Convert solution to the latest version - visual-studio

I am practicing Microsoft net framework training kit. The problem is that the solution/projects were made by Visual Studio 2008. I use Visual Studio 2012.
The projects are unavailable.
I want to modify the solution file and project files. Just worry about messing up them.
Another snapshot:
How to modify them by editor then I can load them with visual studio 2012?

Visual Studio should do update the projects and solutions for you. In my experience, it only shows unavailable when the project is located in a different location than where the solution file is looking for it. Perhaps you recently changed the name or copied only some of the files?
At the very least you should be able to remove the unavailable projects and re-add the original projects. They'll be converted as they're added.

Convert it to 2010 first, then convert it to 2012. It is the particular case. It could be the project was written in 2008 but faied in 2012.

Related

Visual studio 2003 solutions to Visual Studio 2013 solutions

My question is about the different versions of Visual Studio and an effective way to update the web applications or websites that were created in visual studio 2003 to visual studio 2010 all to visual studio 2013. Most of the solution files on the web server for the various applications or websites have not been updated since 204. But some of the .aspx.vb files have been updated in 2012. Not sure if there is a missing .sln file or that the files were all updated manually using notepad or something? I need to update the content of several of these projects and not sure where to begin. Looking for the most effective way to update these files. Anyone with experience transitioning from different versions of Visual Studio working with visual basic may have these same questions. Some of these include crystal reports from visual studio 2005.
Have you opened the .sln file in VS2013? I know when I was transitioning projects from VS2008 to VS2013 it prompted me to convert them when I tried to open it in VS2013. When and if there were any issues it showed you what didn't match up and what might be obsolete. Might be a good starting point if you haven't already tired.

Will visual studio 2015 projects and solutions be backward compatible with 2013?

Now that Visual Studio 2015 RC is out, has anyone installed it and opened Visual Studio 2013 projects/solutions?
Does it ask the files to be changed?
If yes, are the changes it makes backward compatible?
Take a look at the Porting, Migrating, and Upgrading Visual Studio Projects article for Visual Studio 2015. All of the various caveats are described there.
Not all types of project are supported. I tried the following 4 project types:
Vb.net Class project, OK.
Vb.net Web Services project, OK.
Cordova JS project, not OK, need to migrate manually, by moving the sources from root directory to the www directory and install all API again.
C#.net winform project, OK.
Yes, though you sometimes will have to change the version (single number) in .sln file, no other differences found yet.
We resolved this by typically excluding this file from check in and only check it in when there really was a change (added project, ...) - and then to fix the version before checking in. (Different developer machines with different versions of VS.)
See question Visual Studio 2015 solutions backwards compatibility with Visual Studio 2013 and answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/31540590/586754.
(Assuming you are having basic projects that are supported by both versions, like C# and .net framework that is supported by lower version VS.)

Opening Different Visual Studio projects

OK, can't find a solution to this.
A client sent me his Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Web project. I have Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 installed.
I get an error when I try to open his project saying "this project is not compatible with the current version of visual studio".
We'll be passing the project back & forth quite a bit, so I need a solution that meets that need please.
So, I figure I may be able to modify the project with a text editor to let me open it. If so, do I have to re-edit it back when I send it back to him?
Can I install VS Express 2012 for Web on a machine that already has VS Ultimate 2010 on it without any conflicts? Can I open it if I install VS 2012 Ultimate (keeping 2010 as well)?
I have another client that uses 2010, so whatever I do, I need to be able to still support him.
If I can't have 2 versions installed at the same time, and can't easily edit a file to make it compatible, then I guess my last option is a virtual machine.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Microsoft Visual Studio has backwards compatibility since the version 2010 SP1.
So in this case you just need update your Visual Studio 2010 to SP1 and it will understand the new way files are versioned.
Based on my experience:
You do can edit it with a text file and send it back, but it's not compiled yet so it's your partners job.
Maybe, just maybe, you can edit the .sln and .(whatever the project file extension is) file to meet your VS10 env (I think it's going to be a bumpy road though)
Yes, I'm pretty sure you can have VS 10 and VS 12 installed on same machine, note that you have to have .Net 4.0 and .Net 4.5

Visual Studio 2010 is unable to open project

I used Visual Studio 2010 to develop a web application. I formatted my machine and installed Visual Studio 2010 Professional. When I try to open old projects, I get an error saying:
The selected file is a solution file, but was created by a newer version of this application and cannot be opened.
I do not remember the version of visual studio 2010 I used the first time.
Can anyone tell me which version came after the professional edition?
Make sure VS2010 is updated to the latest service pack, otherwise check to see if the project was actually made in VS2012/13 in which case you will need to create a new VS2010 solution and rebuild it from your existing projects.
Open the .sln file in a text editor. In the beginning there is a marker which tells the VS version it is meant for. For VS 2010 it should look like that:
Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 11.00
# Visual Studio 2010
You should be able to change these values without any problems. As far as I know the file format did not change.
EDIT
Considering the comment of Dumisani: of course you need to target .net 4.0 and make sure no features of .net 4.5 are used!
Chances are you had a service pack installed that you are missing with a clean installation.

Visual Studio 2010 and 2008 mixed development environment possible?

We are looking at migrating to Visual Studio 2010. Is it possible for some developers to use Visual Studio 2010 and other to use 2008 on the same solution/projects? How will it affect our VSTF builds (VSTF Server 2008)?
You only need to have a separate solution file for each version of Visual Studio for this to work. Project files will work on both VS2008 and VS2010 once converted.
What you need to do is to make a copy of your original VS2008 solution file. I find it easiest to give the copy a name that ends in _VS2008.sln to show that this is for VS2008. Once you have your xxx_VS2008.sln file tucked away next to your original sln-file you can open the original and have it converted to VS2010. When done you can rename the converted file to end with _VS2010 so anyone still working in VS2008 won't open it from their recent projects in Visual Studio and wonder what is going on.
We did this when we went from 2005 to 2008 and we are doing the same now when we are going from 2008 to 2010. Worked fine the first time and so far it has been working for VS2010 for almost a week now without any of our developers reporting problems with it.
once project converted by vs2010 it connot be just opened in vs2008 because vs2010 changes tool version in solution/project files. So you need to maintain two versions of solution/project files.
You will need to have separate solution/project files for 2008 and 2010 as these have different formats - hence the conversion wizard - but you will be able to share other source code files from a common location. Also, bear in mind that you will also have to restrict your target framework to 3.5 or lower to accommodate VS2008.

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