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Data Source Wizard

  • 2 minutes to read

The documents in this section describe the Data Source Wizard pages and the API available for their customization.

Performance Optimization FAQ

The Data Source Configuration Wizard freezes or crashes when launched in a large WinForms project. How can I improve its performance?

In large WinForms projects, the Data Source Configuration Wizard may appear to freeze or even crash Visual Studio (especially in Visual Studio 2019) during type discovery. In some cases, the wizard takes several minutes (5–10) to initialize.

When the wizard starts, it attempts to enumerate available types via the Visual Studio Provider Service, which inspects your solution and its referenced assemblies.

To reduce the initialization time or prevent Visual Studio from crashing, disable specific type discovery operations via the Windows Registry. The following settings prevent the wizard from scanning the full solution and assembly set:

1. Disable type discovery in referenced assemblies
  • Registry key: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Developer Express\Designer
  • Value name: SearchTypesInReferencedAssemblies
  • Type: REG_SZ
  • Value: False
2. Disable the Visual Studio Provider Service for type discovery
  • Registry key: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Developer Express\Designer
  • Value name: SearchTypesViaDataSourceProviderService
  • Type: REG_SZ
  • Value: False

After applying these settings, restart Visual Studio.