VS2008 macros have stopped working

[paul-shed]

Hello,

My VS2008 macros have stopped working. The macros are not showing up as
having any error in the macro IDE. Even recorded macros are not working.

When I try and run them the VS .net macro icon appears very briefly in the
system tray and then goes away again.

Can someone help me try and debug what is going on?

Regards,

paul-shed

[Hongye Sun [MSFT]]

Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your post. My name is Hongye Sun [MSFT] and it is my pleasure to
work with you on this issue.

It seems to be an environment settings issue. Can you do the following
steps to verify it?

1. Double check if macro is really not run
1) Record a macro to rebuild a solution
2) Open the output view in Visual Studio
3) Run the recorded macro again and check if the output view window's
content changes.

2. Check Macro setting
In Visual Studio -> Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Add-in/Macros
Security -> check "Allow macros to run"

3. Debug Macro in Macros IDE
1) In Visual Studio -> Tools -> Macros -> Macros IDE to open Macros IDE
2) In Macros IDE, in Project Explorer, double click MyMacros /
RecordingModule
3) Find routine named "TemporaryMacro", which records rebuilding action in
previous steps
4) Set a breakpoint of the first line of the routine code at the left
margin of the editor
5) Run the routine, by clicking menu Debug / Start or shortcut key F5 (Note
that please put the cursor inside the "TemporaryMacro" routine, otherwise
it will not be run)
6) Check if the breakpoint is hit and step over it line by line until it
finishes

In addition, please also try the following steps to reset your Visual
Studio environment, that can helps us to exclude the possibilities of third
party packages:

1. Reset Visual Studio Settings
In Visual Studio -> Tools -> Import and Export Settings -> Reset all
settings -> Next -> Next -> Finish

2. Visual Studio Safe Mode
Open Visual Studio Command Prompt -> type "devenv /safemode" -> test macro
and check if it works

3. Reset Visual Studio setups
Open Visual Studio Command Prompt as administrator -> type "devenv /setup"

Other than the methods above, you can also send us the macro script and we
can analyze and debug it in our lab to check if it is correct.

Please let us know if there is anything unclear. In the meanwhile, we will
continue to research on this issue to find out other possible causes.

Have a nice weekend.

Regards,
Hongye Sun (hon...@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msd...@microsoft.com.
 
==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948868.aspx#notifications.
 
Note: MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues
where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support
Engineer within 2 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow
up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support
professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the
most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations
that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions. Issues of this
nature are best handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer
by contacting Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948874.aspx
==================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[paul-shed]

Hongye,

Thanks for the reply. I tried all these and macros still do not work.

I definately have macros enabled, and I've tried resetting the environment
but they still don't work.

My theory is that whatever .net components the macros use are broken. The
.net macro cassette appears very briefly in the tray and then dissapears
again. If I hold down F5 then it flickers very rapidly in the tray, but with
no error message.

When debugging in the IDE code is not run and breakpoints are not hit. I've
used the IDE quite a lot so am quite familiar with it. However the macro IDE
stays in debug mode. I have to hit "stop debugging" to take the ide out of
debug mode.

Even the most trivial of code will not run. If we are to get to the bottom
of this I will need to work out why the .net macro component is not working.

BTW they were working fine, I can't attribute a single event between them
working and not working.

Can you suggest anything else before I try uninstalling VS2008 and
reinstalling?

Regards,

paul-shed

[Hongye Sun [MSFT]]

Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your reply.

I understand that the same macro code worked on your machine before, but it
is not working now. Can you remember if any windows updates or service
packs you have applied during this time? In addition, do you have installed
Visual Studio 2008 SP1?

If SP1 is not installed, please install Visual Studio 2008 SP1first.
(Download link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FBEE1648-7106-44A7-
9649-6D9F6D58056E&displaylang=en) Please do a check of the issue, just
after SP1 is installed.

If it doesn't work, please switch to operating system safe mode and do a
check again.

In order to figure out what components are loaded when running the macro,
please follow the steps below to send us the output and we will do a check
if it is correct:
1. Open Macro IDE
2. Set breakpoint on the function to run and run the function
3. Open output window by clicking menu [View] -> [Output]
4. Copy the output content to us

In the meanwhile, we will try to reproduce the issue in our lab. Can you
provide the following information to us?
1. What is your operating system and service pack version?
2. Can you make sure that you have installed the latest windows update? You
can verify it by [Control Panel] -> [Windows Update] or open link
windowsupdate.microsoft.com in browser.

Please try the methods above before you reinstall the Visual Studio. Thanks
for your cooperation.

Regards,
Hongye Sun (hon...@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msd...@microsoft.com.
 

[paul-shed]

Hongye,

I'm running VS2008 with SP1 under Vista Version 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1
Build 6001.

Here is the output from my VS2008 macro IDE when debugging.

'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\mscorlib\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\mscorlib.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded 'VBAssembly'
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualBasic\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Windows.Forms\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Windows.Forms.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Drawing\2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.Drawing.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Vsa\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.Vsa.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC\EnvDTE80\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\EnvDTE80.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\EnvDTE.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.

And here is the output from another machine, running the same OS and VS2008
version with SP1. On this other machines macros are _working_. So you can see
that the difference below is that there are some debugger libraries that are
not being loaded.

'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_32\mscorlib\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\mscorlib.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded 'VBAssembly'
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualBasic\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Windows.Forms\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Windows.Forms.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Drawing\2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.Drawing.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Vsa\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.Vsa.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC\EnvDTE80\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\EnvDTE80.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC\EnvDTE\8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\EnvDTE.dll',
Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My
Code' is enabled.
'vsmsvr.exe' (Managed): Loaded
'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Debugger.Runtime\9.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Debugger.Runtime.dll'

I've also reinstalled VS2008. This had no effect. The problem is still there.

Regards,

H

[Hongye Sun [MSFT]]

Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your reply.

We did a lot of tests in the VS 2008 SP1 in the same OS and service pack as
your. Unfortunately, we were unable to reproduce this issue so far.

This issue looks strange, because from the output window, all components
are loaded correctly. (In our lab, the content of output window is the same
as your first machine). It seems to be that something goes wrong before
entering the Macro function.

To check if there is any hidden exception thrown during running macro, we
can do following:
1. Open two instances of Visual Studio
2. In the first instance, open menu [Debug] -> [Exceptions] and check all
the exception types listed in "Break when an exception is thrown" list.
3. Still in first instance, open menu [Tools] -> [Attach to Process] ->
select the second Visual Studio instance, and click Select button to change
code type to managed code and native code. Click Attach button.
4. Open second instance, run the macro and check if the first instance
break at any exception.

Another attempt is to create a new vsmacro project and add one new macro
method to run:
Public Module Module1
Sub Macro1()
MsgBox("Macro is run.")
End Sub
End Module

In order to better resolve this issue, we are consulting product team for
suggestions. They may require more information from your side.

In the meanwhile, we will continue to work on this issue in our lab and
look for more possible reasons for you.

Thanks for your effort and cooperation so far.

[paul-shed]

Honye,

I tried this and did not manage to catch any exceptions. Also, I tried using
windg. I did not catch any exceptions in windbg either.

Your message box sub does not work either. I haven't been able to _run_ any
macros for nearly a week now.

Also, I wasn't quite clear on whih debugger I should be using the one in
Visual Studio or the macro IDE. I assumed Visual Studio as that is the only
one that can attach to a process.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a bit futile as a separate
process may be spawned when the macro is run.

Still macros are not working ...

Regards,

paul-shed

[Hongye Sun [MSFT]]

Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your reply.

Finding the root cause of this issue may not be easy. Due to the complexity
and lengthy troubleshooting in this issue, we want to involve more resource
for you. Can you send an email to me at hon...@online.microsoft.com,
remove 'online.'? So that we can discuss this issue more efficiently.
Thanks.

[MiiMiiMoo]

I am having a similar issue - can run anything in MyMacros, recorded or
otherwise. I have found today that if I move my code to a module under the
Samples project I can run/debug it. I'm using VS2008 SP1.

[markwhite]

Hi Hongye,

I have exactly the same problem. It started yesterday. There were no updates but I did have a few crashes in Visual Studio if that helps.

I tried the email address above but my message has "been delayed". Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Mark White

MiiMiiMo wrote:

I am having a similar issue - can run anything in MyMacros, recorded or

23-Dec-08

I am having a similar issue - can run anything in MyMacros, recorded or
otherwise. I have found today that if I move my code to a module under the
Samples project I can run/debug it. I'm using VS2008 SP1.

Previous Posts In This Thread:

On Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:14 PM
shedulik wrote:

VS2008 macros have stopped working
Hello,

Regards,

paul-shed

On Friday, December 12, 2008 4:16 AM
hongye wrote:

Hi paul-shed,Thanks for your post.
Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your post. My name is Hongye Sun [MSFT] and it is my pleasure to

Have a nice weekend.

Regards,

Hongye Sun (hon...@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msd...@microsoft.com.

?

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948868.aspx#notifications.

?

Note: MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues
where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support

Engineer within?2 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow

up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support
professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the
most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations
that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions. Issues of this
nature are best handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer
by contacting Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948874.aspx
==================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Friday, December 12, 2008 4:46 AM
shedulik wrote:

Hongye,Thanks for the reply. I tried all these and macros still do not work.
Hongye,

Thanks for the reply. I tried all these and macros still do not work.

I definately have macros enabled, and I've tried resetting the environment
but they still don't work.

My theory is that whatever .net components the macros use are broken. The

..net macro cassette appears very briefly in the tray and then dissapears

again. If I hold down F5 then it flickers very rapidly in the tray, but with
no error message.

When debugging in the IDE code is not run and breakpoints are not hit. I've
used the IDE quite a lot so am quite familiar with it. However the macro IDE
stays in debug mode. I have to hit "stop debugging" to take the ide out of
debug mode.

Even the most trivial of code will not run. If we are to get to the bottom
of this I will need to work out why the .net macro component is not working.

BTW they were working fine, I can't attribute a single event between them
working and not working.

Can you suggest anything else before I try uninstalling VS2008 and
reinstalling?

Regards,

paul-shed

""Hongye Sun [MSFT]"" wrote:

On Monday, December 15, 2008 1:53 AM
hongye wrote:

Hi paul-shed,Thanks for your reply.
Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your reply.

I understand that the same macro code worked on your machine before, but it

Regards,

Hongye Sun (hon...@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msd...@microsoft.com.

?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Monday, December 15, 2008 12:20 PM
shedulik wrote:

Hongye,I'm running VS2008 with SP1 under Vista Version 6.0.
Hongye,

Regards,

H

""Hongye Sun [MSFT]"" wrote:

On Tuesday, December 16, 2008 5:25 AM
hongye wrote:

Hi paul-shed,Thanks for your reply.
Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your reply.

We did a lot of tests in the VS 2008 SP1 in the same OS and service pack as

Regards,

Hongye Sun (hon...@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
msd...@microsoft.com.

?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Tuesday, December 16, 2008 6:19 AM
shedulik wrote:

Honye,I tried this and did not manage to catch any exceptions.
Honye,

I tried this and did not manage to catch any exceptions. Also, I tried using
windg. I did not catch any exceptions in windbg either.

Your message box sub does not work either. I haven't been able to _run_ any
macros for nearly a week now.

Also, I wasn't quite clear on whih debugger I should be using the one in
Visual Studio or the macro IDE. I assumed Visual Studio as that is the only
one that can attach to a process.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a bit futile as a separate
process may be spawned when the macro is run.

Still macros are not working ...

Regards,

paul-shed

""Hongye Sun [MSFT]"" wrote:

On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 4:50 AM
hongye wrote:

Hi paul-shed,Thanks for your reply.
Hi paul-shed,

Thanks for your reply.

?

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:37 PM
MiiMiiMo wrote:

Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice
Overriding Deserialization of Persisted Workflow Instances
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/40fe2b27-ef79-45d0-82e1-6eca3ed67df8/overriding-deserialization-of-persisted-workflow-instances.aspx

[brentpease]

If this was resolved could the solution be posted here?

Thanks,
Brent

Mark White wrote:

I have a problem too
08-Jul-10

Hi Hongye,

I have exactly the same problem. It started yesterday. There were no updates but I did have a few crashes in Visual Studio if that helps.

I tried the email address above but my message has "been delayed". Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Mark White

Previous Posts In This Thread:

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NoSQL, MongoDB Install, Lotus Notes, and CouchDB
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/63de8012-127a-4478-8725-3e1c27969596/nosql-mongodb-install-lotus-notes-and-couchdb.aspx

[Mark White]

Hi,

Is there any news on this issue?

Thanks

Mark

Brent Pease wrote:

This problem started for me a few days ago as well
10-Jul-10

If this was resolved could the solution be posted here?

Thanks,
Brent

Previous Posts In This Thread:

On Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:14 PM
shedulik wrote:

Regards,

paul-shed

Have a nice weekend.

Regards,

paul-shed

""Hongye Sun [MSFT]"" wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

Regards,

H

""Hongye Sun [MSFT]"" wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

Regards,

paul-shed

""Hongye Sun [MSFT]"" wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

On Thursday, July 08, 2010 10:22 AM
Mark White wrote:

I have a problem too

Hi Hongye,

I have exactly the same problem. It started yesterday. There were no updates but I did have a few crashes in Visual Studio if that helps.

I tried the email address above but my message has "been delayed". Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Mark White

On Saturday, July 10, 2010 1:02 AM
Brent Pease wrote:

This problem started for me a few days ago as well

If this was resolved could the solution be posted here?

Thanks,
Brent

Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice

[Mark White]

I have my macros working again.
Simply create a new macro project and module, copy the macros into it then unload the old ones.

Mark White wrote:

VS2000 Macros
27-Jul-10

Hi,

Is there any news on this issue?

Thanks

Mark

Previous Posts In This Thread:

Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice

Store ASP.NET Site Visitor Stats in MongoDb
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/3a73c6de-82a1-4690-a7aa-d0eda58203f7/store-aspnet-site-visitor-stats-in-mongodb.aspx

[andre.ga...@hotmail.fr]

"Mark White" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
20107810225...@sysmedia.com...

[sergey....@opencascade.com]

Hello,

Please provide me with information whether there is decision for this problem. Today 12.02.2014 VS2008 Macros have stopped working. They even cannot be launched by F5 in Macros IDE.

Regards,
Sergey

[zio...@gmail.com]

Hi Sergey,

Solutioni for your problem is on this page:
http://visualstudioextensions.vlasovstudio.com/2014/02/13/visual-studio-2010-macros-stop-working-after-february-2014-windows-update/

[lianl...@gmail.com]

THANK GOD!!!

[gggus...@gmail.com]

Thanks,

Gus