Lost designer code if localized button image is changed in the control

Hi Sasha,

Thanks for you reply. I have read the same recommendation in the past and I have already turned off WinForms optimalizations longer time. So, it seems, that it doesn't help at this case.

I may be able to re-type the code, hopefully it will work next time, but I'm not sure and I don't like to do unnecessary work… That's why I'm asking to find a suitable permanent solution…

Best Regards,

Radim

It seems, that I have another issue related to the localizations and it's also really critical, because of I can't edit bigger part of the code. It's confusing, that the designer tries to use some older version of the assembly, which doesn't exist anywehere (I checked all the sources and also binaries for mentioned version and can't find anything).

I believe it happens after localization of the code (can't prove, but it seems as very possible).

HTML
 Could not load file or assembly 'Phobos.PhBox.PHB-005-Essentials.AreaDatabase, Version=18.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=df3c5f163ec62dc8' or one of its dependencies.  

Instances of this error (1)  

1.   Hide Call Stack  

at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly._nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)  
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.nLoad(AssemblyName fileName, String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly locationHint, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)  
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoadAssemblyName(AssemblyName assemblyRef, Evidence assemblySecurity, RuntimeAssembly reqAssembly, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean forIntrospection, Boolean suppressSecurityChecks)  
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, IntPtr pPrivHostBinder, Boolean forIntrospection)  
at System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly.InternalLoad(String assemblyString, Evidence assemblySecurity, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean forIntrospection)  
at System.Reflection.Assembly.Load(String assemblyString)  
at System.UnitySerializationHolder.GetRealObject(StreamingContext context)  
at System.Runtime.Serialization.ObjectManager.ResolveObjectReference(ObjectHolder holder)  
at System.Runtime.Serialization.ObjectManager.DoFixups()  
at System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.ObjectReader.Deserialize(HeaderHandler handler, __BinaryParser serParser, Boolean fCheck, Boolean isCrossAppDomain, IMethodCallMessage methodCallMessage)  
at System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter.Deserialize(Stream serializationStream, HeaderHandler handler, Boolean fCheck, Boolean isCrossAppDomain, IMethodCallMessage methodCallMessage)  
at System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter.Deserialize(Stream serializationStream)  
at System.Resources.ResXDataNode.GenerateObjectFromDataNodeInfo(DataNodeInfo dataNodeInfo, ITypeResolutionService typeResolver)  
at System.Resources.ResXDataNode.GetValue(ITypeResolutionService typeResolver)  
at System.Resources.ResXResourceReader.ParseDataNode(XmlTextReader reader, Boolean isMetaData)  
at System.Resources.ResXResourceReader.ParseXml(XmlTextReader reader)  

To the previous comment…

I can't identify, from which part of the code the Designer tries to load mentioned assembly. It seems, that this assembly in version 18.0.0.0 is not referenced from anywhere, as I siad, I can't find it anywhere on the disk, incl. binary files. It's strange for me and I think it happens after localization…

Hello Radim,

In newer versions of our components, we did our best to avoid most of the similar issues (see ButtonEdit - An image assigned to a button is lost when a form's language is changed to Default). Please consider updating your components.

As for your recent comment, I don't see any DevExpress methods in the call stack. The Phobos.PhBox.PHB-005-Essentials.AreaDatabase  assembly is not related to our components as well. Thus, it appears that the issue is not directly related to our components. Please check for a solution on common programming resources, such as Stack Overflow.

I also recommend that you review the How to localize a WinForms application Knowledge Base article. Its Important notes and known issues section describes some known Visual Studio issues and ways we found to resolve them.

Hi Sasha,

Thanks for your reply and suggestions. About the upgrade - it's neverending story in our company… I vote for upgrade, while co-workers not.

About the exception and not found assembly. I know, it's our assembly, which can't be found, but it's strange… I believe, it's related to localizations, although it can't be seen in the stack trace.

Originally I didn't have localized sources. Later I localized them. At this point, I don't know if it worked or not. So, next time I have changed the assembly versions (whole product). Current version is 19.0.0.0 and previous version was 18.0.0.0 (of all assemblies). It worked until I wanted to replace the icons with new ones. Then I was trying to open the control, but the designer throws the exception and told me something about unknown/unexisting assembly version 18.0.0.0. But if I was searching for the 18.0.0.0 string occurence I can't find it in the whole sources. I absolutely don't understand, where it could be referenced…

Therefore I think it is probably related to localizations, because of it was only one important thing I made (incl. version change). I know, that in RESX files are assemblies referenced, but I can't find it (18.0.0.0 reference). I am thinking, if maybe some BASE64 encoded data in RESX file can contain the reference… Or I don't know, but it's really strange for me.

Maybe I can modify the question - Is it possible, that there are some hidden reference in RESX file referencing mentioned (unexisting) assembly? Maybe if I revert to version 18.0.0.0 it works, but I can't do it… This the most strange for this case. I have found in the past similar issues, when unlocalized sources was working, but localized not. This is the reason, why I am still thinking about localization relations…

Best Regards,

Radim

Maybe about the exception in a few words… It is also totally incomprehensible to me how this assembly could be referenced because I can't find any reference to it in my sources…

Hello Radim,

Thank you for the clarification. As I mentioned before, the issue doesn't seem to be related to our components. I've found the Can not load file or assembly error in dubug but the assembly is not in any reference dirs thread where a similar issue was discussed. Please check if the solution from this thread helps.

If the problem still persists, please send us a compilable sample project where the issue is reproducible so that we can assist you with resolving it.

Hi Sasha,

I have identified piece of code, where the issue appears… As I anticipated, it is related to RESX files. And to BASE64 encoding. There are stored images in RESX files, BASE64 encoded and there is a reference to previous version of the assembly!!! For example:

HTML
AAEAAAD/////AQAAAAAAAAAEAQAAAB9TeXN0ZW0uVW5pdHlTZXJpYWxpemF0aW9uSG9sZGVyAwAAAARE  
YXRhCVVuaXR5VHlwZQxBc3NlbWJseU5hbWUBAAEIBgIAAAA3UGhvYm9zLlBoQm94LlBIQjAwNUVzc2Vu  
dGlhbHMuQXJlYURhdGFiYXNlLkJpYW5jb0ZvbGRlcgQAAAAGAwAAAHBQaG9ib3MuUGhCb3guUEhCLTAw  
NS1Fc3NlbnRpYWxzLkFyZWFEYXRhYmFzZSwgVmVyc2lvbj0xOC4wLjAuMCwgQ3VsdHVyZT1uZXV0cmFs  
LCBQdWJsaWNLZXlUb2tlbj1kZjNjNWYxNjNlYzYyZGM4Cw==  

If I decoded it, I have received following string (using some online service):

System.UnitySerializationHolderData UnityTypeAssemblyName7Phobos.PhBox.PHB005Essentials.AreaDatabase.BiancoFolderpPhobos.PhBox.PHB-005-Essentials.AreaDatabase, Version=18.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=df3c5f163ec62dc8

This is the real reason of mentioned (second) issue… I don't know, who is responsible for the encoding, but it's really malicious! It's absolutely unclear etc.

If you (DX) are responsible for it, please, change this behaviour, because of it may cause many troubles for developers… I am expecting now many similar issues in my sources and it sounds so bad for me… :-( It is difficult to fix it, because of you need manually remove all such encoded images and add it again with newer version.

Best Regards,

Radim

BTW I think it is indirectly related to the localizations, because of the type is localized in BASE64 encoded string (I think)… I am right in my opinion, that the issue is "something like" localization issue…

I am converting now it manually to the new version and it is really ugly. There should be some much better mechanims, how to do it…

Small correction: The stored data is not an image but a system type (System.Type). So, it's not so important for the issue…

Hello Radim,

I completely understand your concerns. According to your description, this problem is related to the standard localization mechanism provided by Visual Studio. The assembly name serialized in the Base64 string also has nothing to do with our components. We would be more than happy to research the issue on our side and assist you in resolving it, however, the information we have is insufficient to suggest any solution.
Would you please clarify what resource causes the issue and how you created it? Describe your steps in detail so we could try to reproduce the issue or share a project where the issue is reproducible so we could research it on our side.

Quickly…

If I remember, I have created component with ImageComboBox. Items were defined (manually?) as System.Type values. It was unlocalized. Later I localize it. Still no problem. Problem appeared, when I have changed assembly versions. Sytem.Type items were BASE64 encoded incl. the type version, which were not changed after the reversioning. Then if I try to open the control in the Designer, the code was lost (resp. error was announced).

BTW I think there should be some better mechanism, how to define other than primitive types for ImageComboBox items, incl. enum items. It's another task, but I mention it, becuase of it appears so often in my sources and every time it's difficult to me to define the values. Not speaking about the localization… It's idea for future feature…

Hello Radim,

Thank you for the clarification. It appears that I will need additional time to reproduce the issue. In the meantime, would you please clarify how you added Items to ImageComboBox? Did you modify the designer.cs file manually? Also clarify what the Phobos.PhBox.PHB-005-Essentials.AreaDatabase  assembly is. Is it correct that you populated ImageComboBox with items from this assembly?

As for providing the capability to add values of other types to ImageComboBox Items collection, we use the standard Object Editor dialog which provides simple types only. If you need to use custom objects, it's better to create them in code. For example, you can use the AddEnum method to populate ImageComboBox Items collection with enum values.

Hi Sasha,

There is my original code manually added to the designer file before localization:

C#
this.imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items.AddRange(new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem[] {  
            new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem("Area", typeof(Phobos.PhBox.PHB005Essentials.AreaDatabase.Area), 0),  
            new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem("Bianco folder", typeof(Phobos.PhBox.PHB005Essentials.AreaDatabase.BiancoFolder), 1),  
            new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem("Bianco box", typeof(Phobos.PhBox.PHB005Essentials.AreaDatabase.BiancoBox), 2)});  

After localization it looks like this:

C#
this.imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items.AddRange(new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem[] {  
            new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem(resources.GetString("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items"), ((object)(resources.GetObject("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items1"))), ((int)(resources.GetObject("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items2")))),  
            new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem(resources.GetString("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items3"), ((object)(resources.GetObject("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items4"))), ((int)(resources.GetObject("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items5")))),  
            new DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ImageComboBoxItem(resources.GetString("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items6"), ((object)(resources.GetObject("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items7"))), ((int)(resources.GetObject("imageComboBoxEditType.Properties.Items8"))))});  

Mentioned assembly is only "holder" of used types as ImageComboBox items. It can be any assembly.

I think now it's clear, how the issue appears, but it's horrible to fix it. And it appears any time I will change the version… :-(

Maybe I am able to omit this issue (I am thinking now), if I do not modify the designer file and use it in e.g. constructor, but I like to design the form using designer… Therefore I prefer to add enum values in the designer etc. I don't understand, for example, why enums can't be added from the designer… It's more clear for me.

Best Regards,

Radim

Hello Radim,

Thank you for the detailed description. I tried to reproduce the issue following your steps, however, it doesn't occur on my side. Please review the attached video that illustrates my steps. Have I missed anything? If yes, would you please try to reproduce the issue using my sample project and record a video that illustrates the correct steps?

Hi Sasha,

Yes, this is the behaviour causing my issue. I have recompiled your localized code (in VS 2015!) and I have recieved the same error, see attached screenshot. It appears, when you try to open the form.

Best Regards,

Radim