I am working on a WF project which has many processes and code activities in it.
The project takes too long to build (20-30 times more than any other project in the solution).
I've asked google about this, but there seems to be no information.
Please, how can I reduce the build time of a Workflow Foundation project?
The main part is probably that all XAML based composite activities get validated during build. That means, they get instantiated!
You can turn that off with an undocumented setting in the csproj file:
<SkipWorkflowValidation>true</SkipWorkflowValidation>
<DisableWorkflowCompiledExpressions>true</DisableWorkflowCompiledExpressions>
This setting must be added to all configuration sections (the relevant elements, typically, you’ll want do to this in all the configurations).
The project file (csproj or vbproj extension) can be edited in Visual Studio by following these steps:
Right-click on the project in Solution Explorer and select “Unload Project”
Right-click on the unloaded project (now shown with the “(unavailable”) postfix), and select “Edit ”
The project file opens in the Visual Studio editor and you can manually edit it.
Once you are done editing the file, you can right-click on the project in Solution Explorer and select “Reload Project”.
Try that and watch the build time. But be aware, this will skip some tests during build that might be valuable...
Related
I ran into some troubles when creating an installer for my Visual Studio 2010 solution (which has multiple projects) so I thought I'd make a quick guide to how I got it working...
Here is how I did it:
Create a new Visual Studio Installer project which is located under
Installed Templates/Other Project Types/Setup and Deployment/Visual Studio Installer.
Make sure you add it to you current solution, you can do this by right clicking on the solution name in the solution explorer and clicking Add>New Project
From there select Setup Wizard, give it a name and click OK
A wizard will open, click Next
then select Create a setup for a Windows application
then click Next again. Select all of the groups you want to include, namely: Content Files, Source Files, Primary Output
Then click Finish
In the solution explorer you will see a bunch of buttons find the one that's tool tip says File System Editor and click it. You will see three folders in the file system editor, the only one we really care about is the Application Folder. That folder is where your projects build output should be.
To add files to it if they are not already there right click > Add > File...
Note: You cannot add entire folders (which sucks) and the folder structure in the Application Folder should be identical to that in your projects build.
You should create each folder and then add the files to it.
If you have multiple projects you should set the build directory to the same folder under the release build settings. To do this, open your solution, and for each project, right click/Properties go to the Compile tab, set it's configuration to Releaseand its Build output path to some folder (same for each project) (If you have an XNA project make sure its Content Build/Configuration is also set to Release).
Now select Release from the drop down menu on the tool bar (it most likely says Debug now)
Right click on your solution on the solution explorer and click Build Solution
Now all of your solutions built files will appear in the folder you chose in the compile tab. All of these files are what needs to be added to the Setup Projects Application Folder (in the same structure)
Customise the installer: click on the project name in the solution explorer and look through it's properties, change what you want (i.e Author, Manufacturer, Title - these make a difference to the installers output directory and text)
Build the installer project (same way as mentioned above) and you are done.
Feel free to comment with questions
Visual Studio seems to consist of a single solution file (*.sln) along with one or more project files (a C# project would have the *.csproj extension).
I have been playing around with a console application that parses existing directory entries to create solution files with the associated project files.
It works, but every time I run into a new project here at work I find myself spending a week or more debugging my console project so that it can churn out a solution for that particular work project.
Is there something out there already that can create a VS solution out of an existing file structure?
As you can tell from my screen capture below, these projects are nested very deep, so it would take a very long time to do this with the apps folder below with the "by mouse" technique in the Visual Studio IDE.
I created the custom console application that is posted in this post:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/22153536/153923
I invite others to contribute how they approached this solution, though.
So, I found out today that this feature already exists in Visual Studio.
Link 1: How to: Create a Project from Existing Code Files
Link 2: How to: Create a Project from Existing Code Files
Basically, though, it says this (just in case the MSDN links get changed or deleted):
You can create a Visual Studio project from an existing app—for example, an app that you obtained from an online source. Project and solution files are created on your computer and the other relevant files are added. A project can be created from Visual C++, Visual Basic, or Visual C# code files.
Security note Security Note
We recommend that you determine the trustworthiness of existing code files before you import them into Visual Studio, because Visual Studio will execute some of the code in a fully trusted process when you open the newly created project.
To create a project from existing code files
On the menu bar, choose File, New, Project From Existing Code.
The Create New Project from Existing Code Files wizard opens.
Use the wizard to specify the details of the existing code files that will be added to the project and the application that will be created when you build the project.
Another good answer was given by cbp in Visual Studio: Create a web application from existing code:
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OK I figured it out. It's weird, but the following steps will work:
Open fresh copy of Visual Studio
File->New Project, select Web Application
Use the following settings:
Name: Website (this is the name of the existing folder with the website files in it)
Location: C:\Temp\ (anywhere will do for now)
Solution Name: TheProject (name of the existing project's root folder)
Check "Create directory for solution"
Delete the auto-created Default, Global and Web.config files
Save All and close Visual Studio
In Windows Explorer, copy the new folder on top of the existing folder so that the files are merged.
Double click on the sln file to open Visual Studio again.
Select "Show all files" (at the top of Solution Explorer)
Right click on any files or folders you want to add and select Include in Project.
Great idea!
I have a solution with 10+ projects (VS2010 SP1). I have the following configurations defined in the solution:
Debug
Debug-QA
Release-UAT
Release-Production
This allows me to easily setup specific settings for each deployment scenario. However, for some reason I can't get things setup as I'd like. Please see this screenshot:
Notice the highlighted projects/configurations. I am unable to create a "Debug-QA" configuration for these projects (by selecting <New> in the cell for that particular project). When I try to add a new "Debug-QA" configuration to the DataUtility project, for instance, Visual Studio yells at me:
This configuration could not be created because a solution configuration of the same name already exists.
I know it does! I'm trying to add the configuration to the project! What am I missing here? I want all projects to have all 5 configuration. I have the same problem when trying to match up (create) platforms (for instance, adding an "Any CPU" platform to the DataUtility project).
Make sure you're using the drop down list from the grid (not the one at the top of the dialog), and do not check the "Create new solution configurations" checkbox when adding your new project configuration.
Here's a workaround if already checked the Create new solution configurations checkbox:
Open Explorer and navigate to the location of the solution for the project that is missing platforms.
Move the solution .sln file to a temorary location where Visual Studio won't locate it.
Open the .csproj file for the project that is missing platforms.
Click the Solutions Platform dropdown.
Click Configuration Manager...
In the table, Click the dropdown in the Platform column for the project and select , to add a new platform.
Click OK.
Repeat adding new platforms as needed.
Save the project.
Return the previously moved solution file back to where it was.
Reopen the combined project solution.
source: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/972/adding-a-platform-when-one-with-the-same-name-alre.html
The above solution didn't quite work, but I did find a solution on a forum that worked. Described below is to set the builds to x64 for each project that was set to "Any CPU", but the steps would also work for x86.
Open the main solution. Unload each project with a conflict (not
remove).
Leave the solution open.
In Explorer, navigate to the
project folders and open the csproj file in Visual Studio.
In this
screwed up project, navigate to Build->Configuration Manager.
If
needed, "Add New" and set it to x64 and save.
Right-click the
project and set the build architecture to the new x64.
Save this,
but when you close the project in VS, do not save to the solution.
That's unnecessary.
Repeat for each project with a misaligned architecture.
Finally, in the original solution with all the offending projects,
reload each project.
Open the Build->Configuration Manager for the solution. Then, one by
one, reset "Any CPU" to the desired platform, in my case x64.
Save the changes for the solution and rebuild all. You should be OK,
now.
I've got a Visual Studio 2010 solution that I would like to add a project to that only contains some command-line scripts. This project isn't meant to actually compile/build anything, but I want to be able to edit my scripts with the rest of the solution, and have TFS integration etc.
Unfortunately, in searching I get a lot of results for errors where builds don't happen, or other conditions where specific build targets are implemented. I simply want a non-build project in VS as a visual repository for the editor. I don't want to one-by-one include individual files in a solution folder.
In the build configuration manager (On the Menu, "Build", "Configuration Manager"), there is a "build" checkbox for each project. Uncheck it for your script project.
Could you make a content project, add your scripts to it, then change their properties to "Do not compile"?
My project files are controlled by Perforce and I have installed the SCC plugin so that I can work directly with Perforce inside Visual Studio 2010.
Here is the problem I have:
Inside the project, there are several files that I don't want to take into consideration while I build the project. If I use the context menu "Exclude from Project", I saw the following warning message:
Checked out items cannot be deleted by your source control provider.
If you continue with the change, you may need to manually delete
xxx.h in the source control database.
Is there a workaround that I can use?
Thank you
If you simply do not want them to compile, select the code file and look at the Properties window. Set Build Action to content or some other non-compile setting.