Visual Studio .NET 2003 Problem

Okay, I'm using mostly custom controls in my application, and I get them all layed out on the designer they way I want them and it looks good.

Now, sometimes if I switch to code view, and then back to designer view it will lose either the controls or the properties of the controls, sometimes it just loses the properties in the designer but when I compile the assembly it retains the properties of the controls.

-> Just realized this was posted in the wrong thread, if you want you may movie it to the "TechOff" thread.

Same thing happens to me, my workaround is to close the designer tab as soon as I finish making any changes. Have you checked MSDN Knowledge Base for any articles about the problem?
EDIT:
This is the closest article I've found:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;825007
It deals with controls disappearing, but it doesn't say anything about properties being reset.
If you try the workaround in the article, please let me know if it works.

I've had similar problems before with the controls disappearing, this is because some code is throwing an exception when the control is in design view.

The way I get around this is to use the following code where the problem exists, usually in the propeties of my controls.

if (LicenseManager.UsageMode != LicenseUsageMode.Designtime)
{
   // some code that shouldnt run in designer
}

Whether it will help with disappearing properties is worth trying.

A couple people I work with had the disappearing comtrol problem.  I found this to help them out:
http://www.shawnburke.com/default.aspx?document=183

Later they had the disappearing property problem and we found that to be a problem in the code of the custom control.  We can't seem to remember what we did to fix it but we do know it was something small and stupid.  You may want to start looking there.

HI there

I've went through the same issues.  Say your control and the application using it are in the same project, the problems start when you do something in your code preventing the whole project to compile properly.  So the designer can't use it to render your control.

If that is your case my recomendation is that you move the control code out to another project and "freeze it", that is, make sure your control compiles and works fine; then use it in you client application, so if you broke something in the application code it won't prevent the control project from compiling (and from being used by the designer).

If you want all of you are application living in the same assembly you can move back the control to the main project when you're ready to RTM.  That you be rather easy if you keep the control namespace the same.

Hope this is useful,
Raptor

This has happened to me several times as well...

There are some knowledge base articles about the problem:

See this URL

but it seems that Microsoft just wants to forget VS.NET 2003...  Has anyone heard when they're going to release a service pack for it ?