Test Explorer (VS) shows ''

Question

Everthing below is made in VS2019, using .NET Framework 4.7 and NUnit + NUnit3TestAdapter

I created an assembly called Exitus.Tests, and added a few unit tests. However, do to some issues with Nuget, that I could not solve, I made another project called Exitus.UnitTests and removed the once file I had in the old project (including changing the namespace).

Now the new test project showed op correctly in the explorer, but a "ghost" of the old project remained:

If I try to run the test, the output window shows the following error:

System.InvalidOperationException: The following TestContainer was not found 'C:\Users\xxx\Source\Repositories\Expire\Exitus.Tests\bin\Debug\Exitus.Tests.dll' at Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestWindow.Client.TestContainer.TestContainerProvider.d__46.MoveNext() --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown --- at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task) at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task) at Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestWindow.Controller.TestContainerConfigurationQueryByTestsBase.d__6.MoveNext() (...)

The stack trace is a lot longer, but the curious thing is the second line, stating that it could not find the test container at \Exitus.Tests\bin\Debug\Exitus.Tests.dll. This is the name of the old test project, which I removed and deleted. I have searched my entire project for the term Exitus.Tests and it returns no results.

Is there anyway to forcefully remove this 'ghost' project?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59545634/how-do-you-fix-specflow-unknown-project-issue-in-visual-studio — Hans Passant, Jan 02 '20 at 15:04

Peter Wretmo · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-20T09:42:58.870

386

Close Visual Studio.
Delete the *.testlog files in: solutionfolder\.vs\solution name\v16\TestStore\number.

edited Jan 20 '20 at 09:42

answered Dec 18 '19 at 13:22

Peter Wretmo

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After much feedback, I have decided to change this to the acceptet answer. I still used Alex B.'s answer, which works fine as long as you don have critical files in your git repository, which may not tracked. – Jakob Busk Sørensen Jan 02 '20 at 19:57
15

`.vs ` is a hidden directory. Make sure to set your file explorer to see hidden directories – citronas Jan 07 '20 at 13:45
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99% of visual studio errors are solved by removing magic hidden files in the .vs folder, or the windows temp / roaming / local folder. :C – filescraps Feb 14 '20 at 15:48
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I asked internally about this. Apparently the problem's fixed in 16.5. – Drew Noakes Feb 18 '20 at 22:06
I did not get it to work with this answer. I had to use Alex B's answer. – Jamie R Rytlewski Mar 09 '20 at 13:41
This seems to work after the first restart, but the project / tests reappear after restarting again. – Riaan van Zyl Mar 12 '20 at 08:41
this may be a bit over dramatic. but thank you jesus! – Dylan Hayes Jun 02 '20 at 19:29
I wonder how the discoverer found this solution for the very first time! – Mahdi Tahsildari Aug 06 '20 at 10:05

score 22 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 18 '19 at 12:51

22

I faced the same issue right now. A cleanup helped. As I had cleanup issues with VS in the last time (some DB-lock prevents a real cleanup to happen), my working cleanup was this way:

Close VS.
Git Bash in solution folder: git clean -xfd

Probably it helps.

answered Dec 18 '19 at 12:51

Alex B.

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That worked, thank you very much. It looks like your first post, if that is the case, I must say that it's once heck of an entrance to make :-) – Jakob Busk Sørensen Dec 18 '19 at 12:59
I saw the "Uknown Project" in the test explorer results a few times when I moved tests between test DLLs with the XUnit test runner. I found it was sufficient to delete the .vs folder which was in the same folder as my solution file. – Frank Schwieterman Dec 18 '19 at 13:13
I had the same problem again. The solution suggested by @pwretmo also worked for me, and is of course the better one, as it has less impact on the solution. The accepted answer should be changed. – Alex B. Dec 19 '19 at 14:20
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This answer will remove anything that isn't in source control, so if you don't check in things like launchSettings.json, you may want to use pwretmo's answer instead. – Sean Dec 20 '19 at 14:32
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@pwretmo answer is a safer and more direct answer to the specific problem. – snowcode Dec 23 '19 at 04:03
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The community has spoken. I have changed the accepted answer, to help others the best possible way. This answer was still fine for me, but I get the point that it can introduce certain risks. I am still very grateful for the help though :-). – Jakob Busk Sørensen Jan 02 '20 at 19:59

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 15 '20 at 19:50

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Neither of these solutions worked for me. I was able to get the test explorer working by closing visual studio and deleting the ".vs" folder. Then reopen the solution and let it rebuild it.

answered Apr 15 '20 at 19:50

N-ate

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 19 '20 at 07:23

According to the Visual Studio developer community (found by going to the Help menu and selecting Feedback), an update to Visual Studio to version 16.5.5 will resolve the issue. FYI: They released this in February 2020

I can confirm it works (I was on VS 16.4.6)

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 02 '20 at 07:42

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Steps as below

Close Visual Studio
Go to the project folder
Find the ".vs" folder. (Make sure you are also checking hidden item)
Delete ".vs" folder.
Good to go, Open visual studio, build and run project.

answered Jun 02 '20 at 07:42

Harshal

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Test Explorer (VS) shows ''

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