Visual Studio Go to Definition (F12) opens Object Browser instead of Code View

Question

I'm running VS2005, and when I right click on an object and select Go to Definition it brings me to the object browser instead of the actual code.

Is there some settings that I can change to fix this? Note: it works properly for C# solutions, I am having the problem with Basic.

Solution 1

I usually see this when I have a reference to the library added as a "binary" reference rather than a "project" reference. You might need to remove the reference and add it back from the projects tab.

Solution 2

This can also be caused by mismatched versions of the .Net framework in your advanced compile options.

I noticed that one of my projects was set as .net 3.5 and another was .net 4.0.

When I clicked Go To Definition (f12) on the .net 4.0 project, the code in the .net 3.5 project would only be shown in the object browser.

Luckily I am able to change both to be the same without any issues, but those with established code libraries may need to beware when changing the .net version.

Solution 3

I saw this too while using Visual Studio 2015, in (C/C++) native projects, after switching between different git branches. The solution is to close VS, go in $(SolutionDir) and delete the .sdf file, then reopen the solution.

Comments

[Kevin]

your right, it's referenced to a dll. Is this the only way to reference something in VB.NET that is written in C#?

[Partha Choudhury]

You should be able to add both C# and VB.NET projects to a single soluion and should be able to access code from the VB project from the C# project and vice versa. You just can't mix C# and VB.NET in within a project.

[Giulio Caccin]

You can't navigate in a single solution between vb.net and c# code using Visual Studio Go to Definition (F12), for that purpose you need something like resharper.

[BornToCode]

@ParthaChoudhury - After reading your comment I tried to do it myself - and I can confirm it did NOT work. Go to definition is not working between C# and VB.NET.

[ajcaruana]

I had this issue with VS2015 Update 2 C/C++ native projects as well. I followed your solution but did not have any .sdf file. Nevertheless I removed the .db file and ipch folder and it worked.