This issue is in relation to the previously answered questions in relation to Visual Studio 2008 SP1. It seems these issues were fixed with VS 2008 SP1, but I'm having these same issues with VS 2010 with SP1 when dealing with a large number of DevExpress Controls on the page at one time. I have attached a sample project as well as a video showing the issue. I am running Windows 7 Enterprise, Visual Studio 2010 with SP1, and DevExpress v2011 Vol 1.7.
See here for more information on others experience with this issue:
http://www.devexpress.com/Support/Center/p/Q207938.aspx?searchtext=slow+design
http://www.devexpress.com/Support/Center/p/B95049.aspx?searchtext=slow+design
http://www.devexpress.com/Support/Center/p/B90736.aspx?searchtext=slow+design
http://community.devexpress.com/blogs/aspnet/archive/2008/01/17/vs-2008-issue-makes-aspxgridview-slow-in-design-mode.aspx
The last posting and last bug reported listed above is indication that you worked with Microsoft to fix this issue in VS 2008 and which a hotfix was released to resolve.
There is even a connect feedback item at Microsoft stating that you guys are calling "UpdateDesignTimeHtml" event in your controls unnecessarily. See here:
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/534222/visual-studio-2010-rc-very-slow-with-many-dev-express-controls
In the attached sample project I show you the issue with 2011 version 1.7 controls.
I do not have DevExpress IDE tools loaded.
I have tried disabling Javascript intellisense, HTML intellisense and nothing seems to work. I have also disabled all my Add-ins (which was TestDriven .NET unit testing framework) and the issue still occurs.
This is an actual example web page from my project and it is pretty painful to edit at this time due to the slowness in the Visual Studio IDE when switching to design view.
When testing this example, switch to "SOURCE" view on the page, add a devexpress label like my example video shows and then switch to DESIGN view and watch how slow it is.
Please let me know what I can do to increase performance. I realize you may have to work with Microsoft Visual Studio performance team to resolve where the major bottlenecks occur, so this case may take some time to resolve.
We have closed this ticket because another page addresses its subject:
Visual Studio 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2010 performance is very slow when a page with ASP.NET controls is opened in DesignerSlow Design time to code switching in Visual Studio 2010 (with SP1)
Answers approved by DevExpress Support
Hello Matt:
Please accept my apologies for the unclear answer and let me describe the issue in detail.
The ASPxHtmlEditor requires time to render it. We have implemented different improvements which allow speeding up this process, but it still shows some delay when loading, since the ASPxHtmlEditor with all its forms and toolbars is quite complex. This delay isn't a big problem if you have one control on the page, but a great number of html editors may reduce the loading process significantly.
When you switch from source to design view in Visual Studio, it emulates this process in its internal browser. Note that the additional "show stopper" is that the ASPxHtmlEditor is a table-based control and IE renders tables quite slowly.
So, this problem is very hard to fix, but has many workarounds. The main idea is to reduce the count of html editors on the page or make its toolbars lighter. Use of a hidden UserControl which is shown on demand is one of these workarounds, but not the most optimal, I agree. Another solution is to wrap all these controls with the ASPxPageControl (each html editor should be shown on a separate page). Also, it may be possible to change the logic, so all html is edited in one control.
The second part of the idea is toolbar customization. Unless I am mistaken, you have already discussed this problem with our engineers and the corresponding request is already created:
Provide the capability to load toolbars on a callback and show them when the editor is focused
Your feedback is highly appreciated.
Thanks
Kate.
For what it's worth, this was causing huge pain this week with a large page that could not be made into a User Control as suggested because it was just a single FormLayout with many records.
My solution was to remove the "Apply Styles" window that I normally keep open with the Toolbox tab. Note: I had to restart VS as well afterwards to get the benefit.
Hello,
To process your recent post more efficiently, I created a separate ticket on your behalf: T203126: A page design time performance is slow if the page contains an ASPxFormLayout with numerous fields. This ticket is currently in our processing queue. Our team will address it as soon as we have any updates.
Hello Matt:
Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding.
We have tested your example and found the following. When you open the project and try to switch to the Design View, significant time is taken to update JS Intellisense. Unfortunately, VS does not alow you to disable this update. When this process is executed, switching between views becomes pretty fast. This problem is not related directly to DevExpress controls and depends on the fact that the aspx page contains a lot of javascript code.
A possible solution to this problem is to move all methods from client-side events to a separate JS file and include this file on the page.
Also, you can create a set of user controls which contain different parts of this page. This approach will allow speeding up the page in the Design mode.
Thanks
Kate.
Kate,
I removed all Javascript and the issue is still present. Attached is the updated project as well as a video demonstration of the issue. See video named: Slow_Design_view_in_VS_2010_with_SP1_and_DevExpress_Controls.swf and the Items.aspx sample file.
If I remove all HTML Editors performance is much better (see example video named: Faster_Design_view_performance_when_HTML_Editors_Removed, and the corresponding example page: ItemsNoHTMLEditors.aspx). Perhaps your HTML Editors are emitting massive amounts of Javascript to Visual Studio? If so how can I turn off DevExpress components so it does not emit all of that Javascript? There is around a 60% time savings by removing the 11 HTML Editors I had on the page.
Thanks,
Matt
Hello Matt:
I assume that you can wrap a set of HtmlEditors in a user control and put this user control on the main page. Please let me know if this solution does not help.
Thanks
Kate.
Nope, that wouldn't help me in this case, and wouldn't work well either as those controls need to interaction both on client side and server side with other controls on the page.
Also it doesn't get down to the root cause of the issue. Can you please investigate why such a speed increase is obtained when removing those 11 HTML Editors? Is it suboptimal devexpress code, or is it a problem with visual studio, or both? Please open a support case with Microsoft visual studio team if you believe it to be a problem with Visual Studio.
Thanks