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Visual Studio Report Designer - Troubleshooting

  • 8 minutes to read

This guide can help you resolve an error code or unexpected behavior while using the Visual Studio Report Designer.

Common Rules

  1. The version of DevExpress components you use should support the version of Visual Studio IDE and .NET that you use to develop a project. See requirements according to your platform: Prerequisites.
  2. If your project uses NuGet packages, make sure that DevExpress packages version is identical to the version of DevExpress components that was installed by installer.
  3. We recommend that you use the newest version of DevExpress components, since it contains the latest bug fixes: Supported Versions, Version History, and IDE Prerequisites.

Log File Location

.NET 6+

Designer log files designer_trace.log and external_trace.log are located in the following folder:

%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\DevExpress\XtraReportsDesignNetCore\

Cannot launch the Visual Studio Report Designer

This problem can occur if you install only NuGet packages. For proper functionality, the Visual Studio Report Designer requires the installation of DevExpress components on your development machine using the Unified Component Installer. Refer to the following topic for details: Download the Registered Version.

There is no Report Controls section in Toolbox after opening Visual Studio Report Designer

Do you see other DevExpress controls in the toolbox?

YES
Try to manually add toolbox items. Right-click the corresponding Toolbox panel and click Choose Items. Filter the resulting list by “xtrareport” and choose the version you need (for example, 23.1).
NO
Follow the steps from this article: Resolve Issues With Toolbox Items.

All items DX: Report Controls section are disabled

This behavior may occur in case the Show All option is enabled in your toolbox. The option forces the toolbox to display components that are not even supported by the current platform and that are disabled (grayed out). Thus, right-click the toolbox and disable the Show All option to hide irrelevant controls.

.NET Framework
The correct category with Reporting Controls in .NET Framework applications should be named DX.XX.X: Report Controls, where XX.X is a DevExpress version.
.NET 6+
The category named DX: Report Controls (without the version) is used in .NET 6+ projects.

Visual Studio freezes on attempt to open Visual Studio Report Designer

This issue may occur when designer is opened first time after running DevExpress installer, because VS Toolbox pane is refreshed with the newly added items. This process can take a significant amount of time especially if you have two or more major DevExpress versions installed at the same time.

This issue is not directly related to the way our DevExpress Visual Studio Report Designer for .NET is implemented, but rather to the way Visual Studio updates toolbox items. You need to wait until the update is completed.

Report classes look like C#/VB code files in Visual Studio , it is not possible to open the designer by clicking these files

Missing RepxPackage Extension

This issue may occur when the DevExpress.XtraReports.RepxPackage extension is not installed or disabled in Visual Studio. This extension is automatically installed when you run our components installer. Try to reinstall our components or run the installer in Repair mode to repair the installation.

If this does not help, make sure the DevExpress.XtraReports.RepxPackage extension is enabled. To do this, open the Manage Extensions window in Visual Studio. In this window search for DevExpress.XtraReports.RepxPackage extension and make sure that this extension is enabled.

SDK-Style Project

If your project is an SDK-style project, the Report Designer does not open when you double-click a report. To open the designer, right-click the report in Solution Explorer and select View Designer from the context menu.

Unable to open the .repx files with the Designer

This format contains report definition and was originally designed to be used with End-User Report Designers at runtime only. This behavior is expected as the Visual Studio Report Designer no longer supports the .repx format in projects that target .NET. Check the following Breaking Change for more information: The .repx (report definition) files cannot be opened in the Visual Studio Report Designer.

If you need to use .repx files, the only way to do this is to use the Report Designer Extension for VS Code. This extension works with .repx files only.

Visual Studio or Visual Studio Report Designer crashes while opening a report

Try to repair the DevExpress installation or reinstall the components by using our installer. You can download Unified Component Installer for this purpose: Download the Registered Version.

If this does not help, please contact our Support Team and share the following diagnostic information:

  • Collect a call stack with design-time exceptions.
  • Check Visual Studio logs for information about the issue. Run Visual Studio with the Log command. After you close Visual Studio, find the ActivityLog.xml file in the subfolder for Visual Studio data: %AppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\<version>\ActivityLog.xml. If there’s any error information, please share it with us.
  • For .NET 6+ only. Send us the logs generated by our Visual Studio Report Designer. Get the most recent designer_trace.log and external_trace.log files from the following folder:%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\DevExpress\XtraReportsDesignNetCore\. You can clear this folder before you reproduce the issue.

Report Designer Errors

This section lists errors and warnings that may appear in the Report Designer.

The Designer’s Logs folder mentioned in the error messages is the DevExpress/XtraReportsDesignNetCore folder located in the Local AppData folder. The Local AppData folder may be different on different hosts, so you should use the LocalApplicationData system variable in your code or type %localappdata% in Windows Explorer to navigate to that folder.

XRD101

Message Text
Build your solution and reopen this window for the Report Designer to operate correctly.
Why the Message Appears
The project was not built before the Report Designer started. The changes made to the project may not be visible in the Designer. Rebuilding the project can eliminate the issue.

XRD102

Message Text
The Report Designer is not initialized properly. Restart Visual Studio and rebuild your solution.
Why the Message Appears
We detected malfunctions in the Report Designer process. To resolve the issue, rebuild the project and restart Visual Studio. If you still have issues, please contact DevExpress Support and send us the following log files: designer_trace.log, external_trace.log, and UnhandledErrors.log (found in the Designer’s Logs folder or in the parent folder of the logs).

XRD103

Message Text
The Report Designer process failed to start. Please contact DevExpress Support and send us the following log files: designer_trace.log, external_trace.log, and UnhandledErrors.log (found in the Designer’s Logs folder or in the parent folder of the logs).
Why the Message Appears
It is not always possible to detect the error’s root cause immediately. In cases when we were unable to identify the cause of the issue, the Report Designer displays message XRD103 and asks users to send us the log files for detailed examination.

XRD104

Message Text
The Report Designer is unable to instantiate a user-defined data source type. Please contact DevExpress Support and send us log files with information about the problematic type. The designer_trace.log, external_trace.log, UnhandledErrors.log, and {guid}.log files are located in the Logs folder or in the parent folder.
Why the Message Appears
A class referenced in your code could not be instantiated for an uncertain reason. The Report Designer displays message XRD104 to draw attention to this case. Reach out to our Support Team so they can help you identify the cause of the error. Please send us the log files that may contain information about the incident and public API of the class that failed to be instantiated.

XRD105

Message Text
The report contains scripts. The following NuGet package is required to run these scripts: Microsoft.CodeAnalysis. Do you want to install it?
Why the Message Appears
Your application should have the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis NuGet package installed to compile and run report scripts. If this package is not installed, the Report Designer displays error message XRD105, which reminds you to install the package.

XRD106

Message Text
The version of DevExpress libraries (DLL assemblies or NuGet packages) referenced in the project does not match the version of libraries installed on your machine.
Why the Message Appears
The version of DevExpress libraries that you reference in your project should match the version of DevExpress libraries installed on your machine. If the versions do not match, the Report Designer detects this mismatch and shows the error message. To fix the error, either reference the version of the DevExpress libraries installed on your machine or install the version of DevExpress components that you reference in your project.

XRE310

Message Text
The Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.VisualBasic and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common packages, required to compile the VisualBasic scripts, are missing in the C# project.
Why the Message Appears
This message appears when the referenced packages are missing in your project. Install the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.VisualBasic and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common packages to fix the problem.

XRE311

Message Text
The Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common packages, required to compile the C# scripts, are missing in the Visual Basic project.
Why the Message Appears
This message appears when the referenced packages are missing in your project. Install the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common packages to fix the problem.