Enable in-app Toolbar in XAML Hot Reload crashes in App SDK 1.4

[NicholasChrzan]

Describe the bug

When debugging windows app sdk (1.4.230822000) with visual studio 202217.7.3 I get an access violation when opening
our application after about 10 seconds, Turning off the "Enable in-app Toolbar" under the XAML hot reload allows the app to start and not crash.

From the crash log:
ExceptionAddress: 00007ffd6057de84 (Microsoft_UI_Windowing_Core!Api::ReunionApi32::GetWindowFeatureImpl+0x0000000000000020)
ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
ExceptionFlags: 00000001
NumberParameters: 2
Parameter[0]: 0000000000000000
Parameter[1]: 0000000000000030
Attempt to read from address 0000000000000030

Steps to reproduce the bug

Start app in x64 debug in VS 2022 17.7.3
Open second window
Crash

Expected behavior

No response

Screenshots

No response

NuGet package version

WinUI 3 - Windows App SDK 1.4.0: 1.4.230822000

Windows version

Windows 10 (21H2): Build 19044

Additional context

No response

[lhak]

I see the same issue. Here is a stack trace:

Microsoft.UI.Windowing.Core.dll!Api::ReunionApi32::GetWindowFeatureImpl(enum Core::WindowHandle,unsigned int)
 Microsoft.UI.Windowing.Core.dll!GetWindowFeature()
 Microsoft.UI.Input.dll!InputNonClientPointerSourceWinRTStatics::GetForWindowIdHelper(struct Microsoft::UI::WindowId,struct Microsoft::UI::Input::IInputNonClientPointerSource * *,bool)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!winrt::impl::factory_cache_entry<struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::Input::InputNonClientPointerSource,struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::Input::IInputNonClientPointerSourceStatics>::call<class `winrt::Microsoft::UI::Input::InputNonClientPointerSource::GetForWindowId(struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::WindowId const &)'::`2'::<lambda_1> &>(class `winrt::Microsoft::UI::Input::InputNonClientPointerSource::GetForWindowId(struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::WindowId const &)'::`2'::<lambda_1> &)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!winrt::Microsoft::UI::Input::InputNonClientPointerSource::GetForWindowId(struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::WindowId const &)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::InAppMenu::InAppMenu(class Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::ActivationFactoryProviderBase &,class std::shared_ptr<class Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::OM::ObjectIdentityService>,struct Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::InAppMenuModel &,struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::Xaml::Controls::Panel,struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::Xaml::XamlRoot,struct HWND__ *)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::UILayerManager::OnInAppMenuStateChanged(void)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::WinrtRunOnUIThread<class std::function<void > >(class Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::DispatcherHelper const &,enum Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::DispatcherPriority,class std::function<void >)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!std::_Func_impl_no_alloc<class `Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::DispatcherBindingBase<bool>::Initialize(class std::function<void >,bool)'::`5'::<lambda_1>,void>::_Do_call(void)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::SimpleBinding<bool>::Initialize(class std::function<void >,bool)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::DispatcherBindingBase<bool>::Initialize(class std::function<void >,bool)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::UILayerManager::SetBinding(class Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::NotifyingValue<bool> &,void )
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::UILayerManager::Initialize(void)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::UILayerManager::RunOnUIThread(class std::function<void > const &)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::InAppUI::UILayerManager::Initialize(struct winrt::Microsoft::UI::Xaml::Controls::Panel,struct HWND__ *)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!std::_Func_impl_no_alloc<`Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::WindowsXamlDiagnosticsTap::AddRoot'::`2'::<lambda_1>,void>::_Do_call()
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::PackagedTask<void>::operator()(void)
 Microsoft.VisualStudio.DesignTools.WinUITap.dll!winrt::impl::delegate<winrt::Microsoft::UI::Dispatching::DispatcherQueueHandler,`Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::WinrtRunOnUIThreadAsync<`Microsoft::VisualStudio::DesignTools::UwpTap::WindowsXamlDiagnosticsTap::AddRoot'::`2'::<lambda_1>>'::`2'::<lambda_1>>::Invoke()
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::UI::Dispatching::DispatcherQueue::DeferInvokeCallback(void *)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!CFlat::SehSafe::Execute<<lambda_a81ff790741c2a62f2197c2561f5fe49>>()
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::ActionCallback::ImportAdapter$(class CFlat::Box$1<struct CFlat::FunctionPointerAndUserData$1<long > > *)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Messaging::MessageSession::Callback_InvokeDeferInvoke(class Microsoft::CoreUI::ActionCallback *,struct System::UIntPtr)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::DeferredCall::Callback_Dispatch(void)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::DeferredCallDispatcher::Callback_OnDispatch(void)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::Dispatcher::Callback_DispatchNextItem(class Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::DispatchItem *)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::Dispatcher::Callback_DispatchLoop(enum Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::RunnablePriorityMask)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::EventLoop::Callback_RunCoreLoop(enum Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::RunMode)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter::DrainCoreMessagingQueue(enum Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter$UserPriority,void * *)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter::OnUserDispatch(bool,enum Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter$UserPriority,void * *)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter::OnUserDispatchRaw(enum Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter$UserPriority,bool,void * *)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter::DoWork(struct HWND__ *,enum Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter$UserPriority,bool)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter::HandleDispatchNotifyMessage(struct HWND__ *,unsigned __int64,__int64)
 CoreMessagingXP.dll!Microsoft::CoreUI::Dispatch::UserAdapter::WindowProc(struct HWND__ *,unsigned int,unsigned __int64,__int64)

[NicholasChrzan]

Turning off the "Enable in-app Toolbar" fixes this issue for me, so you can still use XAML Hot Reload

[Zulu-Inuoe]

Seeing the same behaviour - Disabling the 'Enable in-app Toolbar' avoids the crash

[castorix]

Turning off the "Enable in-app Toolbar" fixes this issue for me, so you can still use XAML Hot Reload

Thanks, it also fixes the issue for XAML Islands in WPF which crashed with "access violation", while the same code worked in WinForms

[Zulu-Inuoe]

@JoeTomkinson this is not closed - the duplicate #8848 was

[JoeTomkinson]

@JoeTomkinson this is not closed - the duplicate #8848 was

Apologies, was viewing this on mobile to check the status and clearly misread.

[JochemPalmsens]

Same issue here... and now my front-end developers aren't happy with us upgrading to 1.4. So it's pretty blocking for us!

[Scottj1s]

internal MS issue: https://task.ms/47919577

[Zulu-Inuoe]

@JoeTomkinson so I guess this is actually closed now.

[JochemPalmsens]

@llongley what's the dupe? We're still waiting on this and it's blocking us moving to 1.4

[Scottj1s]

This issue was addressed in Visual Studio version 17.8

[JochemPalmsens]

@Scottj1s thank you for your answer, but could you clarify that? Because I just tried it and still get the issue.

I'm running visual studio 17.8.6.

• When I run the (multi window) app using WinApp SDK 1.3.230724000 the (XAML hot-reload) in-app toolbar runs fine
• When I run WinApp SDK 1.4.231219000 with in-app toolbar enabled, the app (still) crashes.
• When I disable the in-app toolbar, the app starts without exceptions again.

that's the same behavior as before, so I don't see how it's "completed"?

Like said: our front-end developers are using that toolbar, so they don't want us to switch to 1.4 this way. It's still blocking us.

Screenshot:

[irperez]

@Scottj1s thank you for your answer, but could you clarify that? Because I just tried it and still get the issue.

I'm running visual studio 17.8.6.

• When I run the (multi window) app using WinApp SDK 1.3.230724000 the (XAML hot-reload) in-app toolbar runs fine
• When I run WinApp SDK 1.4.231219000 with in-app toolbar enabled, the app (still) crashes.
• When I disable the in-app toolbar, the app starts without exceptions again.

that's the same behavior as before, so I don't see how it's "completed"?

Like said: our front-end developers are using that toolbar, so they don't want us to switch to 1.4 this way. It's still blocking us.

Screenshot:

I just wanted to confirm that at my company we are seeing the same issue.

We're running visual studio 17.8.5.
Windows v10.0.19045 Build 19045

We have over 50 developers with the same issue here.

[NicholasChrzan]

@irperez @JochemPalmsens While the in app toolbar does still have this issue. We've been able to work around this using the "Live Visual Tree" window in visual studio. The toolbar there has many of the same functions (if not all) as the in app toolbar and still works without issue.

@Scottj1s @llongley This issue still exists in VS 2022 17.8.6 and has not been addressed. One of these issues should be re-opened.

[JochemPalmsens]

I just tried it with the new Visual Studio 2022 releases today:

• 17.8.7: still crashes
• 17.9.0: a bit better, but still issues: see next post
• (17.10.0 preview 1.0 not checked, as we don't want to use that for our production work)

So apparently it was addressed in 17.9, not 17.8... but it's not fixed

Details: It's more that it sometimes seems to work in 17.9, but sometimes also doesn't.
I had to do a very thorough clean (delete obj/bin directories manually) and multiple rebuilds before I could run the app without crashing using 1.4 or even 1.5. But after a new checkout it crashes again. The only thing always starting is WinAppSDK 1.3

Update 19-2-2024: we made all colleagues update to Visual Studio 17.9 and rolled out a test update to WinAppSDK 1.4. Even after thorough cleaning of build directories, almost everybody had problems with the in-app toolbar, so we need to stay at WinApp SDK 1.3 until this is really fixed.

@Scottj1s So it seems there still are issues.

[Scottj1s]

@irperez , @JochemPalmsens , @NicholasChrzan - thanks all for your feedback. We're engaging with the Visual Studio team to root cause. I was unable to repro this myself, after updating to VS 17.8+. But evidently, you all are still seeing the crash on latest VS.

[Scottj1s]

This crash was manifesting from two location:

• Visual Studio ships with a WinUITap.dll that is injected into the target process, enabling communication between the VS debugger and the app. There were conditions under which WinUITap.dll was attempting to resolve a zero WindowID to an HWND, causing a crash. This was fixed in VS 17.8 Preview 2.
• WinUI had an issue where upon receiving that zero WindowID, it would crash rather than returning a null HWND. That has been fixed in Windows App SDK 1.5, currently in Preview 1.

I don't understand why the crash still repros with VS 17.8+. The Visual Studio team has requested a VS feedback item, ideally with a repro project, and at minimum a crash dump.

In addition, the hardening in Windows App SDK 1.5 should also resolve this crash, so upgrading is another option.

[irperez]

Just to confirm what we're seeing, below are the versions we're using. I didn't provide enough detail.

Related Versions

Visual Studio Professional 17.8.5.
Windows v10.0.19045 Build 19045
Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK 1.4.231008000
Microsoft.Windows.SDK.BuildTools 10.0.22621.756

From the About Dialog:

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Version 17.8.5
VisualStudio.17.Release/17.8.5+34511.84
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[Prochy]

@Scottj1s
I'm able to reproduce it if I checkout H.NotifyIcon git repo and run it. With "Enable in-app toolbar" ON it crashes, if it's OFF it works fine. I hope it will help somehow. :) I uploaded simplified NotifyIcon project where I removed unnecessary projects. Not sure why, but H.NotifyIcon.Apps.WinUI is not working with the "Enable in-app toolbar" and H.NotifyIcon.Apps.WinUI.Windowless is working fine. Didn't investigate deeper.

VS 17.9.0
WinAppSdk 1.5 Preview 1
reproducibleExample.zip

[Scottj1s]

Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the repro @Prochy - very helpful. I've confirmed that the fix is in the WinAppSDK 1.5 release candidate (and not in Preview 1).

[JochemPalmsens]

Well that's good news... although we have no way to test if it works for our projects yet. I guess we'll have to wait. When is the RC released?

In the meantime I made a minimal test solution (to compare 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5): https://github.com/JochemPalmsens/WinAppSDKbug8806

Just adding a second window on launched triggers the bug.

[JochemPalmsens]

I can confirm that (at least it seems so) it's fixed in 1.5.240227000