Why am I getting 'is not defined' when it was defined last open in VB. 2015?

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We have many VB.Net Windows Desktop apps in VB.Net. This particular one in 2015.

What we have been noticing over the past couple of months is that apps that have not changed when opened in VB are now getting errors like "Type 'SHDocVw.InternetExlorer' is not defined". Apparently the references can no longer be found???

In this case it relates to:

Dim WithEvents oauthBrowser As New SHDocVw.InternetExplorer()

which is getting the error.

Other apps with the same exact code (original code was copied years ago) and reference are NOT getting the error. Some also on VB.2015 and some on VB.2017.

This just doesn't make sense to me and for this app I cannot even figure out how to fix it. The 4 other apps do NOT have any references to Interop.SHDocVw or anything else related. I checked all the IMPORT statements, references and included namespaces and they are all the same.

So why is this happening and how to fix it?

Thanks

What I have tried:

Restarting VB.Net, Rebooting. Clean Project, Rebuild

Posted 3-Oct-19 2:59am

QuickBooksDev

Updated 3-Oct-19 5:21am

v2

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Richard Deeming 3-Oct-19 9:08am

Could be a 64-bit / 32-bit issue. I suspect you'll need to force the application to target x86 if you're going to reference the IE COM controls.

QuickBooksDev 3-Oct-19 10:17am

All the apps are the same 32 bit. The app is several years old. So why would it fail now? It has also happened on other apps. But this one I can't figure out. They all get put into C:\Program Files (x86).

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phil.o · Answer 1 · 2019-10-03T03:36:00

Solution 1

Someone may have used the search and replace function of the IDE and replaced all occurrences, solution-wide, of Inter by Integer, which would lead to strange names such as IntegernetExplorer.

I would bet it's someone's misuse of search & replace function...

Posted 3-Oct-19 3:36am

phil.o

Updated 3-Oct-19 3:38am

v4

Comments

Richard Deeming 3-Oct-19 9:37am

That would be a "clbuttic" mistake. :)

phil.o 3-Oct-19 9:38am

Clearly ^^

QuickBooksDev 3-Oct-19 10:15am

Don't understand. The code is
Dim WithEvents oauthBrowser As New SHDocVw.InternetExplorer()
There is no IntegernetExporter in the solution. At least the find couldn't find it.

I am the only one who works on this app.

As a side note.
I agree what the VS Find/Replace leaves a lot to be desired. I have found that it can change modules that are generated like Designers, etc. There should be an option to only change modules that are user created not generated.

Also some times the code behind a form doesn't load properly and you don't know it. Find will not find anything in it. If you try to do a view code it comes up blank. You have to X out of the code and then redo the view code.

phil.o 3-Oct-19 10:54am

Quoted from your own question:

What we have been noticing over the past couple of months is that apps that have not changed when opened in VB are now getting errors like "Type 'SHDocVw.IntegernetExlorer' is not defined". Apparently the references can no longer be found???

QuickBooksDev 3-Oct-19 11:19am

The IntegernetExplorer was a typo entering the text. Sorry. It is as I copied and pasted InternetExplorer.

QuickBooksDev 4-Oct-19 8:08am

So any ideas anyone? It is still undefined.

phil.o 4-Oct-19 8:21am

In which assembly is the namespace SHDocVw defined?

QuickBooksDev 4-Oct-19 10:03am

Good question but I don't know. In the programs that are working and don't get that error there are no other references to it anywhere in the solution based on the VS find. This is true in the failing app also.

I was able to finally get it resolved by including a reference for Interop.ShDocVw.dll from the other apps folder.

Still do not understand why this app has this problem and why references that have been there for years just seem to disappear.

phil.o 4-Oct-19 10:15am

Glad you solved it. Maybe a change/update of the IDE caused this, or maybe not. If you are using a version-control system, it might bring clues about what happened.

QuickBooksDev 4-Oct-19 10:18am

Only solved the immediate build error but have no idea why references are disappearing and why the other programs did not have the issue. It is just scary.