Question Problem with script debug in visual studio 2017

Hello Joe,

We will need more info about this. what are the errors that you are getting in the Unity Editor?

 

@SzJ_hydro the issue could well be on how your visual studio is set up. What matters is errors in the Unity Editor since at the end; the engine is what builds your project.

 

Hi there!

I believe you are running into a known issue regarding how Unity's IDE integration packages generate project files. We cover this in a section of the MARS Software Development Guide. When Unity opens your scripts in Visual Studio, it generates a `.sln` file for the whole project and a `.csproj` file for every assembly that you intend to modify. By default, we choose not to generate `.csproj` files for package code, which includes MARS. Normally, the `.csproj` for your code can reference package assemblies via their compiled `.dll`, but because MARS includes some generated code in the `Assets` folder using a `.asmref`, we fall into an edge case where Unity creates a `.csproj` for MARS, but it doesn't actually reference the package code. Instead, this `.csproj` only includes the generated code, and the IDE thinks that most of MARS does not exist.

Thankfully, you should be able to work around this issue by going to `Preferences > External Tools`, enabling `Generate all .csproj files`, and re-generating your Visual Studio project. The best way to do this is to just delete the `.sln` and `.csproj` files in your project folder and open a script from Unity, which will regenerate these files. MARS includes some code to check this box for you on first import, but it may have failed or you may have had another editor open which overwrote the setting.

For users of other IDEs, we also recommend updating to the latest IDE integration package in the Unity package manager (`com.unity.ide.vscode` for Visual Studio Code or `com.unity.ide.rider` for Rider). In later versions of the Rider integration, there are multiple options for how to generate `.csproj` files. You will want to select the `Registry Packages` option, among whatever others you prefer.

Unfortunately, the Visual Studio integration is not upgradeable this way. One way or another, the way to know that you are seeing the same issue I am describing is to search the `Unity.MARS.csproj` file for `Compile Include`. If you only see about a dozen or so files and they're all within `Assets\MARS\Generated`, you need to check that box and re-generate your project files. We have a fix in place for the underlying issue which should be available in later versions of Unity.

If you are still having issues, and you see the particular types that are missing referenced in `Unity.MARS.csproj` you may have encountered a different issue, which we'd love to know more about. Please let us know if you are still having trouble after trying what I described above.

Thanks for trying MARS, and good luck creating!

 

Huh... that's unexpected. I just gave this a try in a fresh project on Windows with Visual Studio Community 2017. I had to fiddle with the setting (uncheck and re-check) for generating .csproj files for it to generate the full set. Once I did get a Unity.MARS.csproj with all of the code referenced, I was able to start typing `LandmarkOut` and saw intellisense pop up for `LandmarkOutputPoint`.

At this point I think I need to see your project to reproduce the issue. Unfortunately the setting for generating .csproj files is stored in the registry, so I won't be able to completely replicate your environment. Any more specific info (Unity, Visual Studio, Windows versions etc.) you can provide will be helpful. Could you report bug and make sure to include your project? You can do this by going to `Help > Report a bug...` and fill out the form. Make sure that your project folder appears under the Attached Files section. If your project is very large, it may be quicker to create a small sample project that reproduces the issue. Please make sure that the project you submit contains the .csproj files that Unity created. Once you send the report you should receive an e-mail with a link to the report. Please share it here when you have that.

In lieu of a full bug report, you could try just adding your .sln and .csproj files to a zip and attaching them to this thread. I might be able to compare to what I have on my end or comb through and see if anything looks fishy.

Thanks for following up on this and sorry that you're having trouble! I'm glad you have found a workaround in the meantime while we solve this problem.

 

Thanks for the bug report. I was able to see what you were seeing, but eventually got things to work. I think that maybe all that was missing from my previous instructions was to restart Unity as part of the process. I tried deleting the .csproj and .sln files a few times while Unity was running, but when I closed Unity and Visual Studio, and _then_ cleared out the project files, the next try worked.

To be clear, try the following:
- Uncomment MarsWallLiner.cs:27 (not sure this is necessary)
- Close all other instances of the Unity Editor (if there are any)
- Close all instances of Visual Studio
- In the last remaining Editor instance, ensure that Preferences > External Tools > Generate all .csproj files is enabled
- Close Unity and Visual Studio
- Delete the `.sln` and `.csproj` files in the project folder
- I also deleted the `.vs` folder. I'm not sure if this is necessary
- Open Unity on the project and open MarsWallLiner.cs

On my end, I was seeing `LandmarkOutputPoint` as a missing reference in Visual Studio prior to the restart, but see it referenced now.

 

Oh! I didn't realize you were on Windows and OS X here. FWIW, I've been troubleshooting these issues on both, as well. Sorry that you're still having trouble.

Are you seeing .csproj files created for other MARS packages like `Unity.XRTools.ModuleLoader` for example? The only thing that I can think of is that the checkbox in Preferences may not be accurately representing the state of the setting on your system. As I was troubleshooting I checked and unchecked that box a few times, and I made sure to have only one instance of the Unity Editor open. If you've done that, I'm not sure what else is different between your system and mine which may contribute to the problem.

Something else I noticed is that in a new project in 2019.4.0, I see different options and a "Regenerate project files" button under Preferences > External Tools, which means that this version of the Editor has an updated Visual Studio integration. With any luck, your bug has already been fixed! Are you able to upgrade the project to 2019.4.0? Though this is a minor version update, there shouldn't be any breaking API changes. Make sure you have a backup of your project just in case.

 

I should add: if you are able to update to 2019.4, make sure that the `Registry Packages` option is checked when you regenerate your project files.