Visual Studio .NET cannot open .vcproj files when some configuration settings are wrapped in quotation marks (329412)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (2002)
This article was previously published under Q329412

SYMPTOMS

When you try to open a Visual C++ .NET project, you receive the following error message:
Project <.vcproj pathname> failed to open.
where <.vcproj pathname> is the path of the .vcproj file for the Visual C++ .NET project.

CAUSE

The path in the Output Directory property in the Property Pages is wrapped in quotation marks (""). However, the IDE wraps the path with an additional pair of quotation marks when it saves the settings back to the .vcproj file. In addition to the Output Directory property, the Intermediate Directory property, and the Extensions to Delete on Clean property show the same behavior.

RESOLUTION

The settings for OutputDirectory, IntermediateDirectory, and DeleteExtensionsOnClean are stored in the .vcproj file. This is an XML file that you can open with Notepad, or with any other text editor. To correct the configuration setting strings, follow these steps:
  1. In Notepad, or a text editor of your choice, open the .vcproj file.
  2. Find the attributes for OutputDirectory, IntermediateDirectory, and DeleteExtensionsOnClean in the Configuration section.
  3. Remove the extra quotation marks around the attributes of OutputDirectory, IntermediateDirectory and DeleteExtensionsOnClean.
  4. Save the file, and then close Notepad.

Note If there are multiple configuration sections in your .vcproj file, remove the extra quotation marks from the attributes from all the sections.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (2003).

MORE INFORMATION


Steps to Reproduce the Behavior

  1. In Visual Studio .NET, create a new Visual C++ Win32 project.
  2. In Solution Explorer, right-click your project, and then click Properties.
  3. Click Configuration Properties, and then click General.
  4. In the Output Directory list box, click <Edit...>.
  5. In the Output Directory dialog box, type a path string with quotation marks. For example: "C:\temp".
  6. Save and close the solution.
  7. Open the solution, and notice that you receive the error message that is described in the Symptoms section.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/12/2006
Keywords:kbfix kbide kberrmsg kbbug kbpending KB329412 kbAudDeveloper
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