Cannot Open .sln (Solution File)

2007-02-06

Question

_{Tuesday, February 6, 2007 8:03 PM}

I installed Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Version 8.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200).

Other information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0.50727

Installed into: Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, Service Pack 1

Steps to duplicate the error:

1. Click Start\All Programs\Microsoft Visual Studio 2005\Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

2. Click File\Open\Project/Solution

3. At the Open Project dialogue box, navigate to the location of *.sln file, select *.sln file, click open. I get this error:

The application for project 'C:\vbnet03sbs\chap01\MusicTrivia\MusicTrivia.vbproj' is not installed.

Make sure the application for the project type (.vbproj) is installed.

I am simply trying to open sample solutions (*.sln) with vb projects (*.vbproj). Can anyone please help me?

jules_newbie.

All replies (13)

_{Wednesday, February 7, 2007 2:05 PM ✅Answered}

Which version of Visual Studio are you installing?

Express Editions of Visual Studio are specific to one language either VB or C#.

Therefore if you attempt to open a VB project(which you did) with a C# installation of express it won't work. I would suggest downloading the express version of VB as well or better yet downloading the trial edition of Visual Studio Professional. This version will have both languages installed as well as several other tools not available in express editions that will make your development process much easier.

Hope this helps.

Chris McNear

_{Monday, February 12, 2007 4:05 PM ✅Answered}

Well it appears that you do not have VB. Net installed.

Yes you are correct that VS 2005 is the IDE for developing all of the different .NET supported langauges. The reason you cannot open the specified type of solution file is that it contains a project of a type that your current version of the IDE does not support.

Microsoft released VS 2005 in many versions the version you are using is called the express edition and is FREE the express edition had some limitations due to its price tag. One of the limitations was that it only supported one language in this case it appears to be C# for you.

I have not had course to use the express editions side by side unfortunately so I am unsure of how they install and whether they work side by side.

My reccomendation is for you to look into purchasing the professional edition of VS 2005 which would provide you with the functionality it seems that you are expecting. In order to verify that this definitely solves your issue you can always download a trial version of this version at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa718668.aspx

I hope this helps.

Chris McNear

_{Saturday, March 10, 2007 9:07 PM ✅Answered}

I suspect that VB Express cannot open solution files created byan early form of VB 2005 Professional or standard.

The fix is easy (or at least easyish) - simply re-create your solution by creating a new solution and then adding any .vb and .Designer.vb forms from original solution and then any specific resources (images etc).

For example, I needed to do this to run the sampl code from "The Book of Visual Basic 2005" by Matthew MacDonald (NoStarch).

Bob

_{Tuesday, February 6, 2007 11:06 PM}

Hi,

Are you sure you have VB.NET installed?

_{Saturday, February 10, 2007 3:01 PM}

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure whether I have installed VB.NET. Also, I don't know how to install VB.NET. Are you talking about installing VB.NET into Visual Studio 2005? I don't know how to do that. If we are talking about the same thing, then please help me on the steps to install VB.NET into Visual Studio 2005.

Additional information which might help you help me:

I installed Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition into my server, is that equal to the "VB.NET" that you are talking about? Well, if they are equal, then I don't know what to do, because as far as the installation of MS VB 2005 Express Ed. was concerned, there were no errors.

I really appreciate your reply,

Jules_Newbie

_{Saturday, February 10, 2007 3:19 PM}

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. Below are the information on the items installed within my Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. It is the complete information including the information about my MS Visual Studio 2005 IDE. As you can see (and I hope Peter from the previous reply is also reading this) Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926747) is also installed... along with other languages: By the way, the information below is what I got when I click on Help, About Microsoft Visual Studio. Then I clicked the Copy Info button.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Version 8.0.50727.762 (SP.050727-7600)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Version 2.0.50727

Installed Edition: IDE Standard

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926747)
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926747

Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926749)
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926749

Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926748)
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926748

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Premier Partner Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926601)
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Premier Partner Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926601

Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926751)
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition - ENU.
If you later install a more recent service pack, this service pack will be uninstalled automatically.
For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926751

SQL Server Reporting Services
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Designers
Version 9.00.2047.00

I have additional quesions, if you don't mind:

1. Isn't it that Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing VB.NET, C#.NET, C++.NET & J#.NET projects? If yes, then why can't I open a simple *.sln (solution file) within Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (Please see my version above).

2. I really do not understand the purpose of this Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. If it cannot open a solution file, then what's the point of using this for development. I still have the same error (see my original post) when I try to open na *.sln file - even after I installed all the languages including VB (see version of my VB above).

I really appreciate your help.

Jules.

_{Monday, February 12, 2007 5:22 PM}

Chris is correct, you can install all the express SKUs side by side but because they're free, they won't give you the same support as installing VS Standard (or any higher product).

Your only option is to purchase and install VS Standard (or a higher SKU such as Pro, Team Suite, etc).

_{Monday, February 12, 2007 6:36 PM}

Chris,

Thank you again for your reply. If I look at the Help, About Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, it clearly says that I have installed VB.Net. I posted this information in my previous reply, but here it is again:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Version 8.0.50727.762 (SP.050727-7600)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Version 2.0.50727

Installed Edition: IDE Standard

Therefore I conclude that even installing VB.Net will not solve this issue. Quite frankly, it is hard to believe that Microsoft would make Visual Studio 2005 as their main IDE for all the Express Editions (including VB) and at the same time disallow opening of *.vbproj files. Based on the information I got from Microsoft, the VS 2005 Express Editions support VB, C#, C++ & J# (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/default.aspx#general)... which was why I became enthusiastic about learning VB.

My goal is simple: To use VS 2005 Express (FREE) Editions to learn VB.Net. This is because I honestly believe what they say in the VS 2005 Express FAQ page (as Microsoft advertised it to be) - that it supports 4 languages including VB. Spending $799 to purchase VS 2005 Professional would be outside my goal. I am only a newbie and trying to learn VB, so spending a lot of money is not practical. I thought the way to go for me was to use the FREE editions, but since you said that it only supports C# (or it appears to be in my case), then I guess my goal is unattainable and that it would definitely injure my enthusiasm about learning VB using VS 2005 FREE Editions.

I still believe that VS 2005 FREE editions would support VB (as what Microsoft advertised it to be), therefore I will continue to find ways in order to - at least open a simple *.sln (solution file).

Thanks and have a nice day,

Jules_Newbie (back to zero)

_{Sunday, February 18, 2007 3:32 AM}

Try repairing your VB Express installation. Perhaps the registration of .vbproj files got corrupt after you installed something else or the service pack.

_{Sunday, February 25, 2007 3:19 AM}

I have Visual Studio 2005 Professional and I too can not open a pre-2005 solution or project either.

It is extremely dissapointing.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Version 8.0.50727.762 (SP.050727-7600)
Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0.50727

Installed Edition: Professional

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005
Microsoft Visual C# 2005
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005
Microsoft Visual J# 2005

Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office
Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005
Microsoft Web Application Projects 2005   Version 8.0.50727.762
Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition - ENU Service Pack 1 (KB926601)
This service pack is for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition - ENU.

Is there any reccomendations (fixes) for Visual Studio Professional, to open pre-2005 solutions and projects?

I get the same error:

One or more projects in the solution could not be loaded for the
following reason(s):
The application for the project is not installed.
These projects will be labeled as unavailable in Solution Explorer. Expand the project node to show the reason the project could not be loaded.

Any and all help greatly appreciated

_{Wednesday, March 28, 2007 8:35 AM}

Hello:

I just fixed the problem that you are asking about.

What happened is that during the installation of Visual Studio '05, the C# language selections were enabled but all of the Visual Basic options were not.

I did an uninstall and reinstall (probably not necessary) of the visual studio system, and during the reinstallation, selected a custom install. In the custom install I enabled both the C# options as well as the Visual Basic options.

Everything now works like a charm.

I hope that this is not too late to be helpful.

Good Luck

Harold

_{Friday, May 2, 2008 4:38 PM}

My installation of Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite (64 bit) is installed side-by-side with Visual Studio 2008 Team System - Team Suite on a Windows 2003 64-bit server. I can't open a vs2005 solution file in vs2005. I can open a vs2005 .vbproj file. I also can't create a new visual basic project file because I get the dreaded "the application for project (somepath\somefile) .vbproj is not installed."

I tried repairing visual studio 2005, with no success. What else can I try? The problem must be related to either: 1) the 64 bit version of the operating system and visual studio 2005. 2) The side-by-side installation caused the error state.

Any ideas on how to solve this? I have seen posts on the express edition having problems, but this is the Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite edition. I saw a work around about recreating the solution and project files in visual studio, but I can't even create a new visual basic project.

Thanks,

Ananda

_{Friday, August 1, 2008 7:36 AM}

I have quite the same problem.
I try to open an solution (.sln) file, but instead i get the message:

"The project file ***.csproj cannot be opened.
The project type is not supported by this installation."

Then, i get a message about source control
"The project Senscel.CommonLibrary.csproj appears to be under source control, but the associated source control plug-in is not installed on this computer. Source control will be disabled for this project."

What may be the solution to my problem?
Note that i use VS 2005 professional.

Thanks in advance..

Charis

btw, the programs i have installed are the following:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Version 8.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Version 2.0.50727 SP1

Installed Edition: Professional

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 77626-009-0000007-41950
Microsoft Visual Basic 2005

Microsoft Visual C# 2005 77626-009-0000007-41950
Microsoft Visual C# 2005

Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 77626-009-0000007-41950
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005

Microsoft Visual J# 2005 77626-009-0000007-41950
Microsoft Visual J# 2005

Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 77626-009-0000007-41950
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005

Crystal Reports AAC60-G0CSA4B-V7000AY
Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005

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Cannot Open .sln (Solution File)

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