Coder Perfect

VS 2017’s Class Diagrams

Problem

I’ve been using Visual Studio 2015 and enjoy the Class Diagram feature. I recently upgraded to 2017 and am having trouble finding the Class Diagram option. Is there a way for me to get there?

Asked by Walt

Solution #1

Using VS2017 Enterprise:

Answered by ericgol

Solution #2

I noticed this in the beta and assumed it was due to a defective installation. I couldn’t add new Class Diagrams because the UI elements were missing, and I couldn’t open existing *.cd Class Diagram files in my solutions. I recently upgraded to 2017 and discovered that the problem persists. It appears that the Class Designer component is no longer installed by default, after some inquiry.

Restarting Visual Studio and installing the Class Designer component restores my ability to open and edit Class Diagrams as well as the UI elements required to construct new ones.

Answered by John Lewin

Solution #3

To use the feature, you must first install the “Visual Studio extension development” workload and the “Class Designer” optional component from the Visual Studio 2017 Installer.

See the Visual Studio Community 2017 component directory for more information.

However, this type of component isn’t available on every project. Try it for yourself:

I couldn’t locate any additional information about future availability for.NET Core projects.

Answered by Nicolò Carandini

Solution #4

Woo-hoo! It works thanks to a hack!

You must do the following in response to this comment:

Bingo. You can now open this file in Visual Studio. After VS starts, you’ll see the error message “Object reference not set to an instance of object,” but the diagram will still work.

Checked with Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition, version 15.3.0, and a.NETCore 2.0 app/project:

The GitHub problem is scheduled to be resolved in version 15.5

Answered by Dmitry

Solution #5

For me, the following technique worked:

Answered by reverpie

Post is based on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42233831/class-diagrams-in-vs-2017