Okay...I'm going nuts about this and don't know why this is happening. Why is "Generation of designer file failed"?

I've a regular ASP.Net C# web application project in Visual Studio 2008. I've one master page under folder called "Master". When I add a new Content ASPX page using this master page (the master page has absolutely nothing in it except the default HTML tags and a form) and save the content page, it gives the following:

This is driving me nuts. :(

I have already performed the following operations but nothing has helped:

• Deleted the webform1.designer.cs file and right click on the .aspx  and select "Convert to Web Application". Upon doing this, it gives the same dialog as above.
• Tried devnev.exe /resetsettings with no luck.
• Checked the permission on the folder, I've full permission.
• Tried creating an aspx page without Master page and it works FINE. i.e I don't get the dialog above.

So, I have concluded (without any resolution) that this has something to do with the Master page. I don't know what's wrong.

Is there anybody else facing the similar issue?

Update (12/27/07 1pm EST):

Once you get the error above, it won't go away from the Error List unless you close the Studio and reopen the project. Nuts, really!

7 Comments

• Joe Chung said Thursday, December 27, 2007 1:32:55 PM

  Does the problem go away if you change the name of your "Master" folder to something else?

• rachitp said Thursday, December 27, 2007 1:56:03 PM

  Thanks Joe for your suggestion. No, it doesn't work. I wish it were that simple. :) My solution has two projects: (1) C# Class library (2) web site application project. I tried different way to generate .aspx file (with Master page of course) but it didn't work. Next thing I'll try to see if there something in web.config that's causing this.

• Rainer said Thursday, December 27, 2007 2:07:10 PM

  The actions that you need to take are: 1. Relax - don't think about rolling back YET 2. Import the following registry file REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\WebApplicationProjects\Debug] "LogFile"="C:\\logfile.txt" "Enabled"=dword:00000001 "LogFieldGeneratorFailures"=dword:00000001 3. Reproduce the problem 4. Examine the log file under "c:\logfile.txt" 5. Try fixing yourself (could be very easy)

• rachitp said Thursday, December 27, 2007 2:51:57 PM

  Rainer, Thanks, I'm relaxed, now. ;) I believe you meant \9.0 instead of \8.0 in the registry addition as we are talking about VS2008. Anyways, I tried with both and although I reproduced the problem, it didn't create any logfile. So, I'm still stuck!

• Edmund said Wednesday, June 11, 2008 4:08:18 AM

  I get a similar cryptic "Generation of designer file failed" when doing a "Convert to Web Application". It is a totaly different scenario, but the only way to get rid of it is to quit and restart VS2008. It then converts successfully.
  Have you determined a way to get some more info about why the conversion fails?
  Edmund
  

• Rachit said Wednesday, June 11, 2008 6:31:19 AM

  Edmund, I reinstalled the VS.Net 2008 and it solved the issue. Having said that, it's not the solution but I found that reinstalling was a better choice at that time. Your mileage may vary. Post the comment here if you find the real solution. It'll help others. Thanks

• Jason said Wednesday, July 9, 2008 9:56:24 AM

  Make sure you don't have a compile error. I was missing a register directive for a custom control that I was using in my aspx page. Once I added that, I was able to regen the designer class file by converting to a web application.