Renaming C# symbols reports errors

[craxal]

After running Visual Studio 2015 for a while, renaming stops working, reporting an error: "Object reference not set to an instance of object." Repro is difficult, because when first launching VS, rename works just fine. Dumps aren't retrievable, because VS doesn't crash when this issue happens.

Things to try

1. Create an ASP.NET MVC project with a Cloud Service project.
2. Build and run the project at least once. Terminate project execution.
3. Press F2 over an existing symbol defined in the project.
4. Add one or two new classes (controllers or views may work, too).
5. Press F2 over the new class name.

Expected

• The rename box appears, the symbol name is highlighted, and the user can rename the symbol.

Actual

• Error dialog appears with the message: "Object reference not set to an instance of object."

[Pilchie]

We've see a report of this issue before (http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/1050027/connect-visual-studio-2015-variable-rename-throws-nullreferenceexception), but we haven't been able to reproduce it. Any chance you could attach a debugger to VS the next time this starts to happen and capture a memory dump at the time of the NullReferenceException?

[Pilchie]

Actually, that report is on VS2013, so it's probably not related.

[dpoeschl]

I also tried to reproduce this for a while but was unsuccessful. How often does this happen to you?

When the failure occurs, what's the state of the left-most navigation bar? Does it contain the project name or say "Miscellaneous Files"?

I'd also like to reiterate Pilchie's request for a memory dump at the time of the NullReferenceException.

[dpoeschl]

Hi @craxal, have you seen problem occur again?

[dpoeschl]

Closing this for now. If you see it again or can provide more context, please re-open. Thanks!