Why can't I add a XML datasource in Expression Blend 3?

Question

• I'm using Expression Blend 3
• I click on "add live datasource", "add new xml datasource"
• copy in a URL
• but the OK button remains blank

adding a local XML datasource file works fine

How can I add a URL datasource in expression blend 3?

does this work for anyone else?

The problem is on every Expression Blend 3 I install on any computer, seems to simple be turned off in the beta.

alt text http://tanguay.info/web/external/blenddataokbutton.png

Answer 1

I just tried using blend 1.0. This version also had other options, such as 'infer xml schema'.

My guess is that there was some check added in later version to ensure that the file pointed to has an extension.

My suggestion is to edit the xaml directly. Note, this is old XAML from blend 1.0:

<Window.Resources>
    <XmlDataProvider x:Key="rssDS" d:IsDataSource="True" Source="http://www.tanguay.info/web/rss/"/>
</Window.Resources>

Hope that helps, let me know.

Answer 2

I ran into the same problem when I tried to reimport a sample data from an XML file. The data source already exists or at least Blend thinks it still exists. You should see a warning if you mouse-over the Data Source Name textbox.

Delete the data source from the Data tab.
Delete the folder in the project view.
Rebuild the project.
If that doesn't clear it out, restart Blend.

That's what I had to do. I have Expression 4.0 Ultimate.