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My findings after test if the newest Xamarin-VS-Integration-Software
CHInsider ✭✭✭✭✭
Hi all
At 20.05.2015, Ian Ceicys (“Xamarin-Ian”) has asked me, if I would try the newest “pre-Alpha”-releases (V: 3.11.576), as he knows, that I have massive problems, and give him some feedback. I have done this (sent him a mail).
As I think, my test-results may be interesting for any VS-XF-Developer, I post my findings here…
Summary - (my) Conclusion:
By my short test, it seems (not sure right now!) as:
- The problem with error message “ConvertPdbToMdbTask is in use by another process” (workaround was to restart VS) has gone or at least has become much better
- The extremely slow debugging in Android (VS shows spinning wheel for minutes after the first break-point is reached) has gone or at least has become much better
- I further have found a “workaround” for the problem “port is already in use” with the WP-Emulator while I have investigated the new versions
(My) other problems (unfortunately) remains:
- Debug to iOS-Device (iPhone and iPad) is not possible (while iOS Emulator still works)
- Some objects are still “unknow” in debugger, while they exists
- Xamarin-Update service is not reachable sometimes
If the following issues still exists, I don’t know (as I don’t was able to test it):
- Strange behavior with break-points (especially in Async functions)
- Problems with the Xamarin certificate on the MAC
So - although the “old” problems still are there, the new version is an improvement for me.
I have wrote a .pdf with all details (and more) here:
matrixguide.ch/Datenablage/diverses/Test_Xamarin_Integration_SW_V_3_11_576.pdf
Hope, that’s interesting for you…
Notes:
If I have new findings (after working a few days), I will post it here.
I think, the new versions are not available for download right now, but I think they will be soon (in the Alpha channel)
Posts
@FredyWenger
As always, your feedback and time taken is much appreciated.
I'm working through the debugger issues (PCL only) with Ian and Brendan.
https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/41665/beta-service-release-xamarin-android-5-1-2-bug-fixes-for-5-1-0#latest
Much more optimistic now than at the start of the week
@FredyWenger - many thanks for your investigation and report on this. After the nightmare that was the first two weeks of this month, and knowing that I have to spend two weeks on university study starting next Tuesday (I have an exam in early June), I want to be as productive as possible in the little time that I have. As a result, I will wait for the next officially "stable" release on this occasion. I might be braver with alpha/beta releases after that :-)
Thanks again for all your effort.
Thanks @FredyWenger I was forced to upgrade to the latest Xamarin again to submit our app to the iOS store and unfortunately it looks like there are still hotfixes still going in to fix all the issues.
Sometimes I think Xamarin needs to read their own About page again:
"We created Xamarin because we knew there had to be a better way to build mobile apps. We’re developers, so we know what developers want: a modern programming language, powerful tools, an efficient and delightful workflow and the power to create the best user experiences. We are on a mission to make it fast, easy and fun to build great mobile apps."
Also, I've tried 3.11.576 and while it does seem better with debugging on Android it introduces another new issue where it can't seem to find the ViewPager from the Xamarin.Android.Support.v4 component.
This only happens at runtime though and I have no idea how to solve it, everything I've tried has failed and I'm being forced to go back to older versions of Xamarin to keep working.
@CliffCawley.Nimble : well said
@FredyWenger I really appreciate your work and your postings. As we are in release mode right now I have been very very cautious about upgrading, even to the stable versions.
For me the previous stable release works really well, although there are some debugging issues and I need to retry the debugging session but it works on devices for both iOS and Android. We are developing a Xamarin.Forms app.
When I read your pdf i noticed that I had a lot of differences in the versions installed so I am posting my set up below for those interested.
I use a Mac Pro late 2013 with Parallells Desktop 10 and on that I have Windows 8.1 64bit.
Below I am just dumping! the information in the about windows of the Xamarin Studio Mac (MAC INFO), Xamarin Studio PC(PC INFO) and Visual Studio(VISUAL STUDIO INFO).
MAC INFO
=== Xamarin Studio ===
Version 5.8.3 (build 1)
Runtime:
Mono 3.12.1 ((detached/0849ec7)
GTK+ 2.24.23 (Raleigh theme)
=== Apple Developer Tools ===
Xcode 6.3.1 (7703)
Build 6D1002
=== Xamarin.Mac ===
Not Installed
=== Xamarin.Android ===
Version: 4.20.2.1 (Business Edition)
Supported Android versions:
2.1 (API level 7)
2.2 (API level 8)
2.3 (API level 10)
3.1 (API level 12)
4.0 (API level 14)
4.0.3 (API level 15)
4.4 (API level 19)
4.4.87 (API level 20)
Java SDK: /usr
No Java runtime present, requesting install.
=== Xamarin Android Player ===
Version: Unknown version
Location: /Applications/Xamarin Android Player.app
=== Xamarin.iOS ===
Version: 8.9.1.3 (Business Edition)
Hash: f7736a4
Branch:
Build date: 2015-04-09 04:22:08-0400
=== Build Information ===
Release ID: 508030001
Git revision: 6e8e725e0d689351901c2c70453bfa4ea25e293b
Build date: 2015-04-06 20:31:47-04
Xamarin addins: 051cd5f8c1b5dbfc87eaef80a74aec03f34c60a8
=== Operating System ===
Mac OS X 10.10.3
Darwin Peters-MBP 14.3.0 Darwin Kernel Version 14.3.0
Mon Mar 23 11:59:05 PDT 2015
root:xnu-2782.20.48~5/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64
PC INFO
=== Xamarin Studio ===
Version 5.8.3 (build 1)
Installation UUID: edde082b-b560-4e5c-838e-4f0b0b7b27ba
Runtime:
Microsoft .NET 4.0.30319.0
GTK+ 2.24.22 (MS-Windows theme)
GTK# 2.12.26
=== Xamarin.Android ===
Version: 4.20.2 (Business Edition)
Supported Android versions:
2.3 (API level 10)
4.0.3 (API level 15)
4.3 (API level 18)
4.4 (API level 19)
4.4.87 (API level 20)
5.0 (API level 21)
Java SDK: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_67
java version "1.7.0_67"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_67-b01)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.65-b04, mixed mode)
=== Xamarin Android Player ===
Not Installed
=== Build Information ===
Release ID: 508030001
Git revision: 6e8e725e0d689351901c2c70453bfa4ea25e293b
Build date: 2015-04-06 15:20:49-04
Xamarin addins: 051cd5f8c1b5dbfc87eaef80a74aec03f34c60a8
=== Operating System ===
Windows 6.2.9200.0 (64-bit)
VISUAL STUDIO INFO
Microsoft Visual Studio Premium 2013
Version 12.0.31101.00 Update 4
Microsoft .NET Framework
Version 4.5.53349
Installed Version: Premium
LightSwitch for Visual Studio 2013 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft LightSwitch for Visual Studio 2013
Team Explorer for Visual Studio 2013 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft Team Explorer for Visual Studio 2013
Windows Phone SDK 8.0 - ENU 06191-004-0454001-02617
Windows Phone SDK 8.0 - ENU
Visual Basic 2013 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft Visual Basic 2013
Visual C# 2013 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft Visual C# 2013
Visual C++ 2013 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013
Visual F# 2013 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft Visual F# 2013
Visual Studio 2013 Code Analysis Spell Checker 06191-004-0454001-02617
Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2013 Code Analysis Spell Checker
Portions of International CorrectSpell™ spelling correction system © 1993 by Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1992 Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.
AnkhSVN - Subversion Support for Visual Studio 2.5.12582.28
AnkhSVN - Subversion Support for Visual Studio 2.5.12582.28
* Ankh.Package 2.5.12582.28
* Subversion 1.8.11 via SharpSvn 1.8011.3473.77
SharpSvn is linked to: Apr 1.5.1, Apr-util 1.5.4, Cyrus Sasl 2.1.25, eXpat 2.1.0, OpenSSL 1.0.1l 15 Jan 2015, serf 1.3.8, SQLite 3.7.17, Subversion 1.8.11-SharpSvn-1.8.11, ZLib 1.2.8
SharpSvn is optionally linked to: Berkeley DB 4.4.20, SharpPlink 1.8011.3473.77
ASP.NET and Web Tools 12.4.60425.0
Microsoft Web Developer Tools contains the following components:
Support for creating and opening ASP.NET web projects
Browser Link: A communication channel between Visual Studio and browsers
Editor extensions for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Page Inspector: Inspection tool for ASP.NET web projects
Scaffolding: A framework for building and running code generators
Server Explorer extensions for Microsoft Azure Web Apps
Web publishing: Extensions for publishing ASP.NET web projects to hosting providers, on-premises servers, or Microsoft Azure
ASP.NET Web Frameworks and Tools 2012.2 4.1.21001.0
For additional information, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=309563
ASP.NET Web Frameworks and Tools 2013 5.2.21010.0
For additional information, visit http://www.asp.net/
Common Azure Tools 1.4
Provides common services for use by Azure Mobile Services and Microsoft Azure Tools.
File Nesting 1.0
Automatically nest files based on file name and enables developers to nest and unnest any file manually
JetBrains ReSharper Ultimate 2015.1 Build 102.0.20150408.145317
JetBrains ReSharper Ultimate package for Microsoft Visual Studio. For more information about ReSharper Ultimate, visit http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper. Copyright © 2015 JetBrains, Inc.
Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone
Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone
Build
Microsoft Azure HDInsight HQL Service 2.0.1000.0
Language service for Hive query
Microsoft Azure HDInsight Tools for Visual Studio 2.0.1000.0
An integrated development environment for HDInsight application development.
Microsoft Azure Mobile Services Tools 1.3
Microsoft Azure Mobile Services Tools
Microsoft Azure Tools 2.4
Microsoft Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 - v2.4.20730.1601
Microsoft Azure Tools 2.5
Microsoft Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 - v2.5.21104.1601
Microsoft Azure Tools 2.6
Microsoft Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 - v2.6.30508.1601
Multilingual App Toolkit 4.0.1246.0
Multilingual App Toolkit helps you localize your Windows Store app by providing file management, pseudo and machine translation, translation editor, and build integration. http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?linkid=245767
NuGet Package Manager 2.8.60318.734
NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio. For more information about NuGet, visit http://docs.nuget.org/.
Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2013 ENU 12.0.30626
Microsoft Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2013 ENU
PreEmptive Analytics Visualizer 1.2
Microsoft Visual Studio extension to visualize aggregated summaries from the PreEmptive Analytics product.
Release Management for Visual Studio Package 1.0
Release Management for Visual Studio
SAPReferenceManager 1.0
Manages References to Shared Projects
SQL Server Data Tools 12.0.41025.0
Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools
Web Essentials 2013 2.5.3
Adds many useful features to Visual Studio for web developers.
Windows Azure Tools 2.2
Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 - v2.2.11003.1601
Windows Azure Tools 2.3
Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 - v2.3.20320.1602
Windows Phone 8.1 SDK Integration 1.0
This package integrates the tools for the Windows Phone 8.1 SDK into the menus and controls of Visual Studio.
Workflow Manager Tools 1.0 1.0
This package contains the necessary Visual Studio integration components for Workflow Manager.
VSCommands for Visual Studio 2013 12.0
VSCommands for Visual Studio 2013
Xamarin 3.9.547.0 (20fd2f0)
Visual Studio extension to enable development for Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.
Xamarin.Android 4.20.2.1 (86274adfc6418b4c3a9d67734eb871163859b51c)
Visual Studio plugin to enable development for Xamarin.Android.
Xamarin.Forms Intellisense 1.0
Provides intellisense for Xamarin.Forms in the XML editor.
Xamarin.iOS 8.9.1.0 (02a05754f85064ec222c8a1a975761debfe7122d)
Visual Studio extension to enable development for Xamarin.iOS.
Xamarin.iOS Unified Migration 1.0
Automated migration for Xamarin iOS Classic projects to Unified
Fredy,
I owe you a huge thank you, (a smaller thank you to everyone else on the thread is in order as well).
I am actively reading your forum posts, and Fredy with your specific feedback I have taken the following actions:
1) I have brought it up at our daily engineering stand up (and will continue to do so),
2) I have discussed it at length at our bi-weekly engineering/support/release planning meeting (and will continue to do so),
3) I am working to build automated tests that replicate the issues
4) I am adding those tests to our daily CI build processes, (they have to turn green and pass for candidates to be assessed).
5) I have been working across our engineering groups on the actual code changes.
I'll close out this post by mentioning that everyone on the forums can reach out to me via a forum message and I'll respond as quickly as I can. Please provide specific actionable information along the lines of what Fredy put together so we can:
1) reproduce your issue
2) work to understand how we can create an automated test
3) prioritize the issue
4) implement a fix that addresses the issue and ensures that new regressions are not introduced in the product.
Again, thank you Fredy and I look forward to being able to respond in more detail over the coming days\weeks\months.
@Xamarin-Ian:
Thanks for your positive posting here, that let me hope for a better future with less pain
This is (for me personally) the first Xamarin-posting, in which I feel taken me (or my work and the work of others) seriously.
So thanks - and hopefully we will see the result sometime soon
It would be nice, if you also would do a review of the thread with some - I still think so - meaningful suggestions:
forums.xamarin.com/discussion/33738/proposal-solving-of-the-debugger-problems-version-3-9-302#latest
Finally thanks and have a nice weekend.
Hi Freddy!
I'll review the thread and make sure I come back with some helpful suggestions / new information / and ideally new bits!
Again we take your posting (and many/most other posting) quite seriously and I know we are actively reading the postings and debating (sometimes quite heatedly) the course of action. I get to have your posting on a projector and talk through the progress twice a week...sometimes posting can be quite uncomfortable but KEEP them coming.
I also reply privately to numerous people on the forums so I can keep the necessary chatter down and be able to connect quickly and efficiently.
Again everyone on the forums can reach out to me via a forum message and I'll respond as quickly as I can. What the heck, if you really feel you need to get my immediate attention...because I don't know...it's a huge crisis and you like the idea of waking me up in the middle of the night...then send me a txt message, or a tweet, or give me a call and I'll follow up.
:: Visual Studio QA Software Engineer @ Xamarin - title
:: [email protected] - email
:: (440)724-6721 - phone.mobile
:: @ianceicys - twitter
Update:
I work now since a few day's with the new version.
Until now, I had no problems to debug to iOS-Emulator and Android- and WP-Device.
Today (a few minutes ago), the problem with "ConvertPdbToMdb" (in use of another process) is back (no idea, why -> don't have updated anything active) .
I can debug one time, the second-time , the problem is there.
I then have to restart VS and be able one more time to debug.
Error-message:
Further I have noted, that den debugger don't stop in a async LV.ItemTapped-event the first time:
LV_CB_Interessen.ItemTapped += async (sender, e) => { var LVElement = (GV.MehrfachSelektion)e.Item; if (LVElement.bSelektiert) // Eintrag ist aktuell selektiert { L_Interessen[LVElement.iIndex].bSelektiert = false; L_Interessen[LVElement.iIndex].cIconPfad = ""; } else { L_Interessen[LVElement.iIndex].bSelektiert = true; if (Device.OS == TargetPlatform.iOS) { L_Interessen[LVElement.iIndex].cIconPfad = "CheckSchwarz.png"; } else { L_Interessen[LVElement.iIndex].cIconPfad = "CheckWeiss.png"; } } LV_CB_Interessen.ItemTemplate = new DataTemplate(typeof(CheckViewCell)); };The app was running with debugger.
I have set a new breakpoint to the first statement (var...) and then tapped the ListView.
The debugger don't have stopped at the first tap (after a few tap's It then have stopped)
Update:
I definitely have the problem again (don't had it after update).
Error message see last posting.
Additional error message from the log (maybe this further helps):
@Xamarin-Ian:
Do you have changes something on "the backbone" last Thursday/Friday...?
**I don't understand that: This issue has gone with the update and now is back, although I don't have updated anything (at least not explicitly / known) **
I have seen further, that there is a new Alpha-Version 3.11.584 available, but I can't see any update/release-information's to it o the Xamarin-Page..?!?
I have found this thread: https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/41662/beta-service-release-xamarinvs-3-11-584-bug-fixes-for-3-11-445#latest
But I don't see a description to the differences between .576 (what I have installed) and .584
What is changed in .584.?
Update:
The problem with "ConvertPdbToMdb" has gone ("automatically") after a day of pain... (with the "old" version V: 3.11.576).
I don't understand that... it seems (for me) as it have something to do with the "Xamarin Backbone".
@Xamarin-Ian:
You have oversleep your "wake-up call" - I don't expect an answer to my question anymore...
As Xamarin seems to do a "restart to the problem solving process" like we suggested here:
forums.xamarin.com/discussion/33738/proposal-solving-of-the-debugger-problems-version-3-9-302#latest
and therefore have started an new thread here:
forums.xamarin.com/discussion/42670/stable-service-release-xamarinvs-3-11-586-bug-fixes-for-3-11-445#latest
I have updated once again to the latest "stable" version (3-11-586) and posted my findings there.
To the 3 hours to be able to work again (I mentioned in the other thread):
Beside the time to update all the SW peace's, I had especially problems to connect from VS to the build-host on the MAC after the update.
So I had to restart the MAC and VS a few times, check the network parameters (O,K.) and also to un-pair and re-pair the Build host two times (for the case, to want to update and have similar problems).
I will also (maybe) will post further findings in the new "official" thread...
Cheers
Update:
) in the "release-thread", I will post my findings further in this thread.
As it seems, that it's not "desired" to post special detail-information's (like mine
I have found further bugs in the IS-software to (at least) the management of Android-resources (add a new resource to the project, rename an already added resource -> causes VS-hang.
Workaround for now (until the bug is solved):
- Do it manually by adding the .csproj-file with the editor
You can find all details to my investigation in the attached .pdf.
I further have posted this in the "release-thread", ad filled a bug:
https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=30968
Cheers
@FredyWenger - I've seen the same problem with a layout file - I've updated the bug with my findings.
Based on the quality of your bug reports - where were you when I was trying to hire testers!
@FredyWenger - I see the same hangs with Android resources.
@JimBennett - I tried it your way but no luck, VS hangs.
@JimBennett:
Thanks for your positive comment
I have tried your workaround (that you have added to my bug in Bugzilla - b.t.w.. thanks for doing) some time ago (with image). Unfortunately (like @MartinRothschink) wrote, it don't work with Images.
Maybe the behavior is not the same with layout files...
Added a comment to your comment to my bugzilla-entry
Additional information for all readers of this thread:
By doing my test (see .pdf), I had the side-effect, that I have done a mistake with the filename of the (for the test) added .png what has triggered the (really) "meaningful" error-message:
"Aapt.exe has terminated with Code1".
As I have spent hours in the history to find out, what causes the "meaningful" error-message, I had in brain immediately that something is wrong with the Android-resources...
So, if you have "the Aapt.exe", first search in this direction (Android-resources)...
By my findings, the error-message to an Android-project is triggered mostly, as:
- some names of images have not allowed characters in their name like "main-icon.png" or "main icon.png" (space)
or
- the same images that are stored in multiple directories of the Android-project (e.g. under \resources\ and under \resources\drawable\
Note: this does not means, that this is/are the only reason(s) that trigger the lovely Aapt.exe error-message (I simply don't know), but in my app it was.
Update (August 18):
To be able to support iOS 9, I had to update Xamarin.iOS and thereby I have updated my whole environment (invested more than a full day) to the latest versions.
Updated to:
MAC:
Visual Studio:
The result:
Forms 1.4.4 “stable”:
VS-Integration:
iOS:
So... no change
WP:
Android:
According to "Process-Monitor", MsBuild.exe has „SHARING VIOLATION” to the file and Devenv.exe also access the file...
So... I'm no more able to build for Android!
Note: By doing my tests with "Process-Monitor" and all events (> 4 Mio during test), I was able to build one time -> so it may be a timing-problem (as the full blown "Process-Monitor" has slowed down my machine).
I the "stable" release thread,
http://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/47934/stable-release-xamarinvs-3-11-836-cycle-5-service-release-3#latest
there is a "nice" note to the problem:
I don't had this problem before I have done the updates - so it's not a VS-Problem (at least not only).
What does this means... I'm not able to work further with Android....?!?
My conclusion;
Very disappointed (once again)
The updates have broken my WP-app (XF) and also my whole Android-Environment (not able to build anymore right now.
And my question (once again) - what are you Xamarin-guys doing...?
Since my first posting I this thread (May 21 = 3 Months ago) - nothing has changed - sorry, that's wrong - before, I was able to build for Android
I second that "what are you xamarin-guys doing..."?
@JoakimMnsson
Yes! and... my posting is over one year old and.. also see here:
http://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/comment/220001/#Comment_220001
Lesson learned - don't do updates in your live development environment.
When developing an application, you should always stay with the versions of the development tools you started with, unless there's a complete show-stopper bug that gets solved in a hot-fix, if at all possible. Save updates for new development after putting them in a test environment where you can evaluate the impact of updating without breaking your real-world environment.
Yes, their updates often break things, but it's not really their fault you're letting them break your live development environment.
Nice suggestion in theory Dave, (that0s my way) but unfortunately, this don't work for a longer time.
If a new version of one of the OS is released, you may be triggered to update, if something changes on the iOS (MAC-)side (OS / XCode / both), you may be triggered to update, if one if your "personal" should be solved, you may be triggered to update, if VS changes (your have to update to an new VS version of cause another project), you may be triggered to update, if whatever changes, you may be triggered...
And... if you are triggered the carousel starts to turn...
And... as mentioned... since I work with Xamarin, it never ever was "stable"...
Once Xamarin says that one (or more...) of the major problems (like the not working debugger) should be solved, I have to think about, if that will be a trigger for me... and... you know... carousel ...
I don't deny that it can be difficult, and sometimes impossible. Hence the "if at all possible". I also don't deny that Xamarin isn't always (ever?) stable, but that was true when you started your project, so can't be counted in what happens when you update.
You'll note that each of the triggers you mentioned have one thing in common - something gets updated. Whether it's Xamarin, iOS, Xcode, Visual Studio, Mac OS or Windows. The last two are less likely to cause issues as long as they're not major releases. The rest are big scary spiders. Those are the ones you need work on limiting.
One way to do that is to continue working on your current project in your "stable" environment, while evaluating the updates in a separate environment and working on things like updating for a new iOS there. That's tough in a single-developer shop, but it's not impossible.
Also note, Xamarin isn't the only company that regularly breaks things with updates. Microsoft and Apple are pretty good at that, too (though I think Apple is better than most) and they're far from alone in the oops department.
With VS we never ever had a problem with our windows projects after an update (and we work an looong time with it).
Whereby with the automatic (not stoppable win-/office-updates), you are completely right, but that's another theme.
Regarding SW development, I don't know another company that do such a bad job and let the customers do the own job (test new "stable" versions for free, fill bugzilla with almost no feedback for free, never receive a confirmation, that the bug will be solved and and certainly no date for the fix, request for a "minimal example project", and so on...).
Since some time, we have bought devexpress (as ad-on for windows development).
Stellar product, stellar support, stellar response time - if you describe a problem, they don't give up until it is solved (no matter what the problem is).
=> That's exactly how it should be.
I hoped, that things would change after the MS overtake, what is not the case yet unfortunately...
But maybe right now something is going on... I think, it's suspiciously quiet in recent times regarding updates...
And, you know... the hope dies last
And last... when will you invite me finally to your small ship (in the background)