Samsung / Dexter

Dexter is a static analysis platform to find and remove defects efficiently and immediately during the coding-time.
BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" License
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Total failure to function #186

Open jfitter opened 5 years ago

jfitter commented 5 years ago

I recently became aware that a previously functioning dexter plugin no longer worked in VS2015. Re-installation did not fix the issue. The installer reports success and the Dexter menu appears, however all menu options are greyed and do not function. In tools/options/dexter a message states "an error occurred loading this property page".

This has occurred without warning to a previously functioning installation. Unless this can be fixed quickly I will abandon this tool and search for a better one.

Minjung-Baek commented 5 years ago

Hi, We apologize for the inconvenience. Could you attach a screenshot or a log? Please attach the screen with the disabled menu and the Dexter Settings to help us solve this problem. We will review it as soon as possible.

JanSawicki commented 5 years ago

Hello jfitter,

thank you for your feedback! I looked further into your issue, but I will need a bit more information to proceed and help you.

Unfortunately, I could not reproduce the error "an error occurred loading this property page". Perhaps you could provide any more details? That would help a lot.

Apart from that, do I understand correctly that after a fresh installation, in Visual Studio 2015 all options are greyed out? Because if so, then it is the default action that should happen in a newly installed Dexter.

In order for Dexter to work you have to have to configure it first. The minimum you have to do is to point to the Dexter/DexterCS home directory and (preferably) configure the Dexter server. The steps you may take are:

  1. Go to the Dexter settings
  2. Check the "Enable Dexter/DexterCS home directory"
  3. Provide the directory in the textbox that will become enabled
  4. (You may leave "Analysis on save" checked/unchecked - as you prefer)
  5. Uncheck the "Standalone analysis"
  6. Provide the Dexter Server address (remember to put the appropriate port) and credentials (username and password)

I hope that Dexter will work properly for you after that. Feel free to ask more questions!

jfitter commented 5 years ago

I re-installed dexter with the following result;

The dexter menu is non-functional. I cannot go to the settings page. I can't capture the menu either so a description must suffice. All items in the dexter menu are enabled but items in sub menus are grayed. No menu items function, despite being enabled. Click on settings and nothing happens. Click on open dexter dashboard and nothing happens. click on any other menu item and a grayed sub menu appears.

In tools/dexter the following message is displayed "An error occurred loading this property page"

When first installed, dexter worked. There is nothing unusual about my vs installation. Dexter's failure was arbitrary and unpredictable. I will not be reinstalling vs - too much effort to re-configure it to my liking.

Any help would be appreciated.

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jfitter commented 5 years ago

I just got dexter working again. Uninstall, delete cli folders, edit registry to remove dexter entries, then re-install with the latest cli.

Not happy. I should not need a registry edit to uninstall software. Uninstall from vs leaves hundreds of dexter references in the registry. Some are ok but many are not and should have been removed.

I am uncertain which action resolved the problem but the two most probable are removing the registry entries and deleting the cli folder. The old cli was v9xxx and the new is v10xxx.

This has been a very messy business.

JanSawicki commented 5 years ago

Hi @jfitter,

we are happy that your Dexter works again! Moreover, we kindly thank you for the thorough feedback.

I believe that one of our developers already managed to reproduce your error. So it will be easier to work on it and prevent similar issues happening to long-term users of Dexter.

Thank you for your feedback and wish you a successful time hunting those pesky defects with Dexter!