Web Test Recorder pane not functioning when recording a web test

Question

Hello,

 

I'm running into a problem trying to record a webtest:

 

  - In VS2008, when I select "Test->New Test" and then "Web Test", the browser is displayed but the Web Test Recorder pane is not displayed in the browser. I select "View->Explorer Bar->Web Test Recorder 9.0" from the browser menu to display the Web Test Recorder pane, however no URLs are logged in the pane. When I try to click "Stop" in the Web Test Recorder pane, the following error is displayed:

 

"Unable to load DLL 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll': The specified module could not be found"

 

I was able to record web tests for the first week or so after install VS2008, but the error above started occuring today.

 

I've tried uninstalling VS2008 and re-installing but I'm still having the same problem. Also, I have VS2008 installed on a 2nd machine that shares a network drive (for my projects) with the machine above and it is also having the same problem.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,
  Sean

Answer 1

Sean7788 wrote:

Recorder pane, the following error is displayed:   "Unable to load DLL 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll': The specified module could not be found"   I was able to record web tests for the first week or so after install VS2008, but the error above started occuring today.

 

Can you remember what happened to the environment between it working and not working?

 

Answer 2

I haven't made any changes on my main machine where I first saw the problem. However on my 2nd machine I was running into problems installing VS2008 so I uninstalled all of the .NET framework versions on the machine and re-installed VS2008. Now both machines have the "missing DLL" problem.

 

They share a network drive where my projects are stored so I don't know if uninstalling the .NET framework on my 2nd machine somehow affected the configuration on my main machine.

 

Thanks.

Answer 3

Can you check to see if Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll is in the GAC? Please also search the registry to find refrences to this DLL, IE finds it through COM registration

 

Answer 4

 

Andy - I'm not sure what "GAC" is could you please explain? The DLL does exist in this directory:

 

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE

 

I'll also check the registry to see if it's defined there.

 

Thanks.

Answer 5

Ok, I checked the registry and the DLL is defined in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT->AppID->QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll

 

Answer 6

OK, hopefully we will not need to check the GAC anyway.

 

Can you do the following...

 

In IE (are you using IE7 or IE6?) go to Manage Add-Ons

 

Look for "Microsoft Web Test Recorder 9.0 Helper", make sure it is there and enabled, if it is disabled, enable it and try again.

 

If it is not there it is possible that some anti-spyware package has removed it.

 

If the entry is there, and enabled, you will need to use regedit.

 

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects

 

Take a look, you should find this entry:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{E31CE47F-C268-41ba-897B-B415E613947D}

 

(if it is not there, perform the following procedure for each entry there, as it is possible that the BHO was registered under a different class id)

 

Now cross-check in

 

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E31CE47F-C268-41ba-897B-B415E613947D}

 

You should find

 

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E31CE47F-C268-41ba-897B-B415E613947D}\InprocServer32 with a default value of something like : C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies\Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll

 

That is how IE finds the helper.

 

Now double check that the file is at the location above

 

If all that fails, try sending me the result of the following procedure...

 

The GAC is a place that .NET puts executables that need to be shared between applications. The file we are talking about here needs to be accessible to IE, and we normally put it in the GAC.

 

It is a special place, gacutil can list the content.

 

Go to the start menu, find Microsoft Visual Studio / Visual Studio Tools / Visual Studio Command Prompt

 

In that window type "gacutil /l", send me the results for all entries starting with Microsoft.VisualStudio

Answer 7

Andy,

 

It looks like the registry entry is pointing to the folder that contains the DLL. Also, the results of the gacutil.exe are too large to post here (> 50000 characters), can I email them to you (I'll need your email address)?

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

Answer 8

Please send to [e-mail]

Answer 9

Did you check to see if IE thinks the BHO is enabled?

 

I took a look at the gacutil listing, I'm afraid to say I cannot see a problem, everything looks fine. I'm pretty much mystified. You may get some indications out of fuslogvw (see http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e74a18c4(VS.71).aspx) but beyond that I'm afraid I have no further suggestions other than to talk to support.

 

 

Answer 10

You may also want to take a look at the thread here: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2656890&SiteID=1

 

Especially take a look at http://blogs.msdn.com/mtaute/archive/2007/11/09/diagnosing-and-fixing-web-test-recorder-bar-issues.aspx and try this:

 

Hey guys, can you check this registry setting, and make sure BrowseNewProcess is set to "yes".

 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BrowseNewProcess] "BrowseNewProcess"="yes"

 

And let me know if that was the problem? I believe the recorder may not work right if this is set to no.

Answer 11

Andy - Thanks for all of the suggestions. I've looked into all of them and unfortunately haven't had any luck resolving the problem. When I ran the fuslogvw utility, it is showing that the binding succeeded. Here is a copy of the log, I don't know if it will give any clues:

*** Assembly Binder Log Entry  (3/5/2008 @ 3:39:18 PM) ***

The operation was successful.
Bind result: hr = 0x0. The operation completed successfully.

Assembly manager loaded from:  C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorwks.dll
Running under executable  C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
--- A detailed error log follows. 

=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: User = CDC\guy3
LOG: DisplayName = Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBar, Version=9.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
 (Fully-specified)
LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Program Files/Internet Explorer/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL
LOG: Dynamic Base = NULL
LOG: Cache Base = NULL
LOG: AppName = IEXPLORE.EXE
Calling assembly : (Unknown).
===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Download of application configuration file was attempted from file:///C:/Program Files/Internet Explorer/IEXPLORE.EXE.config.
LOG: Configuration file C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE.config does not exist.
LOG: No application configuration file found.
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\config\machine.config.
LOG: Post-policy reference: Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBar, Version=9.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
LOG: Found assembly by looking in the GAC.
LOG: Binding succeeds. Returns assembly from C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBar\9.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBar.dll.
LOG: Assembly is loaded in default load context.

Thanks.

Answer 12

I think we are looking for 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll'

, it is easy to confurse them. Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBar.dll lives in the GAC, the BHO does not (it is pointed to from the registry)

 

Answer 13

Andy - We were able to resolve the problem by copying Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.RecorderBarBHO90.dll to the "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer" folder. IE finds the DLL now and the web test recorder pane is functioning correctly.

Thanks for helping us track down the problem.