'.ctor' is not a valid identifier .net 2005 Designer Problem

Question

 

I am frequently facing this problem in Visual Studio 2005 Designer.

i have searched all files of my project, '.ctor' is mentioned nowhere

	One or more errors encountered while loading the designer. The errors are listed below. Some errors can be fixed by rebuilding your project, while others may require code changes.
'.ctor' is not a valid identifier. Hide
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Design.Serialization.CodeDom.CodeDomEventBindingService.ValidateMethodName(String methodName) at System.ComponentModel.Design.EventBindingService.EventPropertyDescriptor.SetValue(Object component, Object value) at System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializerBase.DeserializeAttachEventStatement(IDesignerSerializationManager manager, CodeAttachEventStatement statement) at System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomSerializerBase.DeserializeStatement(IDesignerSerializationManager manager, CodeStatement statement)

Answer 1

Has anybody found the resolution to this problem?  I'm getting the exact same error in VS 2010.

Answer 2

Are you using VB.Net ?

if so, you probably have a method (Sub or Function) which has the same name as the enclosing class.
This error is recognized and reported by c# compiler, but not by VB compiler.

ctor is a constructor, declared in VB. as 

Sub New()
   ' ...
End Sub

Regards,
Vladimir

Answer 3

Yes, I'm using VB.NET.  (Visual Studio 2010 Version 10.0.30319.1 RTMRel)

Would you know how I can find the problem & fix it? 

I've done a search for .ctor for the "Entire Solution" but it doesn't find anything.

Answer 4

Let's say your form (the one that can not be opened in designer) is called FormMain. Close the designer if it's opened.

Open FormMain.vb file and look for a procedure or function that has the same name - FormMain
(search the file by the class name) ... something like :

 

Private sub FormMain()
 ' ...
End Sub

 

Rename that procedure, anything else ... Private Sub FormMain_SomethingSomething()   :)

Rebuild project, open the form in designer.

Answer 5

That did the trick!  Thank you very much!

Answer 6

Thanks worked for me too! Awesome!