Windows Store App Search Contract Blank Screen - vb.net

Question

I recently added the search contract to my app. It is working great! But, whenever I search in the app when it is not running, it only starts with a blank screen. I did the part to add search results even in OnSearchActivated method. But even if I remove the code that I added, the blank screen persists. I created a blank project and added the search contract to it. And it is working in it even when the app is not running. The issue seems to be with my app only. I cannot debug it because it is something that runs when the app is not even running. Tell me a solution.
Code in OnSearchActivated and OnLaunched
Protected Overrides Async Sub OnSearchActivated(args As Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.SearchActivatedEventArgs)
Dim previousContent As UIElement = Window.Current.Content
Dim frame As Frame = TryCast(previousContent, Frame)
If frame Is Nothing Then
frame = New Frame
Common.SuspensionManager.RegisterFrame(frame, "AppFrame")
If args.PreviousExecutionState = ApplicationExecutionState.Terminated Then
Try
Await Common.SuspensionManager.RestoreAsync()
Catch ex As Common.SuspensionManagerException
End Try
End If
End If
frame.Navigate(GetType(SearchResultsPage1), args.QueryText)
Window.Current.Content = frame
Window.Current.Activate()
End Sub
Protected Overrides Async Sub OnLaunched(args As Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.LaunchActivatedEventArgs)
AddHandler SearchPane.GetForCurrentView.SuggestionsRequested, AddressOf OnSearchPaneSuggestionsRequested
'Contains definition of arrays ExNam, ExAbbr, ExInst, etc. removed from here to shorten the code and focus on its logic
If rootFrame Is Nothing Then
rootFrame = New Frame()
Train_Thy_Brain.Common.SuspensionManager.RegisterFrame(rootFrame, "appFrame")
If args.PreviousExecutionState = ApplicationExecutionState.Terminated Then
Await Train_Thy_Brain.Common.SuspensionManager.RestoreAsync()
End If
Window.Current.Content = rootFrame
End If
If rootFrame.Content Is Nothing Then
If Not rootFrame.Navigate(GetType(Instructions), args.Arguments) Then
Throw New Exception("Failed to create initial page")
End If
End If
Window.Current.Activate()
End Sub
'Also the namespace definitions are done at the top so they are not the issues neither.

Answer 1

There is a solution to debug your app : in VS2012, Right-click on your project in the Solution Explorer, then go to the Debug tab and in the Start Action section, check "Do not launch, but debug my code when it starts".
Now you can start your app from the Search Contract even if it is not running yet and debug it!
Now for your problem, I would suggest you to check whether the data is loaded before you actually search for something.

Answer 2

You might be hitting the search activation with empty query string. Check your search activation handler, whether you are handling the blank query text case or not?
protected override void OnSearchActivated(SearchActivatedEventArgs args)
{
// your app initialization code here.
Frame frame = (Frame)Window.Current.Content;
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(args.QueryText))
{
frame.Navigate(typeof(SearchResultsPage), args.QueryText);
}
else
{
// navigate to your app home page if the query text is empty.
frame.Navigate(typeof(Home), null);
}
Window.Current.Activate();
}