Form and designer files not linking in Solution Explorer

Question

I can't seem to get the form and the designer files to link in my project. They look like this in the Solution Explorer.

enter image description here

I have excluded the files from the project and then tried including them back in the project, but this didn't work. Below is the designer code and a snippet of the forms code in case there is something in there.

public partial class FormPrompt
{
  private Button ButtonOk;
  private Container Components;
  private Label LabelPleaseEnter;
  private Label LabelPrompt;
  private TextBox TextBoxData;

  private void InitializeComponent()
  {
    this.LabelPleaseEnter = new Label();
    this.LabelPrompt = new Label();
    this.TextBoxData = new TextBox();
    this.ButtonOk = new Button();
    this.LabelPleaseEnter.Location = new Point(8, 0x58);
    this.LabelPleaseEnter.Size = new Size(0x48, 0x10);
    this.LabelPleaseEnter.Text = "Please enter";
    this.LabelPrompt.Location = new Point(80, 0x58);
    this.LabelPrompt.Size = new Size(0x98, 0x10);
    this.LabelPrompt.Text = "LabelPrompt";
    this.TextBoxData.Location = new Point(8, 0x80);
    this.TextBoxData.Size = new Size(0xe0, 20);
    this.TextBoxData.Text = "TextBoxData";
    this.TextBoxData.KeyDown += new KeyEventHandler(this.FormPrompt_KeyDown);
    this.ButtonOk.Location = new Point(8, 0x100);
    this.ButtonOk.Size = new Size(0xe0, 0x38);
    this.ButtonOk.Text = "Ok";
    this.ButtonOk.Click += new EventHandler(this.ButtonOk_Click);
    base.ClientSize = new Size(240, 0x13e);
    base.Controls.Add(this.TextBoxData);
    base.Controls.Add(this.ButtonOk);
    base.Controls.Add(this.LabelPrompt);
    base.Controls.Add(this.LabelPleaseEnter);
    this.Text = "WinForm";
    base.KeyDown += new KeyEventHandler(this.FormPrompt_KeyDown);
  }
}    


public partial class FormPrompt : Form
{

  internal DateTime FDateData;
  internal DateTimePicker FDatePicker;
  internal decimal FDecimalData;
  internal int FIntData;
  internal TPromptType FPromptType;
  internal string FStringData;


  public FormPrompt()
  {
    this.InitializeComponent();
    this.FDatePicker = new DateTimePicker();
    this.FDatePicker.Top = this.TextBoxData.Top;
    this.FDatePicker.Left = this.TextBoxData.Left;
    this.FDatePicker.Width = this.TextBoxData.Width;
    this.FDatePicker.Height = this.TextBoxData.Height;
    this.FDatePicker.Format = DateTimePickerFormat.Short;
    base.Controls.Add(this.FDatePicker);
  }
}

Have you checked the namespaces in both files? – bubbinator Mar 24 '14 at 02:16 — bubbinator, Mar 24 '14 at 02:16
@bubbinator namespaces are the same in both files. – energ1ser Mar 24 '14 at 02:19 — energ1ser, Mar 24 '14 at 02:19

score 29 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 24 '14 at 02:31

29

I've seen the same problem in Visual Studio 2008. Usually after compiling or closing and re-opening the solution the problem would fix itself. In Visual Studio 2012 I know that I have problems if I try to Add > Existing Item and choose all three files. Typically you only want to add the top level form.cs and VS will automatically include the .designer.cs and .resx files.

answered Mar 24 '14 at 02:31

CtrlDot

3,102
3
25
32

5

The second part about just adding the form.cs worked really nicely, thanks. – energ1ser Mar 24 '14 at 03:27
Had this problem in VS 2015. I found that the .designer.cs and .resx files did not associate when I added the form .cs file at the same time as other, unrelated .cs files. In order to get it to work, I had to add *only* the form .cs file from the existing files dialogue. – Aug 30 '17 at 15:55
Agree with energ1ser. Adding form only worked! Thanks muchly – Gus Aug 18 '19 at 16:58

score 26 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 24 '14 at 02:31

26

Check the project (.csproj) file.

Inside the ItemGroup node, see if the .designer file is associated with the code-behind file. The XML should look something like this:

<Compile Include="FormPrompt.cs">
    <SubType>Form</SubType>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="FormPrompt.Designer.cs">
    <DependentUpon>FormPrompt.cs</DependentUpon>
</Compile>

answered Mar 24 '14 at 02:31

Grant Winney

65,241
13
115
165

1

The accepted answer did not do the trick for me. This one worked perfectly. – Umair Sep 09 '21 at 07:30
1

Works for VB too. `Form` went missing from every form in the `.vbproj` file for some reason. As a test I added it to just the first form in the list and VS picked it up and now all the forms open in designer again.. – ourmandave Feb 22 '22 at 16:09

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 14 '19 at 11:01

Check the project (.csproj)

<EmbeddedResource Include="Properties\Resources.resx">
  <Generator>ResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator> Check this
  <SubType>Designer</SubType>
  <LastGenOutput>Resources.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
</EmbeddedResource>

<Compile Include="Properties\Resources.Designer.cs">
  <AutoGen>True</AutoGen> And Check this
  <DesignTime>True</DesignTime>
  <DependentUpon>Resources.resx</DependentUpon>
</Compile>

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 07 '17 at 01:57

0

In VS2017 (c#) to solve it, in my case:

exclude all file
go to folder
rename file (all 3 file .cs.Designer.cs .resx)
refresh solution
add to project back

answered Sep 07 '17 at 01:57

andmattia

357
6
22

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 05 '19 at 12:23

0

include the .resx file into the project and in the properties of this file set Custom Tool as ResXFileCodeGenerator

answered Mar 05 '19 at 12:23

Andrea Ramirez

1

Form and designer files not linking in Solution Explorer

5 Answers5

Linked