[SharePoint 2010] Error 7043: Load control template file /_controltemplates/TaxonomyPicker.ascx failed

One of the nuances of SharePoint 2010 that has been plaguing my Windows Event log is Error 7043 indicating an issue with the TaxonomyPicker.ascx control:

Load control template file /_controltemplates/TaxonomyPicker.ascx failed: Could not load type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.TaxonomyPicker' from assembly 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c'.

Apparently, someone over at Microsoft made a typo in the TaxonomyPicker.ascx file. There is an HTML code rather than a comma in the first line of the file. To fix this, open the following file:

C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWeb Server Extensions14TEMPLATECONTROLTEMPLATESTaxonomyPicker.ascx

In the first line, replace “,” with a comma. Original:

<%@ Control className="TaxonomyPickerControl" Language="C#" Inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.TaxonomyPicker&#44;Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>

Fixed:

<%@ Control className="TaxonomyPickerControl" Language="C#" Inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.TaxonomyPicker, Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>

This has been an issue since at least beta and still has not been fixed as of the June 2011 Cumulative Update. Come on Microsoft… Until Microsoft fixes it, this workaround resolves the issue.

Update 2011-07-08: According to this article, the referenced control no longer exists in the SharePoint DLLs and should simply be removed. To be on the safe side, simply rename the control to something like “TaxonomyPicker.ascx.BAK” just in case.

John Chapman

Hello, I'm John Chapman. I am a SharePoint developer living in Denver, Colorado. I develop solutions using ASP.NET, C#, jQuery, SQL, SharePoint, etc, and I thrive on the challenge of writing code to overcome the impossible, annoying, or otherwise difficult obstacles.

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