Getting Expression Activity Type VisualBasicValue1 Requires Compilation In Order To Run

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Error " Expression Activity type 'VisualBasicValue`1' requires compilation in order to run. Please ensure that the workflow has been compiled."

Issue Description: In Windows projects utilizing Legacy-VB, the compiler may encounter difficulties when processing certain double quotation characters, especially those outside the standard ASCII representation, such as " (0x201C). When such characters are used as string delimiters, the compiler fails to interpret them correctly, leading to a runtime error.


Error Message: "Expression Activity type 'VisualBasicValue`1' requires compilation in order to run. Please ensure that the workflow has been compiled."


Root Cause: The static validator in Windows Legacy-VB projects does not always warn about the usage of incompatible double quotation characters. This lack of warning could result in developers unknowingly using unsupported characters as string delimiters. As a result, the code may pass the static validation stage but encounter runtime issues later.


Resolution: Follow the below,

  1. Replace Unsupported Quotation Characters: Scan through the codebase and identify any non-standard double quotation characters used as string delimiters. Replace these characters with the standard ASCII double quotation character " (0x22)

  2. Manually Recreate Impacted Activities: In cases where the impacted activity, workflow, or sequence becomes broken due to the incompatible double quotation characters, it is advisable to delete the affected element and recreate/configure it manually from scratch. Avoid copying and pasting, as this may retain the problematic characters.