What the clusterf*ck?
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A colleague tried to install a Windows service at a customer site. The installation failed with an error in side by side configuration. But what was the actual problem? In the application configuration file, an entry in appSettings started with
< add key=
The service was to be started at the end of the installation, and failed. Oh thank you, Microsoft! Even a single space character between the opening bracket and the keyword causes an application startup failure. And next, ther error message ("side by side configuration") is so useful here. Two WTFs in one place. Can you top that?
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A colleague tried to install a Windows service at a customer site. The installation failed with an error in side by side configuration. But what was the actual problem? In the application configuration file, an entry in appSettings started with
< add key=
The service was to be started at the end of the installation, and failed. Oh thank you, Microsoft! Even a single space character between the opening bracket and the keyword causes an application startup failure. And next, ther error message ("side by side configuration") is so useful here. Two WTFs in one place. Can you top that?
Ah yes, but the app.config is an xml file and what you have there is not XML.
Regards, Rob Philpott.
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A colleague tried to install a Windows service at a customer site. The installation failed with an error in side by side configuration. But what was the actual problem? In the application configuration file, an entry in appSettings started with
< add key=
The service was to be started at the end of the installation, and failed. Oh thank you, Microsoft! Even a single space character between the opening bracket and the keyword causes an application startup failure. And next, ther error message ("side by side configuration") is so useful here. Two WTFs in one place. Can you top that?
0. Complain to W3C about that. that's Invalid XML. 1. Learn the terms associated with .net development, (start here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa376307.aspx[^], hint: your error has to do with this:
Quote:
Applications and administrators can update assembly configuration on either a global or per-application configuration basis after deployment. For example, an application can be updated to use a side-by-side assembly that includes an update without having to reinstall the application.
means that the error could have been on the machine.config file.)
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A colleague tried to install a Windows service at a customer site. The installation failed with an error in side by side configuration. But what was the actual problem? In the application configuration file, an entry in appSettings started with
< add key=
The service was to be started at the end of the installation, and failed. Oh thank you, Microsoft! Even a single space character between the opening bracket and the keyword causes an application startup failure. And next, ther error message ("side by side configuration") is so useful here. Two WTFs in one place. Can you top that?
A config file shall be valid XML, and what you have there isn't valid XML. While I understand the WTF, I wonder if MS can do a good job, even while they follow standards they get mocked upon.
The console is a black place
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A colleague tried to install a Windows service at a customer site. The installation failed with an error in side by side configuration. But what was the actual problem? In the application configuration file, an entry in appSettings started with
< add key=
The service was to be started at the end of the installation, and failed. Oh thank you, Microsoft! Even a single space character between the opening bracket and the keyword causes an application startup failure. And next, ther error message ("side by side configuration") is so useful here. Two WTFs in one place. Can you top that?
Wait until you start working with json in something like MongoDB. A linefeed after the last closing bracket is a serious offence which is next to impossible to discover.
My plan is to live forever ... so far so good
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Ah yes, but the app.config is an xml file and what you have there is not XML.
Regards, Rob Philpott.
Amazing how many people can repeat the same mistake. The original post stated that an entry starts with
< add key=
ans somehow everyone manages to determine that is invalid XML. As its incomplete, that's impossible to determine. If the error is, as stated, caused by the space between the '<' that that is the start of a valid XML element, and should parse successfully (XML is quite liberal in allowing whitespace), in which case Microsoft have actually failed to implement the standard and that is, indeed, a WTF. If that was the whole element, obviously it should fail - in which case the error message should state the XML is malformed, rather than try and infer anything about the user's intention. (Edited to correct prose)
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.
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Amazing how many people can repeat the same mistake. The original post stated that an entry starts with
< add key=
ans somehow everyone manages to determine that is invalid XML. As its incomplete, that's impossible to determine. If the error is, as stated, caused by the space between the '<' that that is the start of a valid XML element, and should parse successfully (XML is quite liberal in allowing whitespace), in which case Microsoft have actually failed to implement the standard and that is, indeed, a WTF. If that was the whole element, obviously it should fail - in which case the error message should state the XML is malformed, rather than try and infer anything about the user's intention. (Edited to correct prose)
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.
Before anyone else points it out - I just checked the standard and XML (unusually) does not allow a space there.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.