Missing StaticResource should throw exception also in Debug

[danardelean]

Description

The current version of MAUI does not throw an exception in debug if a StaticResource is missing. The behaviour is inconsistent with Xamarin.Forms but the bigger problem comes in Release mode where the application does crash if the StaticResource is missing but the error message is not "readable" in Release
The missing StaticResource should throw exception also in Debug in order to be able to catch this error before compiling in Release and not understanding what is going on

Steps to Reproduce

Use the attached repository or any MAUI application that uses a StaticResource that is missing and build it in Debug and Release.

In Debug you won't have errors while running the application in Release the application will throw but with almost no way to know what generated the problem

Link to public reproduction project repository

https://github.com/danardelean/MauiStaticResourceProblem

Version with bug

7.0.49

Last version that worked well

Unknown/Other

Affected platforms

iOS, Android, Windows, macOS

Affected platform versions

All

Did you find any workaround?

No

Relevant log output

No response

[PureWeen]

@StephaneDelcroix thoughts?

[ghost]

We've added this issue to our backlog, and we will work to address it as time and resources allow. If you have any additional information or questions about this issue, please leave a comment. For additional info about issue management, please read our Triage Process.

[StephaneDelcroix]

the exception might be swallowed by the instrumentation

[StephaneDelcroix]

both throw in the context of unit tests, so my gut feel of instrumentation swallowing the exception might be somehow right. checking

[StephaneDelcroix]

@chabiss thoughts ?

[chabiss]

Static Analysis in the language service might be a possibility adding @mgoertz-msft

[danardelean]

Any feedback on this issue?

[czmirek]

I found this issue today by accidentaly removing a StaticResource that was referenced by all my buttons. The issue did not produce any warning on Debug when compiling and it built during release also without warnings. Buttons still worked in Debug but in Release all buttons stopped working (not even with a crash, the buttons simply don't do anything at all).

There is a possible workaround: replace {StaticResource MyResource} with {x:Static app:MyResources.MyResource}. If you try to compile with a reference to a static property that does not exist you get a compile error. But you have to then move your resources to a C# code which is not ideal for everyone I guess.

[homeyf]

Verified this issue with Visual Studio Enterprise 17.9.0 Preview 3. Can repro on Windows platforms with sample project.
https://github.com/danardelean/MauiStaticResourceProblem

[Dhivya-SF4094]

The issue could not be reproduced in .NET MAUI version 9.0.60 on all platforms

[dotnet-policy-service]

Hi @@danardelean. We have added the "s/try-latest-version" label to this issue, which indicates that we'd like you to try and reproduce this issue on the latest available public version. This can happen because we think that this issue was fixed in a version that has just been released, or the information provided by you indicates that you might be working with an older version.

You can install the latest version by installing the latest Visual Studio (Preview) with the .NET MAUI workload installed. If the issue still persists, please let us know with any additional details and ideally a reproduction project provided through a GitHub repository.

This issue will be closed automatically in 7 days if we do not hear back from you by then - please feel free to re-open it if you come back to this issue after that time.