Value cannot be null. Parameter name instance. when trying to open the Report Designer in Visual Studio 2017 or newer

Environment

Product

Progress® Telerik® Reporting

Description

When attempting to bring up the Report Designer in Visual Studio 2017 or later, an error with message Value cannot be null. Parameter name: instance is thrown. The stack trace of the error is:

at System.ComponentModel.TypeDescriptor.AddAttributes(Object instance, Attribute[] attributes)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Design.VSDesignSurface.CreateDesigner(IComponent component, Boolean rootDesigner)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerHost.AddToContainerPostProcess(IComponent component, String name, IContainer containerToAddTo)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerHost.PerformAdd(IComponent component, String name)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerHost.System.ComponentModel.Design.IDesignerHost.CreateComponent(Type componentType, String name)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerSerializationManager.CreateInstance(Type type, ICollection arguments, String name, Boolean addToContainer)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerSerializationManager.System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.IDesignerSerializationManager.CreateInstance(Type type, ICollection arguments, String name, Boolean addToContainer)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.TypeCodeDomSerializer.Deserialize(IDesignerSerializationManager manager, CodeTypeDeclaration declaration)
at System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.CodeDomDesignerLoader.PerformLoad(IDesignerSerializationManager manager)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Design.Serialization.CodeDom.VSCodeDomDesignerLoader.PerformLoad(IDesignerSerializationManager serializationManager)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Design.Serialization.CodeDom.VSCodeDomDesignerLoader.DeferredLoadHandler.Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextManager.Interop.IVsTextBufferDataEvents.OnLoadCompleted(Int32 fReload)

Solution

The error indicates that the project uses a version of Telerik Reporting that is not registered in the corresonding Visual Studio. This might be due to Telerik Reporting being installed before installation of the Visual Studio.

You should re-install Telerik Reporting with support for the particular Visual Studio version and edition.

You can download MSI file to install Telerik Reporting as described in the How to download Telerik Reporting installer. After downloading the installer, our recommendation is to run the MSI file per Visual Studio edition:

• VS 2017 and VS 2019

  msiexec /i [installer_file_name].msi PRODUCTDIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\[version]\[edition]"

  Example for VS 2019 Professional edition:

  msiexec /i Telerik_Reporting_R1_2023_SP1_DEV.msi PRODUCTDIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Professional"

• VS 2022

  msiexec /i [installer_file_name].msi PRODUCTDIR="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\[version]\[edition]"

  Example for VS 2022 Professional edition:

  msiexec /i Telerik_Reporting_R1_2023_SP1_DEV.msi PRODUCTDIR="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional"

In the code above the parameters are as follows:

1. [installer_file_name].msi - the exact name of the installer, and should look like Telerik_Reporting_R1_2023_SP1_DEV.msi.
2. [version] - the Visual Studio version - 2017, 2019, or 2022.
3. [edition] - the Visual Studio edition - Enterprise, Professional, or Community.

Once Telerik Reporting is installed with support for the specific Visual Studio, you can load the project.

Notes

• The VS Report Designer is not fully functional in VS2017 for version of Telerik Reporting prior to R1 2017 (11.0.17.118).
• The VS Report Designer is not fully functional in VS2019 for version of Telerik Reporting prior to R2 2019 (13.1.19.514).
• The VS Report Designer is not fully functional in VS2022 for version of Telerik Reporting prior to R3 2021 SP1 (15.2.21.1110).

Therefore, our recommendation is to upgrade the project to the newest version (check our Release History) by running the Upgrade Wizard.