Package Load Failure Microsoft.VisualStudio.Xaml

Few days ago all of the sudden VisualSudio 2008 popped out this error message "Package Load Failure Microsoft.VisualStudio.Xaml blah blah yes/no" I didn't pay much attention to it (because it was yes/no message box and in that case i always click yes :)) After that Visual Studio didn't load 2 of 5 C# projects in my solution complaining that project type is not supported by current installation. Of course i was baffled because I din't connect error message to this problem right away. Apparently by clicking Yes I've disabled Visual Studio package (because it failed to load obviously). OK, no problem devenv /reset will fix this right? Wrong! Visual Studio tries to load Microsoft.VisualStudio.Xaml but fails for no apparent reason. I've googled up bunch of "fixes" for this problem but none of devenv switches or even Visual Studio Repair works. So this is what worked for me:

Uninstall Visual Studio
Install Visual Studio
Apply Visual Studio SP1

I hope this helps.

Cheers!

Did you hear?

Visual Studio 2010 CTP is out!!! Can't wait to check it out!

My fist Open Source Project - OfficePackage

Today I've started my first Open Source project!!! The project is called OfficePackage and it can be found here http://www.codeplex.com/OfficePackage It's my project exactly, it's based on ExcelPackage. OfficePackage goal is to create a library for creating/editing OOXML (aka Office 2007) documents from .NET. At his point OfficePackage has limited implementation of creating/editing Excel 2007 documents. Anyone willing to contribute please drop me an email. Cheers!

Another LINQ bug: DataContext.GetCommand throws InvalidCastException

Today I've found yet another LINQ bug :( Couldn't find solution on google so I've submitted bug to Microsoft. Bug report can be found here. Waiting for reply from MS...

Frustrating .NET Framework SP1 Bootstrapper Issue

If you'll try to bootstrap your project with .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 you'll get the following error:

error MSB3152: The install location for prerequisites has not been set to 'component vendor's web site' and the file 'DotNetFX35SP1\dotNetFX20 aspnet.msp ' in item '.NET Framework 3.5 SP1' can not be located on disk. See Help for more information.

This because MS guys forgot to make correct bootstrapper package. Solution is posted here

And the solution itself:

Update the Package Data

1. Open the [Program Files]\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages\DotNetFx35SP1 folder or %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages\DotNetFx35SP1 on x64 operating systems
2. Edit the Product.xml file in Notepad.
3. Paste the following into the < PackageFiles > element:
< PackageFile Name="TOOLS\clwireg.exe" />
< PackageFile Name="TOOLS\clwireg_x64.exe" />
< PackageFile Name="TOOLS\clwireg_ia64.exe" />


Download and Extract the Core Installation Files

1. Navigate to the following URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkID=118080
2. Download the dotNetFx35.exe file to your local disk.
3. Open a Command Prompt window and change to the directory to which you downloaded dotNetFx35.exe.
4. At the command prompt, type:
dotNetFx35.exe /x:.
This will extract the Framework files to a folder named “WCU” in the current directory.
5. Copy the contents of the WCU\dotNetFramework folder and paste them in the %Program Files%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages\DotNetFx35SP1 folder (%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages\DotNetFx35SP1 on x64 operating systems). Note: Do not copy the WCU\dotNetFramework folder itself. There should be 5 folders under the WCU folder, and each of these should now appear in the DotNetFx35SP1 folder. The folder structure should resemble the following:
o DotNetFx35SP1 (folder)
* dotNetFX20 (folder
* dotNetFX30 (folder)
* dotNetFX35 (folder)
* dotNetMSP (folder)
* TOOLS folder)
* en (or some other localized folder)
* dotNetFx35setup.exe (file)

You may now delete the files and folders you downloaded and extracted in steps 2 and 4.

Solution to -2147467259: failed to create SQL database

This one haunted my for weeks! I'm using WIX 3.0 as my app installer. During install i create a SQL database and run a SQL script. Everything seemed but on computers SQL Express database creation failed with

-2147467259: failed to create SQL database

After days of hacking I finally found the solution! All you need to do is use .\sqlexpress instead of localhost\sqlexpress or 127.0.0.1\sqlexpress in your connection string. I think (and I might be terribly wrong here) when you use .\sqlexpress in connection string installer uses Shared Memory instead of Named Pipes or TCP/IP.

Binging to User Settings in WPF

Recently I've been having this programming issue. I need to solve programming problems that I've solved before, but i just can't remember how exactly i did it. This irritates the hell out of me. So what i try to do is trace back my steps, try to remember keywords that I've used to find solution the first time. Google Web History helps sometimes, but this is definitely wrong way to go about it. So i figured I'll just blog solutions to my programming problems and then everybody will be happy :). The next time I need to refresh my memory I'll just have to check my blog. Haha! Perfect!

Okay so on to today's issue, this is an easy one. WPF Binding to User Settings. Just set Binding Source to x:Static Properties:Settings.Default and binding path to settings name like this: