8.1.87.1147 service creation error

Hi,

We have a problem with the latest version of the SDK. We have 3 development machines, all on the latest version of SDK, Oxygene and Data Abstract and all now showing the same issue. The problem is that we cannot now create a straight forward server with a service. The behaviour is pretty much the same whether using Visual C# or Oxygene. This appears to have only started since upgrading from build 1143. As part of that update we updated to all the latest RemObjects versions - Oxygene, DA and SDK. One of the machines is also a very clean VM with nothing but VS 2012, DevExpress V14.1 and the latest RemObjects.

There is a screencast video showing the issue in both Visual C# and Oxygene :-

http://www.screencast.com/t/fJ2CcwK9Qgi5

Password is dataabstract

Help, advice and a fix greatly appreciatedā€¦

Paul

Hello

This looks like a some conflict between the RO SDK code generation and ome DevExpress component. Weā€™ll investigate the issue more and inform you via this thread.

Thanks Anton. Really appreciate you looking at this as itā€™s preventing any work on moving methods between services, creating new ones etcā€¦ If you need me to test anything out or provide further information, just let me knowā€¦

Paul.

I have just downloaded the latest DevExpress trial, installed it (VM is Win 8.1 x64 + VS 2012 with all updates) and tried to run the RO SDK ā€˜Convert to the serverā€™ again. Still the bug didnā€™t appear. The only difference I see is that I have installed the DevEx 14.2 trial, not 13.2+14.1 like on your video. Also have you installed the Update 4 pack into your Visual Studio ?

Could you please try the following:

  1. Add manually the references to the RO SDK assemblies
  2. Add RODL via ā€˜Add New Itemā€™
  3. Dbl-click on the RODL and see if the _Intf files are generated.

The workaround that exists is to open the Service Builder from the Windows Explorer, edit the RODL and then to manually copy the invoker and interface code from the Service Builder to VS. Yet this workaround requires way too much manual operations.

We are on VS 2012 Update 4 on 2 of the 3 machines showing the problem. The third is behind that level, but Iā€™m in the process of bringing it upto date and will see how it behaves once updated.

I have tried your 3 steps. The second step though, should that have been ā€œAdd Existing Itemā€ ? - and pick an existing RODL as I do not have any template options (that I can see) for creating a new RODL in that way. So assuming you meant use an existing one, I went through and edited the RODL, came out of it and the _Intf, InvK and _Impl files were created :-

However the problem is that there is no design surface for the _Impl file which I can use to drop components etc. That is the same problem as per the screencast I uploaded, only there I cannot view / edit the existing _Impl files.

If I try the same thing in using Visual C#, the result is different. There I get the files created, but the resulting _Impl file DOES have a design surface :-

This behaviour is different from the screencast I uploaded, where there was a COM error when creating RO service. However , one change I have made since that video was to reinstall the 1147 DA .NET server edition. That might seem to have cured the C# issue, but has left the Oxygene equivalent untouched.

Your last suggestion about the workaround I do not believe is relevant. As you can see in the screencast and from the above, the _Intf, _Invk and _Impl files are created with the relevant code, it is just there is no design surface to use for the _Impl, For an existing project that does have a design surface for an _Impl file, there is the error when trying to open it. The projects themselves do still build fine and I have tested the resulting EXEā€™s on separate deployment machines and the services in the server application are called without issue.

So, as I understand the issue that remains now is that you cannot open the service in designer mode when you use Oxygene? The Elements version you use is 8.0.81.1681 (taken from your video).
Could you check also if the designer pane fails to open when you do the following steps:

  1. Create a new Oxygene WinForm project
  2. Try to add a new item ā€˜Component Classā€™

Thanks in advance

Thanks, logged as bugs://71174

Elements version is 8.0.81.1681, and your quick check of adding a new component class works fine :-

So, yes, the problem is opening the service in designer mode. For existing services, although not every single one (90% though) :-

Given we donā€™t get design surfaces when creating from fresh though, I have to think that the two issues are related and that it is not just a problem in the pre-existing main project we are using.

Hi Anton,

Have you been able to find out anything more about this problem - do you need me to try anything further from my side ?

Paul.

Hello Paul,

We have reproduced the issue with designer component and logged it for further review. Thank you for the report.

Best regards.

Thank you Victoria.

Do you have any estimated time (days / weeks / months) for a fix as this is stopping us working in particular areas i.e. creating new services. We can continue developing within established services which gives us some leeway, but it is restricting.

Paul.

Hi,

Any chance of an update on this as it is causing real problems. It does not just affect the designer for services, but large numbers of existing forms as well.

Thanks,

Paul.

Hello Paul,

The issue is fixed. The fix will be available in the next beta.

Best regards.

bugs://71174 got closed with status fixed.

Thanks Viktoria, Can I ask when the next Beta will be available ? Also is it an Elements fix or DA ?

Hello,

The fix was in elements and the beta was released previous Thursday. You can use it for testing the issue.

Best regards.

Hi Victoria,

Iā€™ve just double checked, and Iā€™m not seeing an Elements beta download that is more recent than 19th Dec 2014 (build 1679) :-

Can you advise ?

HI,

Iā€™m still looking, waiting and hoping. If there is a beta available (as mentioned above two days ago) containing a fix for bug 71174 can you make it available today either publicly or via personal download ?

Paul.

Paul,

i figured out what the issue is. Weā€™re not building all the per-platform installers for each beta, and since youā€™re active subscription is .NET-only, youā€™re not seeing the all-platforms ones. Iā€™m uploading the latest beta your Personal Downloads page now. it should be there in 15 or 20 minutes, tops.

i apologize for the confusion.

ā€”marc

Thanks Marc. Iā€™ve picked up the beta and it does fix the problem for new service creation.

However, I do still have problems with my existing services (all bar a couple) where I continue to get the ā€œobject reference not set to an instance of an objectā€, Here is a screen dump of a call stack for such an error :-

The problem also occurs on existing forms, sometimes intermittently (i.e. a restart of VS will clear it) and sometimes the problems seems permanent i.e. there are screens I simply canā€™t work on at the moment.

So Iā€™m still hoping we can make some progress on these errors ?

Paul.