Invalid Resource Name trying to tie Designer to Control

Posted by Community Admin on 22-Jan-2013 00:00

Hello,

I am setting up some controls for my Sitefinity 5.3 project in their own class library. I have set up my Virtual Path and Toolboxes file to reference these controls in my class library, and it works well. I've also created a custom designer for my control, which lives in this class library as well. However, when it tries to access the template for the designer, I get the following exception:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Invalid resource name

"~/WebsiteControls/WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.Designer.BlogPostDesigner.ascx"

for assembly "WebsiteControls, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=null" or empty template.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during

the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace

for more information about the error and where it originated in the

code.

Exception Details: System.ArgumentException: Invalid

resource name

"~/WebsiteControls/WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.Designer.BlogPostDesigner.ascx"

for assembly "WebsiteControls, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=null" or empty template.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current

web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the

exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[ArgumentException: Invalid resource name "~/WebsiteControls/WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.Designer.BlogPostDesigner.ascx" for assembly "WebsiteControls, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null" or empty template.]

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlUtilities.GetTemplate(String virtualPath, String resourceFileName, Type assemblyInfo, String templateDeclaration, Boolean addChildrenAsDirectDescendants) +1421

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlUtilities.GetControlTemplate(TemplateInfo info) +1309

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlUtilities.GetTemplate(TemplateInfo info) +83

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.SimpleView.get_LayoutTemplate() +261

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.SimpleView.get_Container() +54

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.SimpleView.CreateChildControls() +72

System.Web.UI.Control.EnsureChildControls() +102

System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +42

System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +175

System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +2496

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.272

Now, my immediate thought is "hey, your virtual path is not configured properly" or "your ascx file is not set as an embeddable resource", but, it seems the virtual path is configured properly, as I can access the javascript file in this same folder, and my control works fine once dropped on the page, and my ascx file is definitely set as an embeddable resource.

My designer is defined as follows:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Text;

using System.Web.UI;

using Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI;

using Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlDesign;

using System.Configuration;

namespace WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost

public class BlogPostDesigner : ControlDesignerBase

private const string layoutTemplateName = "WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.Designer.BlogPostDesigner.ascx";

private const string scriptref = "WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.Designer.BlogPostDesigner.js";

protected override string LayoutTemplateName

get

return ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("WebsiteControls_VirtualPath") + layoutTemplateName;

protected override Type ResourcesAssemblyInfo

get

return this.GetType();

public override IEnumerable<System.Web.UI.ScriptReference> GetScriptReferences()

var res = new List<ScriptReference>(base.GetScriptReferences());

var assemblyName = this.GetType().Assembly.GetName().ToString();

res.Add(new ScriptReference(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("WebsiteControls_VirtualPath") + scriptref, assemblyName));

return res.ToArray();

protected override void InitializeControls(GenericContainer container)

this.DesignerMode = ControlDesignerModes.Simple;

My Control which I want to use my designer is defined as:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Text;

using Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ContentUI.Views.Backend;

using System.Web.UI;

using System.Configuration;

using Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI;

using Telerik.Sitefinity.Modules.Pages.Web.UI;

using Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlDesign;

namespace WebsiteControls.Controls

[RequireScriptManager,ControlDesigner(typeof(WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPostDesigner))]

public class BlogPostControl : ViewBase

private const string layoutTemplateName = "WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.BlogPostControl.ascx";

private const string scriptref = "WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.BlogPostControl.js";

public void Page_Load()

//Response.Write("a");

protected override string LayoutTemplateName

get

return layoutTemplateName;

public override string LayoutTemplatePath

get

return ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("WebsiteControls_VirtualPath") + layoutTemplateName;

set

base.LayoutTemplatePath = value;

protected override void InitializeControls(GenericContainer container, Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ContentUI.Contracts.IContentViewDefinition definition)

try

catch

/*protected override void InitializeControls(Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.GenericContainer container)

//set the partnerID

try

catch

//TestParnerID();

*/

public override void RenderBeginTag(HtmlTextWriter writer)

if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(this.CssClass))

this.AddAttributesToRender(writer);

writer.RenderBeginTag(HtmlTextWriterTag.Div);

public override void RenderEndTag(HtmlTextWriter writer)

if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(this.CssClass))

base.RenderEndTag(writer);

public override IEnumerable<System.Web.UI.ScriptReference> GetScriptReferences()

var scripts = base.GetScriptReferences() as List<ScriptReference>;

if (scripts == null) return base.GetScriptReferences();

scripts.Add(new ScriptReference(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("WebsiteControls_VirtualPath") + scriptref));

return scripts.ToArray();

The reference to my control in toolboxesconfig.config is

<add enabled="True" type="WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPostControl, WebsiteControls" title="BlogPost" cssClass="sfBrandsListIcn" visibilityMode="None" name="BlogPost" />

and my virtual path (which I can confirm works, at least for the control which lives in this same class library)

<add resourceLocation="WebsiteControls, WebsiteControls" resolverName="EmbeddedResourceResolver" virtualPath="~/WebsiteControls/*" />

I'm just not sure why I'm getting this error. My template for my designer is not empty, it has some content on it, and I believe the virtual path is setup correctly, so what's the issue?

Appreciate any help that anyone might be able to offer. My Class Library is available for download here: uldev02.urbanlighthouse.com/.../WebControls.zip.

Posted by Community Admin on 24-Jan-2013 00:00

Any suggestions at all?

Posted by Community Admin on 25-Jan-2013 00:00

Hello Travis,

Thanks for using Sitefinity!

Your javascript also needs to be registered as a web resource and it must be set as an embedded resource as well. Can you check ~/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs for the following line:

[assembly: WebResource("YOUR_ASSEMBLY_.js", "application/x-javascript")]

Let me know if this doesn't help. Kind regards,
Patrick Dunn
the Telerik team

Posted by Community Admin on 25-Jan-2013 00:00

Hi Patrick

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, this is unrelated to the issue I'm experiencing. My Javascript file IS referenced in my AssemblyInfo.cs file, and in order to ensure this was not what was causing the issue, i removed the references which loaded this javascript file, and the issue persisted.

The reference in my Assembly file is as follows:

[assembly: WebResource("WebsiteControls.Controls.BlogPost.Designer.BlogPostDesigner.js", "application/x-javascript")]

Like I said, this seems to be unrelated to the issue at hand. Do you have any other suggestions that might be causing this problem?

Thanks

Posted by Community Admin on 29-Jan-2013 00:00

Hello,

I had overridden the wrong property in my designer. Instead of overriding the LayoutTemplatePath, I overwrote the LayoutTemplateName variable. Now, I'm getting a new exception that I'm not sure of the cause of. Now, I get this:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.ControlDesign.GenericCollectionConverter.GetProperties(ITypeDescriptorContext context, Object value, Attribute[] attributes) +106

System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter.GetProperties(Object value) +72

Telerik.Sitefinity.Modules.Pages.Web.Services.WcfPropertyManager.GetChildProperties(PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor, Object instance) +180

Telerik.Sitefinity.Modules.Pages.Web.Services.WcfPropertyManager.AddPropertiesRecursively(Object instance, IList`1 list, List`1 propertyDescriptorHierarchy, ControlData controlData, Int32 depth, CultureInfo culture) +688

Telerik.Sitefinity.Modules.Pages.Web.Services.WcfPropertyManager.AddPropertiesRecursively(Object instance, IList`1 list, List`1 propertyDescriptorHierarchy, ControlData controlData, Int32 depth, CultureInfo culture) +910

Telerik.Sitefinity.Modules.Pages.Web.Services.WcfPropertyManager.AddPropertiesRecursively(Object instance, IList`1 list, List`1 propertyDescriptorHierarchy, ControlData controlData, Int32 depth, CultureInfo culture) +910

Telerik.Sitefinity.Modules.Pages.Web.Services.WcfPropertyManager.GetProperties(Object instance, ControlData controlData, Int32 depth, String parentPropertyPath, CultureInfo culture) +436

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.PropertyEditor.GetPropertyBag() +284

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.PropertyEditor.GetScriptDescriptors() +1124

System.Web.UI.ScriptControlManager.RegisterScriptDescriptors(IScriptControl scriptControl) +128

System.Web.UI.ScriptManager.RegisterScriptDescriptors(IScriptControl scriptControl) +49

Telerik.Sitefinity.Web.UI.AjaxDialogBase.Render(HtmlTextWriter writer) +117

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControlInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +27

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +100

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer) +25

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildrenInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ICollection children) +208

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildren(HtmlTextWriter writer) +8

System.Web.UI.Control.Render(HtmlTextWriter writer) +10

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControlInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +27

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +100

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer) +25

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildrenInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ICollection children) +208

System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlForm.RenderChildren(HtmlTextWriter writer) +173

System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlContainerControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter writer) +31

System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlForm.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) +53

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControlInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +27

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +100

System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlForm.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer) +40

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildrenInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ICollection children) +208

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildren(HtmlTextWriter writer) +8

System.Web.UI.Page.Render(HtmlTextWriter writer) +29

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControlInternal(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +27

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer, ControlAdapter adapter) +100

System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer) +25

System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +3060

The error occurs at some point after it has retrieved the ScriptReferences, but before it has retrieve the ScriptDescriptors for the designer. Does anyone have any ideas as to what's causing this new error?

Posted by Community Admin on 30-Jan-2013 00:00

Hi Travis,

Sorry to hear you're still having problems. Judging from the stack trace the error is thrown in the GetProperties method that is generating your Property Descriptor Collection. This is called by GetScriptDescriptors and I believe it indicates your descriptor collection is empty. I don't see the implementation of GetScriptDescriptors() in the below code, but make sure to check it returns the collection of descriptors properly and with the proper type.

Have you looked over Josh's blog post on widget designers? It contains all the information necessary to develop a custom designer without using SF Thunder - take a closer look at the GetScriptDescriptors method as this is most probably what is throwing this exception

All the best,
Patrick Dunn
the Telerik team

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