VS 2003 Reports "unable to get the project file from the web server" when opening a solution from VSS

Question

When attempting to open a project from source control on a newly formatted pc, I receive an "unable to get the project file from the web server" after getting the sln file from VSS. If I attempt to open the sln file from explorer, I also receive the same error.

Any pointers or ideas?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to create the empty folders in your solution to replace the files from server. When you use sln or csproj files in your local development area, you will see the folders and files tree and most probably files with x mark indicating that they are missing. Folders will not have the x mark however, they are missing too. You need to create the folder first so that you can replace from the server.

Answer 2

This question is very old so you have probably solved the issue, but just in case: Does the project file use IIS? If so then it is probably trying to read the project file from IIS and the virtual directory does not exist on the newly formatted computer. Also, there should be more detail about the message in the Output window when you open the solution which should help you find the cause. With VS2003, you also need to add your user account to the "Debugger Users" and "VS Developers" and possibly the account that is running the AppPool (possibly Network Server, ASPNET, or IUSER_xxx). This may depend on the type of authentication you are using as well. Occasionally I had to add those group permissions the the virtual directory location as well. It's been a while since I have used VS2003 with web projects though.

Answer 3

Is there anything odd in your sln file? Have you opened it with a text editor to see if it is linking to a remote resource?

Answer 4

Try deleting the .csproj files (back them up first though).