'the type or namespace could not be found' in Visual Studio 2017

Question

Every time I do a git pull from remote to update my branch, Visual Studio 2017 shows "the type or namespace could not be found" error in many files as I open them. Interestingly I don't see the problem in Visual Studio 2015 for the same projects/repo. The software builds fine in both versions of Visual Studio so it is a false error. Doing a Clean or Rebuild doesn't fix the problem. I end up re-cloning the repo from remote and then Visual Studio 2017 is happy. Any one knows how to fix this annoying problem?

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 18 '17 at 22:19

7

The problem is the package-restore. If it fails, you get the issue. You can try to unload and reload the projects, but I also still haven't found a way to avoid it.

answered Oct 18 '17 at 22:19

Nikolaus

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I've unloaded and reloaded all projects, but I still got this message. I can build solution, but Intelli sense is not working for imported namespaces. – FrenkyB May 20 '19 at 22:46
@FrenkyB Then try Marco Pavic‘s solution. – Nikolaus May 21 '19 at 04:24
This is still happening, and this solution didn't work for me. – VariableSquid Feb 27 '22 at 11:25
@VariableSquid Did you try any of the other solutions? – Nikolaus Mar 01 '22 at 10:06
@Nikolaus Yes, it was to do with making a x64 only solution. I now have a development build for editing the forms, and another one for a 64 bit only build. Not the best. I found the solution here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15835360/c-sharp-winforms-designer-wont-open-because-it-cannot-find-type-in-same-assembl – VariableSquid Mar 01 '22 at 15:03

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 27 '18 at 14:45

6

Unloading and reloading the project did not work work me.

Instead, I delete the hidden .suo file inside the project directory and everything started working again. The path is:

(project name) \ .vs \ (project name) \ v15 \ .suo

answered Sep 27 '18 at 14:45

Marko Pavic

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I've also did this and it's not working. Which version of visual studio are you using? – FrenkyB May 21 '19 at 04:45
I'm using VS 2017 – Marko Pavic May 23 '19 at 15:24

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 06 '18 at 10:40

2

In my case I had csproj.user file that I've removed and then reloaded the project.

answered Nov 06 '18 at 10:40

Anastasiya Mazheika

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 19 '21 at 00:15

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This issue occurred in VS 2019 while participating in a C# Essential Training course. My solution is:

Save the entire project
Close project
Open project

answered Apr 19 '21 at 00:15

LawrenceC

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'the type or namespace could not be found' in Visual Studio 2017

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