an error. Please ensure that the project can be built successfully.
                           at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.Host.ProjectInfoProvider.NetCore.<GetNetCoreProjectInfoAsync>d__6.MoveNext()
                        --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
                           at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
                           at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
                           at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.Host.ProjectInfoProvider.<GetProjectInfoAsync>d__9.MoveNext()
                        --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
                           at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
                           at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
                           at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.Host.ServerHostFactory.<CreateHostAsync>d__8.MoveNext()
                        --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
                           at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
                           at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
                           at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.DesignToolsClientLoader.<CreateClientAsync>d__29.MoveNext()

                        For information on how to troubleshoot the designer refer to the guide at https://aka.ms/winforms/designer/troubleshooting.
[09:49:16.359110] info: VsDesignerLoader::PerformLoad::LoadCompletionTask - Calling DependentLoadComplete.
[09:49:16.366109] warn: Cannot update selection in server process as Session is not connected.

[Zheng-Li01]

@jaliyaudagedara The Form Designer can load and successfully with same Visual Studio version as below screenshot, could you please share more details with us to reproduce & investigate the issue?

[jaliyaudagedara]

@elachlan,

I am extremely sorry for the delay in responding.

Hmm, that's interesting. This is what I am seeing.

Let me see what else I can provide.

[jaliyaudagedara]

When I close the solution and open the solution back, it works. This is the output I am getting.

[22:24:01.965947] info: Creating VsDesignerLoader
[22:24:02.028950] info: [Thread 1] Creating design-time ITypeResolutionService.
[22:24:02.054458] info: Start processing enqueued assemblies
[22:24:02.054458] trce: Loaded Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Protocol in 00:00:00.0000084 [thread 12]
[22:24:02.055458] trce: Processed 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Protocol' in 00:00:00.0009117
[22:24:02.057459] info: Added 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Protocol'
[22:24:02.057459] trce: Loaded Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Client in 00:00:00.0000048 [thread 12]
[22:24:02.061458] trce: Processed 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Client' in 00:00:00.0039299
[22:24:02.063457] info: Added 'Microsoft.WinForms.DesignTools.Client'
[22:24:02.079462] info: BasicDesignerLoader.BeginLoad - Setting _loadDependencyCount to 0.
[22:24:02.081462] info: BasicDesignerLoader::BeginLoad - Calling AddLoadDependency
[22:24:02.085461] info: VsDesignerLoader::PerformLoad - Calling AddLoadDependency.
[22:24:02.088461] info: BasicDesignerLoader::BeginLoad - Calling DependentLoadComplete
[22:24:02.196576] info: Visual Studio culture: en-US (0x0409)
[22:24:02.196576] info: [Thread 13] Launching server...
[22:24:02.202609] info: Is processor architecture ARM64: False
[22:24:02.468400] trce: Processed 'System.Windows.Forms' in 00:00:00.0021057
[22:24:02.483400] info: Added 'System.Windows.Forms'
[22:24:02.483400] trce: Loaded System in 00:00:00.0000111 [thread 46]
[22:24:02.484400] trce: Processed 'System' in 00:00:00.0008757
[22:24:02.499434] info: Added 'System'
[22:24:02.499434] trce: Loaded System.Drawing in 00:00:00.0000137 [thread 46]
[22:24:02.499434] trce: Processed 'System.Drawing' in 00:00:00.0001077
[22:24:02.500402] info: Added 'System.Drawing'
[22:24:02.500402] trce: Loaded System.Design in 00:00:00.0000077 [thread 46]
[22:24:02.509401] trce: Processed 'System.Design' in 00:00:00.0086444
[22:24:02.518439] info: Added 'System.Design'
[22:24:02.519407] trce: Loaded System.Drawing.Design in 00:00:00.0000157 [thread 42]
[22:24:02.519407] trce: Processed 'System.Drawing.Design' in 00:00:00.0002990
[22:24:02.519407] info: Added 'System.Drawing.Design'
[22:24:04.085030] info: Shadow cache base directory: C:\Users\Jaliya\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\17.0_a46c53aa\WinFormsDesigner
[22:24:04.093062] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Preparing shadow cache folder.
[22:24:04.094029] info: [WinFormsApp4]: NetCoreServerLayout - Platform: AnyCPU, Normalized PlatformName: x64
[22:24:04.097032] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Copying design tools server common files from: 'c:\program files\microsoft visual studio\2022\preview\common7\ide\commonextensions\microsoft\windows.forms\DesignToolsServer\Common'.
[22:24:04.126713] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Copying design tool server platform-specific files from: 'c:\program files\microsoft visual studio\2022\preview\common7\ide\commonextensions\microsoft\windows.forms\DesignToolsServer\x64'.
[22:24:04.134713] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Copying 'C:\Users\Jaliya\Desktop\WinFormsApp4\WinFormsApp4\obj\Debug\net8.0-windows\WinFormsApp4.designer.deps.json' to 'DesignToolsServer.deps.json'
[22:24:04.135713] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Copying 'C:\Users\Jaliya\Desktop\WinFormsApp4\WinFormsApp4\obj\Debug\net8.0-windows\WinFormsApp4.designer.runtimeconfig.json' to 'DesignToolsServer.runtimeconfig.json'
[22:24:04.319395] info: Shadow caching completed.
[22:24:04.324405] info: IServerConnectionTimeoutProvider: Starting execution of winFormsOptions task.
[22:24:04.325405] info: IServerConnectionTimeoutProvider: WinFormsOptions task completed.
[22:24:04.325405] info: Obtained ServerConnectionTimeout value: 120000.
[22:24:04.325405] info: Obtained OutputWindowLoggingService.
[22:24:04.331405] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Launching design tools server process...
[22:24:04.503081] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Connected to named pipe: DesignToolsServer.1271e971-1c1a-4cf0-9847-285ee60a0ec7
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Connecting to pipe: DesignToolsServer.1271e971-1c1a-4cf0-9847-285ee60a0ec7... 
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Successfully connected to pipe: DesignToolsServer.1271e971-1c1a-4cf0-9847-285ee60a0ec7
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Creating DesignToolsServer [thread 1]
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Starting UI thread [thread 1]
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Performing start up tasks [thread 7]
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: UI thread started
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Wait for start up tasks to complete... [thread 7]
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Loaded server manifest [thread 11]
[22:24:04.572600] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Loading design-time assemblies [thread 11]
[22:24:04.686778] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Building MEF composition
[22:24:04.936651] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Start up tasks completed [thread 11]
[22:24:04.936651] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Initialize JsonRpc [thread 11]
[22:24:04.956665] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Start processing enqueued assemblies
[22:24:04.956665] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Listening for JSON RPC messages
[22:24:04.956665] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Design tools server process is running
[22:24:04.956665] info: [WinFormsApp4]: Design tools server process launch completed successfully.
[22:24:04.956665] trce: [WinFormsApp4]: Launching and connecting to the design tools server process took 00:00:00.6276035
[22:24:04.958666] info: [Thread 29] DesignToolsServer launch time = 2761 ms.
[22:24:04.958666] info: [Thread 29] Initializing client...
[22:24:04.968665] info: [Thread 29] DesignToolsClient init time = 10 ms.
[22:24:04.968665] info: [Thread 29] Initializing server...
[22:24:04.974666] trce: [WinFormsApp4]: Loaded System.Private.CoreLib in 00:00:00.0000728 [thread 12]
[22:24:04.980666] trce: [WinFormsApp4]: Processed 'System.Private.CoreLib' in 00:00:00.0182154
...

And I can see the DesignerToolsServer is running in Task Manager. But when I create a new project, DesignerToolsServer is not there in Task Manager, so it's failing to start for some reason.

[jaliyaudagedara]

Updated Visual Studio to Visual Studio 17.10 – Preview 2

Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise 2022 (64-bit) - Preview
Version 17.10.0 Preview 2.0

Same error!

But with more information this time.

Call Stack,

at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.Host.ProjectInfoProvider.NetCore.d__6.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.Host.ProjectInfoProvider.d__9.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.Host.ServerHostFactory.d__9.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.DesignToolsClientLoader.d__29.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.DesignToolsClientLoader.<>c__DisplayClass25_1.<<-ctor>b__1>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at Microsoft.DotNet.DesignTools.Client.DesignToolsClientLoader.d__27.MoveNext() 

[Zheng-Li01]

@jaliyaudagedara , thanks for your response. still cannot reproduce it with latest Dev17 17.10.0 Preview 2.0 with .NET SDK 8.0.200, which bring in Visual Srudio, and .NET SDK 8.0.202 from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0 on win11 OS, the Form designer working well as below GIF. not sure what is the difference between you and me caused the issue. could you please have a try to repair or re-install the visual studio to see if which can work well?

Note: Did the same things on the win10 OS, which have the same results that the Form Designer working well.
.NET SDK 8.0.200

.NET SDK 8.0.202

[jaliyaudagedara]

I have repaired Visual Studio, still the same :(.

I am on Windows 11 Pro for Workstations:

Not sure whether screen resolution matters:

A key thing is, when the solution is closed and re-opened, it works.

What's the difference? Isn't Stacktrace helpful?

Let me know if you want any specific logs from any internal folder.

[jaliyaudagedara]

I have reported the issue through Visual Studio Developer Community, captured all the logs, and included them in the report.
Issue: Windows Forms Designer not loading: System.InvalidOperationException: Designer load encountered an error. Please ensure that the project can be built

P.S: there were a lot of reports for the issue. Seems I am not the only one who faced this issue and it has been happening for a couple of years.

[kirsan31]

Today got same problem but with existing old test .Net6 project. I've changed <TargetFramework>net6.0-windows</TargetFramework> to net8.0-windows in text editor and then launch VS. And designer not loading with exactly errors like here. More of it restart doesn't help. Then I decide to post here, changed WinFrorms VS logs to Information and restart VS once again - and designer was opened fine 🤷‍♂️Subsequent experiments failed to reproduce the problem :(