How to reference System.Design

@jnm2 commented on Thu Sep 13 2018

When converting the project to netcoreapp3.0 and keeping the System.Design reference, the compiler doesn’t seem to see the reference:

CS0012 The type ‘ComponentDesigner’ is defined in an assembly that is not referenced. You must add a reference to assembly ‘System.Design, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a’

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.0</TargetFramework>
    <!-- ... -->
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="System.Design" />
    <!-- ... -->
    <FrameworkReference Include="Microsoft.DesktopUI" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

How will this work in the future?

(edit) This gets it to build:

    <Reference Include="System.Design" HintPath="C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\System.Design.dll" />

But since System.Design is heavily used at runtime, I’m doubtful that the .NET Framework’s System.Design will work.

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@OliaG commented on Mon Sep 17 2018

Hi Joseph, Thanks for reaching out! The types you mentioned are not added in Core 3.0, we are still finalizing the list of the APIs for Core 3.0, so we’d like to know more about your scenarios. Could you tell us how you are using these types in your app?

Also if you haven’t done it yet, I would suggest running Portability Analyzer that will show all APIs in your app that are not yet included in .NET Core 3.0.

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@jnm2 commented on Tue Sep 18 2018

Hi Olia,

Our applications depend on DevExpress’s End User Report Designer (docs). DevExpress built it on top of the System.ComponentModel/IDesignerHost/CodeDOM set of abstractions, very much like the Windows Forms designer itself.

This designer ships for our users at runtime (as the name suggests). We’ve written custom reporting elements that integrate with it. Since DevExpress based the designer heavily on System.Design, our integrations with the report designer are also tied to System.Design. We’re hoping that this doesn’t keep us from moving to .NET Core.

In this report, see especially DevExpress.XtraReports.v17.2.Extensions.dll which houses their End User Report Designer: Portability report for DevExpress dependencies.xlsx

That’s what DevExpress’s code needs. Our code, which merely integrates with DevExpress’s report designer, ends up directly using these types:

T:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.CollectionForm
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItem
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItemCollection
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionListCollection
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionMethodItem
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionPropertyItem
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionTextItem
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIService
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeEventArgs
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeEventHandler
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeType
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.MultilineStringEditor
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializer
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializerBase
T:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerSerializationManager
T:System.Drawing.Design.IToolboxService
T:System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem
T:System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItemCollection
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.AnchorEditor
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.Behavior
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.BehaviorService
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.ControlBodyGlyph
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.GlyphSelectionType
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ScrollableControlDesigner
T:System.Windows.Forms.Design.SelectionRules

And these members:

M:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.#ctor(System.Type)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.CollectionForm.#ctor(System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.CollectionForm.OnEditValueChanged
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.CollectionForm.get_Items
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.CollectionForm.set_Items(System.Object[])
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor.get_Context
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.#ctor
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.GetService(System.Type)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.InitializeNewComponent(System.Collections.IDictionary)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.PostFilterAttributes(System.Collections.IDictionary)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.PostFilterProperties(System.Collections.IDictionary)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.get_Component
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner.get_Verbs
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItemCollection.#ctor
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItemCollection.Add(System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItem)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList.#ctor(System.ComponentModel.IComponent)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList.GetService(System.Type)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList.get_Component
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList.set_AutoShow(System.Boolean)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionListCollection.#ctor(System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList[])
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionListCollection.Insert(System.Int32,System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionListCollection.get_Item(System.Int32)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionMethodItem.#ctor(System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList,System.String,System.String)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionMethodItem.#ctor(System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList,System.String,System.String,System.String)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionPropertyItem.#ctor(System.String,System.String)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionTextItem.#ctor(System.String,System.String)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIService.HideUI(System.ComponentModel.IComponent)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIService.Refresh(System.ComponentModel.IComponent)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIService.ShowUI(System.ComponentModel.IComponent)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIService.add_DesignerActionUIStateChange(System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeEventHandler)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIService.remove_DesignerActionUIStateChange(System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeEventHandler)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeEventArgs.get_ChangeType
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionUIStateChangeEventHandler.#ctor(System.Object,System.IntPtr)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializer.#ctor
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializer.Deserialize(System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.IDesignerSerializationManager,System.Object)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializer.Serialize(System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.IDesignerSerializationManager,System.Object)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializerBase.DeserializeExpression(System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.IDesignerSerializationManager,System.String,System.CodeDom.CodeExpression)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializerBase.GetExpression(System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.IDesignerSerializationManager,System.Object)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializerBase.SerializeToExpression(System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.IDesignerSerializationManager,System.Object)
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerSerializationManager.#ctor
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerSerializationManager.CreateSession
M:System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerSerializationManager.get_Errors
M:System.Drawing.Design.IToolboxService.AddToolboxItem(System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem)
M:System.Drawing.Design.IToolboxService.GetToolboxItems
M:System.Drawing.Design.IToolboxService.RemoveToolboxItem(System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem)
M:System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem.get_TypeName
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.AnchorEditor.#ctor
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.Behavior.#ctor(System.Boolean,System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.BehaviorService)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.Behavior.FindCommand(System.ComponentModel.Design.CommandID)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.BehaviorService.GetNextBehavior(System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.Behavior)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.BehaviorService.PopBehavior(System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.Behavior)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.BehaviorService.PushBehavior(System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.Behavior)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.BehaviorService.get_CurrentBehavior
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.Behavior.ControlBodyGlyph.#ctor(System.Drawing.Rectangle,System.Windows.Forms.Cursor,System.ComponentModel.IComponent,System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.#ctor
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.OnDragDrop(System.Windows.Forms.DragEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.OnDragEnter(System.Windows.Forms.DragEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.OnDragLeave(System.EventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.OnDragOver(System.Windows.Forms.DragEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.OnGiveFeedback(System.Windows.Forms.GiveFeedbackEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.OnSetCursor
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.get_Control
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.get_ParticipatesWithSnapLines
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.get_SelectionRules
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner.set_AutoResizeHandles(System.Boolean)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.#ctor
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.Dispose(System.Boolean)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.Initialize(System.ComponentModel.IComponent)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.InitializeNewComponent(System.Collections.IDictionary)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.OnDragDrop(System.Windows.Forms.DragEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.OnDragEnter(System.Windows.Forms.DragEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.OnDragLeave(System.EventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.OnDragOver(System.Windows.Forms.DragEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner.OnPaintAdornments(System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs)
M:System.Windows.Forms.Design.ScrollableControlDesigner.#ctor

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@OliaG commented on Tue Sep 18 2018

Thank you, Joseph! I’ll get our engineers to look at it and follow up with you.

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@filipnavara commented on Tue Sep 18 2018

We have similar dependencies for our custom WinForms controls too. The missing API set is nearly identical. In our case they are design-time only and we have a build option to strip them out of release builds, so we are still able to run our application on .NET Core 3 alpha today (with some additional fixes discussed in the CoreFX repository issues).

I suspect this will come up quite often and it has to be addressed in one way or another. I was hoping that this will eventually come later when the WinForms design-time support is brought in later preview. I’m taking a wait-and-see approach on this one, but wanted to express some support that the scenario is probably common.

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@OliaG commented on Tue Sep 18 2018

Thank you Filip! @Tanya-Solyanik

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@lextm commented on Thu Dec 06 2018

I think <Reference Include="System.Design" /> should not work by design. There is no GAC for .NET Core, so there is no place to resolve such assemblies.

Ideally such should come in Windows Compatibility Pack for .NET Core, or Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App.

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@jnm2 commented on Thu Dec 06 2018

@lextm I was thinking System.Design should be part of <FrameworkReference Include="Microsoft.DesktopUI" />.

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@damageboy commented on Sat Dec 08 2018

Same here… Trying to test our WinForms stuff in .NET Core 3.0 and hitting up on these missing APIs as part of property-grid related runtime support.

In my case the missing types are:

• CollectionEditor
• ObjectSelectorEditor

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@dreddy-work commented on Sat Dec 08 2018

We will be taking a look at porting these editors soon.

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@livarcocc commented on Sun Dec 09 2018

@dreddy-work should we move this issue to dotnet/winforms?

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@dreddy-work commented on Sun Dec 09 2018

@livarcocc , yes please. we will be looking into these coming week.

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@damageboy commented on Sun Dec 09 2018

Just to be completely clear. My current issue is simply compiling custom property grid editors that inherit from the said *Editor base classes as I have a property grid that presents custom editors @ runtime (not at design time).

This is not a VS designer issue, at least as far as I am concerned…

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@dreddy-work commented on Sun Dec 09 2018

@damageboy , I understand. When we were porting editors to netcore, our analysis was, the above said editors will be used mostly at the design time and hence prioritized that way. Now that we see runtime usage for these editors, we are discussing to port these editors to net core in the coming weeks.

[wjk]

Is there any reason why the Windows Forms designer hosting code is intended to remain usable on .NET Framework only? This seems to me like a strange decision. Even though VS is the main consumer of the designer hosting classes, and VS must remain on Framework for compatibility reasons, it is entirely possible for other projects to want to host a Forms designer.

Furthermore, I know of one project (AeroWizard) that includes extensive custom designer integration that references these classes. Would the lack of usable designer classes result in a NotImplementedException being thrown at runtime?

[jnm2]

Just to clarify, more types than just CollectionEditor and ObjectSelectorEditor are needed at runtime by our customers. Types such as DesignerActionList (full list) are also used by our customers at runtime because we integrate with DevExpress’s end user report designer.