Visual Studio Report Designer — Troubleshooting

• Sep 18, 2025
• 5 minutes to read

This help topic lists common issues with the DevExpress Visual Studio Report Designer. Configure your environment as recommended below. If problems persist, collect diagnostic data and contact DevExpress Support.

Best Practices: Product Versions and Updates

Avoid version conflicts and install DevExpress updates regularly:

• Use DevExpress versions compatible with Visual Studio and .NET versions. See the following help topic for platform-specific requirements: Prerequisites.
• Install DevExpress using NuGet or the Unified Component Installer. The DevExpress version must be identical across all DevExpress libraries.
• Update DevExpress libraries to the latest version.

Log Files

The Visual Studio Report Designer creates log files for each session. Use these files to diagnose issues.

Get Logs (ZIP Archive)

In Visual Studio, select Extensions → DevExpress → Report Designer → Collect Diagnostic Data to create a ZIP archive with logs. Attach this archive to your support ticket.

The ZIP archive includes:

• System information (Visual Studio and DevExpress versions)
• Visual Studio system event logs (Visual Studio errors)
• Recent Report Designer session logs
• RepxPackage logs

Get Logs of Individual Sessions (.NET 8+)

Log files are stored in the following folder:

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

Look for the following files:

• designer_trace.log
• external_trace.log
• UnhandledErrors.log
• {guid}.log

Troubleshooting Guide

Visual Studio Report Designer Does Not Launch

If you installed only NuGet packages, run the Unified Component Installer to install all required components.

Missing “Report Controls” in Toolbox

Right-click within the Toolbox and select Reset Toolbox in the toolbox context menu. If the Toolbox does not contain DevExpress controls, follow the instructions described in the following help topic: Resolve Issues with Toolbox Items.

Disabled Toolbox Items in “Report Controls”

Disable Show All in the toolbox context menu (this option displays unsupported items as grayed out).

Tip

Toolbox section names with DevExpress report controls:

• .NET Framework: DX.25.1: Report Controls
• .NET 8+: DX: Report Controls

Visual Studio Freezes When Opening the Report Designer

Visual Studio updates the toolbox when you first open the Report Designer. This may take longer if multiple DevExpress versions are installed. Wait until the update finishes.

Report Opens as C#/VB Code Instead of the Report Designer

• Missing RepxPackage extension: Re-install DevExpress or run the Unified Component Installer in Repair mode.
• RepxPackage extension disabled: In Visual Studio, open Manage Extensions, locate DevExpress.XtraReports.RepxPackage, and enable it.
• SDK-style projects: Right-click the report in Solution Explorer and select View Designer in the context menu.

Cannot Open .repx Files (.NET8+)

The Visual Studio Report Designer does not support .repx (report definition) format in projects that target .NET (Breaking Change T1168500).

You can restore the Visual Studio Report Designer functionality for existing .repx files in two ways:

• (Recommended) Add a new code-based XtraReport and import the target VSREPX layout (Store Report Layouts). Copy custom code-behind code and reattach event handlers (if any).
• Manually change the file extension from .repx to .vsrepx.

Note

The Report Designer Extension for VS Code supports .repx.

Visual Studio or Report Designer Crashes When Opening a Report

Reinstall DevExpress components or run the Unified Component Installer in Repair mode. If the issue persists, create a new support ticket and attach the diagnostic information:

• Collect a call stack of design-time exceptions.
• Run Visual Studio with the Log option and attach ActivityLog.xml (%AppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio<version>\ActivityLog.xml).
• For .NET 8+, attach Report Designer logs.

Additional Notes for .NET 8+ Projects

The Report Designer for .NET Core follows the Out-of-Process model (the .NET Core code runs in a separate process). Because report layouts may reference custom classes, the Designer copies project binaries and the deps.json file to a temporary folder.

For this model to work, do the following:

1. Check the version of installed DevExpress components. It must match the version of referenced NuGet packages.
2. Close all open report tabs.
3. Rebuild the project.
4. Reopen reports.

Visual Studio Does Not Recognize the Report

• Open Visual Studio advanced C# options (Tools → Options → Text Editor → C# → Advanced).
• Enable Run code analysis in separate process.

Warning and Error Messages

This section lists warnings (XRD) and errors (XRE) that may appear in the Report Designer.

XRD101

Message

Build your solution and reopen this window for the Report Designer to operate correctly.

Solution

Rebuild the project.

XRD102

Message

The Report Designer is not initialized properly. Restart Visual Studio and rebuild your solution.

Solution

Our code detected a malfunction in the Report Designer process. Rebuild the project and restart Visual Studio. If this does not resolve the issue, please contact DevExpress Support and attach the Report Designer logs.

XRD103

Message

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).

Solution

Please contact DevExpress Support and attach the Report Designer logs.

XRD104

Message

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. Designer_trace.log, external_trace.log, UnhandledErrors.log, and {guid}.log files are located in the Logs folder or in the parent folder.

Solution

The Report Designer could not instantiate a class referenced in your code. Please contact DevExpress Support, attach the Report Designer logs, and describe the public API of the class.

XRD105

Message

The report contains scripts. The following NuGet package is required to run these scripts: Microsoft.CodeAnalysis. Do you want to install it?

Solution

Install the Microsoft.CodeAnalysis NuGet package to run report scripts.

XRD106

Message

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.

Solution

Align project references with the installed DevExpress version. The version of DevExpress libraries that you reference in your project must match the version of DevExpress libraries installed on your machine.

XRE310

Message

The Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.VisualBasic and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common packages, required to compile the VisualBasic scripts, are missing in the C# project.

Solution

Install Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.VisualBasic and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common NuGet packages.

XRE311

Message

The Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common packages, required to compile the C# scripts, are missing in the Visual Basic project.

Solution

Install Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Common NuGet packages.