How do I find all namespaces in my Visual Studio solution?

Question

I ask this question because I'm getting a compilation error in my solution: 'GiftCard' is a 'namespace' but is used like a 'type'

I tried adding a using directive like: using GiftCard.Data.Entity;

which is the correct namespace where GiftCard is found, but the error does not go away. When I add the fully qualified name in my code, i.e. GiftCard.Data.Entity.GiftCard

...then the error goes away, and code compiles.

But I'm wondering why the using directive does not work. I don't want to clutter my code with the fully qualified name every time I need to use the type. Somehow the error message is saying that I have GiftCard defined as a namespace somewhere. So how can I find all the namespaces in my solution so that I know where it is defined because I need to either remove or rename the GiftCard namespace.

Solution 1

Your have a different question and a different problem.

The Problem

The Framework Design Guidelines says Do not use the same name for a namespace and a type in that namespace.

For example, do not use Debug as a namespace name and then also provide a class named Debug in the same namespace. Several compilers require such types to be fully qualified.

That is:

namespace Debug
{
    public class Debug{ … }
}

OR

namespace MyContainers.List
{
    public class List { … }
}

Why is this badness? Do not name a class the same as its namespace

Answer for the Question

View -> Object Browser (Shortcut : Ctrl+Alt+J)

Solution 2

Use Powershell:

dir -r -filter *.cs | Select-String -pattern "^using" | Select-Object -expand Line -unique  | Format-List -property Line

Run the above in a solution's root directory and the output will be something like:

using NUnit.Framework;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;

For more info take a look at this page.

Comments

[Ray]

Yes, I realized that somehow I used GiftCard as both a namespace and a type. I did find the project where the Project Properties had a Default Namespace of GiftCard. So I renamed it to something else (i.e. GiftCard.Client). But even after doing that, I still get the same compilation error. Now I cannot find where GiftCard is defined as a namespace, which is why I asked the question the way I did because I want to see if GiftCard is one of them. Is there another place I should look to find that namespace?

[CharithJ]

@Ray: Did you rebuild the solution?

[CharithJ]

@Ray: View -> Object Browser (Shortcut : Ctrl+Alt+J)

[Ray]

Yes I rebuilt the solution. I also checked the Object Browser and when I search GiftCard, it appears 5 times in the left pane (as namespaces), but when I select each one, nothing appears on the right panes. The name of my solution is GiftCard, could that be the problem?

[CharithJ]

Did you restart VS? What's the exact error message you get?

[Ray]

I ran this powershell script but nothing on the list shows GiftCard as a namespace. There are however, namespaces like GiftCard.Data.Entity, GiftCard.Web.Controllers, GiftCard.Domain.Repository, etc.

[Ray]

Yes, restarted VS, and still the same error: "GiftCard is a namespace but is used like a type". Man this is mind boggling.

[CharithJ]

@Ray: On Object Browser, you can double click on each namespace and it will show you all classes under that namespace. Double click to view the class. There should be more namespace usages....

[Ray]

That's what's strange, when I double-click the GiftCard namespace in Object Browser, nothing happens. No classes appear. Nothing. The panes on the right show nothing.

[CharithJ]

@Ray: Try deleting .suo file in your solution folder. And renaming the default namespace may not change auto generated files. You may have to find all 'GiftCard' strings in your solution. Sorry mate, this is my last guess. Good Luck!

[Ray]

Tried deleting the .suo file, I even deleted all bin folders and regenerated. Still no success. There is a phantom namespace called GiftCard in my solution that I cannot seem to find. Something tells me that it's because the name of my solution is GiftCard so this causes a conflict perhaps...Thanks for your help and your time anyways.

[CharithJ]

Have a look at here (which I've included in my answer) : blogs.msdn.com/b/ericlippert/archive/2010/03/09/… Apparently you cannot have GiftCard.xxx.xxx namespaces. I think the easiest way is to keep using the full path to your objects rather than changing all.