WinForms on Junian Dev

WinForms 32-bit 'Designer Could Not Be Shown' Issue

author@junian.dev (Junian Triajianto) — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 10:30:40 +0700

When I was working on a company WinForms project in Visual Studio, I encountered the following error:

The designer could not be shown for this file because none of the classes within it can be designed. The designer inspected the following classes in the file: frmDataEditor — The base class ‘Client.Forms’ could not be loaded. Ensure the assembly has been referenced and that all projects have been built.

Here’s the complete Stack Trace:

Folder Browser Dialog on Windows with C#

author@junian.dev (Junian Triajianto) — Sun, 05 May 2024 13:42:11 +0700

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the process of implementing a folder selection UI using C#.

In many applications, users need to specify a folder where certain files will be saved or retrieved. Providing a user-friendly way to select folders enhances the overall usability of your application.

To implement a folder selection dialog in C#, we’ll use the FolderBrowserDialog class provided by the .NET framework. This class allows users to browse and select folders from their file system with ease.

Can't Open Form [Design] View in WinForms Project

author@junian.dev (Junian Triajianto) — Sun, 05 May 2024 09:48:56 +0700

Have you ever been developing a WinForms project and encountered a situation where you couldn’t use the View Designer?

This problem can occur when you’re using the latest SDK-style project but are still targeting an older version of .NET, such as 4.8 or below.

Rest assured, you’re not alone. The solution is rather straightforward.

In Visual Studio, simply right-click on your project file and select Edit Project File.

Now, you just need to include a new ItemGroup for your Form files.