WPF Designer "Could not create an instance of type"

In my UI XAML I'm essentially inheriting from a class "BaseView" that contains functionality common to several forms, however this is preventing the designer from displaying the form: "Could not create instance of type BaseView". The code will compile and run, but it is frustrating not to be able to see the form in the Designer. Is there a better way? Thanks.

XAML:

<vw:BaseView 
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:vw="clr-namespace:ReviewClient"   
    x:Class="ReviewClient.MainPage"

...

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1 Answer

I found a very useful solution to this on : http://www.progware.org/Blog/post/WPF-Designer-Error-Could-not-create-an-instance-of-type.aspx.

This link explains how the WPF designer window runs the Constructor to display the UI in XAML and the remedy: adding the following snippet to any part of constructor code which might be giving error:

if(!System.ComponentModel.DesignerProperties.GetIsInDesignMode(this))
{
   //code producing exception         
}

the function name is self explanatory. :) This link also provides solutions on debugging issues with XAML.

answered 2013-01-29T12:08:54.417

WPF Designer "Could not create an instance of type"

1 Answer

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