Deploy debug visualizer as a VSIX extension - visual-studio-2010

is it possible to deploy my debug visualizer with the new extension system in visual studio 2010? I want to publish it on the online gallery and allow to manage it via the extension manager.
The visualizer assembly must be copied to "My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Visualizers"

It's not possible:
Extension Manager/VSIX doesn't support placing files in the user's documents location, so this isn't possible.
See here.

It's not possible via a VSIX, but you can publish MSIs to the Visual Studio Extension Gallery. There are no restrictions on what the MSI can do.

Related

Create Setup/MSI installer in Visual Studio 2017

I have written an outlook add-in VSTO in Visual Studio Pro 2017 (VB.NET). I have published it which creates a setup.exe which is OK but I would like to create a proper installer that copies the files locally and can be run silently etc.
How do I go about doing this? When I go to create new project there is no installer project option.
You need to install this extension to Visual Studio 2017/2019 in order to get access to the Installer Projects.
According to the page:
This extension provides the same functionality that currently exists in Visual Studio 2015 for Visual Studio Installer projects. To use this extension, you can either open the Extensions and Updates dialog, select the online node, and search for "Visual Studio Installer Projects Extension," or you can download directly from this page.
Once you have finished installing the extension and restarted Visual Studio, you will be able to open existing Visual Studio Installer projects, or create new ones.
Other answers posted here for this question did not work for me using the latest Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise edition (as of 2018-09-18).
Instead, I used this method:
Close all but one instance of Visual Studio.
In the running instance, access the menu Tools->Extensions and Updates.
In that dialog, choose Online->Visual Studio Marketplace->Tools->Setup & Deployment.
From the list that appears, select Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Installer Projects.
Once installed, close and restart Visual Studio. Go to File->New Project and search for the word Installer. You'll know you have the correct templates installed if you see a list that looks something like this:

Installing Visual Studio Extension (VSIX) with NSIS

I'm building my own extension for VS2010 and it has to be deployed outside of Visual Studio Gallery. My NSIS installer does a very good job in installing other parts of software, however I can't figure out how to install .vsix extension.
I tried doing that via VsixInstaller.exe which is a part of Visual Studio, however it does not allow to silently install an extension for any VIsual Studio found on the machine and get a proper error code into the installer.
"VsixInstaller.exe /quiet extension.vsix" returns 0 error code no matter what happens and requires /skuName and /skuVersion which is not trivial to detect automatically.
Can I somehow do that manually? ReSharper for example keeps all the extension binaries in it's "Program Files" folder and somehow makes them available for VIsual Studio.
Have you tried using copy aka:
copy xx.vsix "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\Extensions"
or
copy xx.vsix %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft"
Registering Visual Studio extensions is complicated process. For pre 2010 VS editions you need to copy appropriate files (.dll/.zip template/.regpkg...) into some folder and then write keys into registry with paths, settings, etc. (many, many keys).
These keys/settings are based on extension you are developing (LanguageService, Package, Add-in, ...)
After 2010 VS editions have new feature - .vsix extensions which is simple .zip archive containing all required files and registry keys.
You need to copy this .vsix file into some folder (recommended is inside VS install directory or other known folder as %VSInstallDir%\\) and then setup VS to load it (like running devenv.com /setup)
Read this blog for more info about discovering VS extensions: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2010/02/19/how-vsix-extensions-are-discovered-and-loaded-in-vs-2010.aspx

How to distribute/deploy a Visual Studio Add-in

I created my own Add-in with Visual Studio 2010. This Add-in is loaded at the startup of Visual Studio and it adds an entry in the Tools menu. The action of the Add-in is executing by clicking on its entry in the Tools menu.
The Add-in works well, but now I want to create an installer or something to deploy it on others computers.
I tried to create an MSI project, but I don't know where to copy the dll of the Add-in and how to register it in Visual Studio.
Then I tried to create a VSIX project, I managed to install the extension but my entry in the Tools menu is not visible/displayed.
Anyone knows a good way to deploy the Visual Studio ?
VSIX installers are used for deploying Visual Studio 2010 extensions. I'm not sure it works for add-ins. I would go with MSI. Here you will find a tutorial:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/install/AddinCustomAction.aspx

Specflow with Visual Studio express

I have used Specflow in Visual Studio 2010 Pro at work but would like to use it on my personal projects. Unfortunately I only have VS210 Express.
I have not managed to get Specflow working in VS2010 Express. has anyone done this or is it even possible.
thanks,
I have managed to do this, and I have written a blog post on how to do this entitled: "C# ATDD on a shoestring (or the complete guide to SpecFlow & NUnit in VS2010 Express)"
The main idea is: SpecFlow generates fixtures for one of the common Unit-Test-Frameworks. More information you can find here.
I suppose that you loose some Item templates that appear in the Visual Studio Professional but disappear for Visual Studio Express versions. To overcome this problem you should take all templates files from SpecFlow application folder on computer where you have Professional version installed. On my computer it is located here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\TechTalk\SpecFlow\ItemTemplates
There should be the files like: SpecFlowFeature.zip and etc, all with *.zip extension. Then you should copy its to your computer for this place:
C:\Users\[User name]\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Templates\ItemTemplates\Visual C#
And finally, open Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express. Create console application, for example. And choose Project -> Add new item. There is only possible to open these templates with Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express. Because inside template files it was defined that templates could be open only with C# project type.
You can't use 3rd party add ons (like Specflow, ReSharper etc.) with the Express editions of Visual Studio. I can't find the reference right now, but this will be why you can't integrate Specflow.

Is it possible to have a vs2010 vsix check for updates locally?

I'm writing a project structure and code analysis extension for visual studio at work. The project can not be published to the Visual Studio Extensions Gallery.
Is there any way to manage updates and deployment built in to visual studio so that a team can use the extension and get the update prompts?
No, this is not a supported operation on Visual Studio 2010. I just verified this with the extension manager team.
Looks like you can do this now with Private Galleries!

Resources