Symptoms

Received error "30003 ViewService has encountered an error. ViewService has encountered an error. Object reference not set to an instance of an object" when performing package and deployment.
 

Diagnoses

This is a known issue, whereby a View or Views still contain a reference to the missing SmartObject property.
 

Resolution

1. Used Package and Deployment tool to identify the View that is generating the error message. Just select the artefacts to be packaged until the same error pops up. The last selected artefact is the one that is causing the error.

2. Upon locating the problematic view, we created a copy of it and begin to remove the controls one-by-one. Each time we removed a control, we opened Package and Deployment tool and try to create a package with the View. If no error messages appear, it means the last deleted control is the one causing the issue.

3. The control causing the issue is a drop down list. What happened here is that the drop down list control might have originally mapped to a SmartObject property, but was then changed to use static values. However, the view definition still contains a reference to it, which got picked up by Package and Deployment tool, which in turn throws the error.

4. User adopted a workaround, which is to remove the existing control, add back the control and reconfigured it. Downside is any rules associated with the control will have to be re-added in again. This means checking all workflows and forms that use this particular View.