SYMPTOMS

When working in Visual Studio Html Designer with web forms which contain smartDBforms.NET controls, the smartDBforms.NET controls could stop rendering in design mode. The following error text appears on the place of the controls: Error creating control - '[text]' could not be set on property '[propertyname]' The following screenshot illustrates the problem: This error can appear in the following cases:

1. If you have previously opened some of the smartDBforms.NET forms in Visual Studio design time and if you later update with copy/paste the Adillis.SmartDBForms.dll library while Visual Studio is running , then when you open a new smartDBforms.NET in design time it will fail to render with the above error
2. If you have a solution with several projects and web sites, which contain smartDBforms.NET forms. In this case only the first smartDBforms.NET form which you open and the forms in its own project/website will work. The other smartDBforms.NET which are located in the other projects/websites will fail to render with the above error.

CAUSE

This problem is caused by a dll caching problem in Visual Studio. The first time a dll is loaded Visual Studio caches it and later tries to use it erroneously, even though this dll was updated with another version,  or a .dll from another project/website should be used.

RESOLUTION

The problem is resolved by applying a hotfix for Visual Studio 2008 SP1. In order to download the hotfix see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

KB 961847 - FIX: Error message when you view a page in design mode after you recompile a .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1-based project: "Error creating control – 'ControlInstanceName [text]' could not be set on property 'PropertyName'"

For more detailed explanation of the problem see "Error creating control - [text] could not be set on property" with custom ASP.NET server controls in VS 2008 SP1

APPLIES TO

• Visual Studio 2005/2008