i've installed the VSeWSS.msi on VS 2005, i'm using SPS 2007, i'm developing on my workstation in C#, i've added the Mircosoft.Sharepointserver dll reference to my project but i still can't deploy a very basic webpart. i get the "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error but there's no reference to a line, column, project or anyhting. very frustrating. any suggestions/links whould be appreciated.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object error.
László Nánássy
This behavior just started one day out of nowhere, and it drives me nuts. It's too bad because that made life a lot easier for debugging web parts.
What i've done to keep things a little automated is to create a few external tools that run stsadm.exe with the appropriate arguments to add, upgrade, retract etc., which i can run from within VS2005 at least. Before doing that though, you still need to build your wsp file using makecab.exe, so it's still not a very automated process and is a big pain to debug.
perhaps this problem will get fixed. Thus far my complaints about it have been met with "you really shouldn't be using VSeWSS."
shankar ramachandran
RobMiles
When developing with VSeWSS.msi you need to work directly on the server.
There are several build events that call STSADM.exe to deploy solutions etc.
Being locally on the server also makes step-by-step debugging easy (bind worker process)
Also (unfortunately) this is the recommended setup from MS.
hth
AndersR
EmmettS
now all i need to do is work out how to do the above in vb.net (my preferred lang) and i'll be mildly happy
ArcSlayer
Thanks George for saving me 40 hours of waiting time and my hair as I don't have to pull any more out.
Jon Herschel
Derek at Potters Clay
Same problem here
I used to be able to compile without problem and sudenly I get this same error
Socrates Kapetaneas
XmlRoot
(Namespace = "namespace")treesprite
And ALL time i get this error "Object reference not set to an instance of an object error. Line 0 Column 0"
Please help..
Steve_B
Schnoogs
Lawrence 007
cablehead
Chris D Jones
Whoisit
Hello everyone. There are few threads around about this issue. I put in a case with Microsoft Support a few weeks ago and here is the conclusion I received. Good luck getting ahold of a support person now. Waiting times are 40 business hours (yes, that's two weeks).
Hi George,
It was my pleasure to serve you during your “err when deploying webpart thru VSE "Object reference not set to an instance of an object” issue. I hope that you were delighted with the service provided to you. If you ever have any questions please feel free to call me. My contact information is below.
Since we have addressed the issue this case was created for, and have received confirmation from you, I have closed the case with ID# SRX070424XXXXX
I am providing you with a summary of the key points of the case for your records.
PROBLEM:
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Deploying webpart to SharePoint 2007 using Visual Studio Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services (VSE WSS) and getting error message “Object reference not set to an instance of an object”.
RESOLUTION:
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1] Copy the built webpart.dll to c:\windows\assembly (GAC)
2] In the folder location where webpart VSE solution was created found setup.bat file in bin\Debug, and this is the file which VSE calls when deploying the solution and has instructions to run it. Ran the setup.bat from command prompt as “setup /uninstall” this ran ok, then ran setup /install this ran ok too. Modified the setup.bat file and add the line to remove the webpart.dll from the GAC and add the webpart.dll assembly to GAC as under:
under :LDeploy section before goto :EOF added the following line:
===========================================================
"%programfiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin\gacutil.exe" -if webpartTest.dll
"%programfiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin\gacutil.exe" -uf webpartTest
Thanks for your time and patience in this matter.
Thank You,