Visual Studio 2008 XML editor disappeared?

Question

My visual studio xml editor is gone. So when I open for example a web.config file it's shown like a plain text file. If I right click -> Open with: the XML Editor option it's not longer there. Anyone had this problem before??. I've tried repairing the installation and uninstall/install but it didn't fixed it. Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

The only issue that I can see surviving a install/reinstall is a supressed package load failure. Try running the following from a command shell. I'm assuming that Visual Studio is installed at the location "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0"

"c:\program files\microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\common7\ide\devenv.cmd" /ResetSkipPkgs

This will reset all skipped package suppression.

If this works then at some point in time when starting VS or loading a file you were presented with a crytpic dialog that said "Some XML Package failed to load ... " and had a yes/no option. Choosing yes will prevent VS from loading that package in the future and hence preventing the XML editor from loading.

I believe this value is stored within a user registry hive. So it's possible that it would survive uninstall. If this works please let me know as I'd like to file a bug.

Edit I was able to confirm with the owner of this /ResetSkipPkgs feature that this issue will be fixed in the next version of Visual Studio (post VS2008).

Answer 2

Unfortunately, for me the XML Editor is still gone :(

Answer 3

This fixed to me the problem of XML Editor in Visual Studio 2008: (.exe, NOT .cmd)

"c:\program files\microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\common7\ide\devenv.exe" /ResetSkipPkgs

Answer 4

worked for me too (devenv.exe) in 2008/64 bit. Thanks!

Answer 5

"c:\Program Files (x86)\microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\common7\ide\devenv.exe" /ResetSkipPkgs" It's working in my case

Answer 6

great work for me too

"c:\program files\microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\common7\ide\devenv.exe" /ResetSkipPkgs