Getting Silverlight XAML Intellisense in VS2008

I've gotten the question a number of times about problems getting intellisense with Visual Studio 2008. If your XAML looks like this in Visual Studio 2008 then I can help you:

The problem stems from the fact that VS2008 wants to open .xaml files in the WPF Designer. Instead you can get intellisense and a better-faster experience if you open your Silverlight XAML files in the XML Editor. Most people assume that the intellisense is the lack of the Silverlight XSD file in the installation, but in fact VS2008 includes the Silverlight XSD document (but is unaptly named WPFE.XSD). To solve the problem of opening the file in th wrong editor, right click your XAML file in the solution explorer and pick "Open With..." (see right).

Once that dialog is open, you can pick the "XML Editor" and it will open the file with full intellisense. I usually click the "Set Default" button as well to always open XAML files (for both WPF and Silverlight) in the XML editor. I use Blend to edit these files and I am not a big fan of the built-in editor (as it seems to be designed mostly for Windows Forms developers to create simple experiences. You can see the "Open With..." dialog below:

Let me know if you have any questions!

Feb, 4, 2008, 6:13 PM |
17 Comment(s)
Tag(s): Silverlight, Visual Studio

Comments:

Thanks again for this info.

ihtesham (Posted Thursday, February 07, 2008 )

If I do as you say .. I loose intellisense ? is there a way to fix it ?

/Bo

Bo (Posted Wednesday, September 10, 2008 )

Bo,

This is old info. Make sure you're opening your XAML files with the XAML editor (not the XML editor) and you'll get intellisense.

Shawn Wildermuth (Posted Wednesday, September 10, 2008 )

Where is the XAML Editor? The only options I get are: XML Editor (Default), XML Editor with Encoding, Source Code (Text) editor [and with encoding], HTML Editor [and with encoding], Notepad, Binary Editor, and Resource Editor

DKermott (Posted Saturday, November 01, 2008 )

DKermott,

This is no longer an option. You must use their XAML editor. If you aren't getting XAML editor, you may not have the Silverlight 2 Tools installed.

Shawn Wildermuth (Posted Saturday, November 01, 2008 )

Also...
If I click on Tools->Options->Text Editor->XAML->Formatting I get the message "an error occurred loading this property page"
Help, Mr. Wizard!

DKermott (Posted Saturday, November 01, 2008 )

DKermott,

Sounds like you have a bad installation of the Silverlight 2 tools. I would uninstall the tools, the sdk and the silverlight runtime and re-install the setup package (it installs all three).

Shawn Wildermuth (Posted Saturday, November 01, 2008 )

the solution elsewhere:

http://forums.msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/vswpfdesigner/thread/053dc5c3-27fe-4ea2-a7f5-5c6cf35000bb/

Opening the Start->Run command and entering "devenv /resetskippkgs" was all it took!

goryny4 (Posted Tuesday, March 03, 2009 )

What about the XAML-specific commands in JavaScript? It would be nice if Intellisense would suggest i.e. "findName" when i write "sender.". Is there a solution?

Daniel Vogt (Posted Tuesday, March 24, 2009 )

Daniel,

What do you mean XAML specific commands in JavaScript?

Shawn Wildermuth (Posted Tuesday, March 24, 2009 )

I would like to have the attribute names and the method names of XAML elements like Canvas, Rectangle etc. For example if I write 'sender.' in an event handler function, intellisense should deliver 'findName' as a regular method of the sender. If the sender is a Rectangle, Intellisense should furthermore show 'Stroke' an so on.
I found a complete Intellisense Javascript Toolkit for Silverlight 1 on this site: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/justinangel/archive/2007/08/01/Silverlight-1.0-full-Javascript-Intellisense.aspx.
Probably it's the only way solving my issue.

Daniel Vogt (Posted Wednesday, March 25, 2009 )

goryny4 - You are the Man! Thanks for the great tip! Works like a charm! Thanks again..

G Miller (Posted Saturday, May 23, 2009 )