I would like to create a setup with three basic dialogs (one input dialog):
Browse (next + exit button)
Progress
Finish
No welcome dialog or any other unnecessary dialog. Maybe even combine 1&2, but I would like to stick to predefined dialogs for the moment.
I looked at WixUI_Minimal, but couldn't figure out how to modify the sequence of dialogs so that my specification is met.
Links or informations are much appreciated.
Maybe you could use SharpSetup to create such minimal installer (dialogs can be graphically edited in Visual Studio designer). It requires .NET at runtime - not sure if it is acceptable in your case.
Disclaimer: I'm the author of SharpSetup.
Related
I want to achieve that when the user installs the WP7 control library he will find it in the Visual Studio toolbox automatically without manually adding it. In addition I would like to organize toolbox tabs in a logical manner.
I know it can be done for other platforms. For example I tried writing *.design.dll as described here - it does not work for WP7.
Any pointers how to work with toolbox for VS 2010 / WP7?
Nobody answered, so here is my brief summary:
The control library cannot be added to the Toolbox automatically unless you program VS plugin (package). Too much work for me...
*.design.dll (see the link above) basically works.
2a) You can hide controls from the Toolbox (BrowsableAttribute) and you can define control icons. That's probably everything you can do for Toolbox. The user has to add Toolbox tabs and "choose items" manually.
Well, I am not quite sure here, because when you drop the control dll file onto the Toolbox, then at least ToolboxTabNameAttribute works, i.e. corresponding Toolbox tabs are created automatically. Unfortunately, the tab is empty.
Also, when the control library is properly installed, then some of the controls are added to Choose items Toolbox dialog. Unfortunately, in my case most of the controls are missing and have to be added by manual browsing.
2b) Designer support (Properties window for the control) is better. You can hide properties (BrowsableAttribute), define categories (CategoryAttribute) and define descriptions (DescriptionAttribute).
Descriptions can be extracted from you documentation xml file, so that you don't need to write them again. To get the code google for MetadataBase.cs. Just be carefull, the files you'll find contain fatal bugs (ParseDescription method) and ignore some properties (getters that return a collection).
After all, the result is not that bad.
I'd like to create an extension for Visual Studio 2010. The functionalities I need are these:
Add a context menu item for Project (when user right clicks project name in his solution, he'll get my context item in the list).
When he clicks, a new WinForms form appears, where he can input some data, and an option to save that data for future reuse.
When he clicks OK on that Form I'll generate some files and add those files to be a part of his project that he rightclicked.
The WSCF.blue is exactly the kind of behaviour I want to immitate in VS, but it's source was written in VS2008, and I'd like to use VS2010 Extension options which are quite changed as I understand...
I found some resources on the msdn, but I found it confusing with incomplete info (e.g. MenuAndCommands example).
Can anyone shed some light on how to achieve what I'm after?
I really don't know where to point out so you can get specific examples of what you are trying to achieve. However, in the following resources you will find complete and detailed information about the overall process, and some help to achieve 1. and 2.
VS 2010 Package Development – Chapter 1: Visual Studio Packages
VS 2010 Package Development – Chapter 2: Commands, Menus and Toolbars
Oftentimes I want to bring up a system class in a source view, so that I can browse the properties and methods exposed by the class. Below is the screenshot of what I mean:
Srting from metadata http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/940/stringfrommetadata.png
Usually I do this by selecting the class name and pressing F12 (or right click>Go To Definition). However, if I haven't got it anywhere ready, i have type it up and then do Go To Definition. Most of the time I have to delete what I typed later on.
Is there a way to bring up this view without having to type the class name? The VS2010 Navigate To dialog doesn't support this.
EDIT: When I posted the question I didn't use any Visual Studio plugins. Now that I realised that I have full CodeRush license (thanks to StackOverflow promotion for users with 10K rep) I will accept answers that use CodeRush or Refactor!.
EDIT: At this stage I haven't really got anywhere with trying to answer this question. I am going to leave it open and let the bounty auto-award itself to Rory as he explained what's happening the best. In the meantime(schedule allowing) I will investigate doing this with DXCore as I think it should be possible.
The view you're looking at appears to have been built by some sort of analysis of the IL of the framework. Without knowing the type you intend to look at, no deconstruction can be done. Therefore I feel that, you are unlikely to find exactly what you have said you are looking for.
Allow me to suggest a few alternatives though.
Disclaimer: I work for DevExpress as a CodeRush Community Evangelist.
The Object Browser (Ctrl+Alt+J) This screen will load without attempting to show you any particular type, it will therefore be down to you to find the type in question. However all types are available and full search functionality is provided. once the type you're looking or is found, all members are listed and available.
Update: If you use the (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+R) shortcut to launch the object browser, then it will launch focused on the Search box. This is invaluable.
There are a number of CodeRush features which can prove useful when trying to locate code.
TabToNextReference (Tab) Whilst the caret is positioned within a type, strike the tab key and the next reference to that type will be located. More Details
References ToolWindow (Shift+F12) When activated the References ToolWindow will show you any references to the current type or member. This toolwindow can also be used to navigate said references. The References Toolwindow can be used in both on demand and Live mode. this allows you to have the window update as you navigate your code (via mouse or keyboard) and locate all references of any symbol the caret lands upon.
QuickNav (Ctrl+Shift+Q): This feature is closest in style to VS2010's NavigateTo feature. QuickNav will locate symbols matching whatever you type into it's filter box. This facility also supports Camel Case search. More details
QuickNav is also much more configurable than it's VS counterpart
Finally
Please also keep in mind that CodeRush is build upon the DXCore, a framework which allows users to create their own plugins for use alongside each other and CodeRush.
This framework has been repeatedly been leveraged by the community to add additional functionality. So even if you don't see any thing quite to your needs, consider suggesting something to the community by way of the forums or even contact me directly RoryB at DevExpress dot Com
I'm sure there's something we can do to help you out :)
I was not aware of that new "Navigate To" feature, but I used to use Reflector for this sort of things. The pro version offers some integration with Visual Studio (Right clicking the method and selecting "Open In .NET Reflector"). It will open the reflector window and won't show the code in the VS itself. You can watch the demo that shows this feature and some others.
This is not the best answer that I'd expect but is a good option to know.
There is no way that I know of to do this in Visual Studio 2010. However, you can do this in ReSharper via the 'navigate to' menu. I suggest you try the 30 day trial from them, then if you really do need this then purchase it.
A number of add-ins allow you to browse objects (though usually in an object-browser treeview manner rather than in a "header" file form - I believe Resharper, CodeRush and Visual Assist X all have variations on this theme).
However, one add-in to consider (as it's free) is the VS Productivity Power Tools. It adds a Solution Navigator window that gives a view onto your solution just like Solution Explorer, but (among other enhancements):
can search & filter the files listed, e.g. show only those files that are named Test.
can "expand" any file entry to show the types and members within it.
Has the menu & toolbar customization functionality in VS2010 been reduced?
I can't seem to be able to select an icon for an added command, nor set it to be icon-only. Previous versions of Visual Studio supported this functionality and even allowed the creation/editing of custom icons.
Is this something that has suffered as a result of the move to the WPF-authored UI or am I missing something?
Seems like this functionality was cut from Visual Studio 2010. This post has some info in the comments: Customizing Visual Studio 2010
Specifically - "Unfortunately assigning or editing icons to commands through Customize dialog is not possible in VS2010. It is one of the features got cut for lack of time. This is however something we'll consider adding back in next version."
The reply also has a longer explanation of a workaround.
As noted in the link mentioned in the answer from #Gordon Mackie JoanMiro, the REASON for the reduced functionality is that the VS Shell team migrated the entire UI (shell and command system) from Win32 to one based solely on WPF. This was a gargantuan task, I would imagine. However, a couple workarounds are now available:
You can export previously saved settings from VS 2008 and import them into VS 2010. That includes command bar customizations (as noted by #Don)
A more recent blog-post contains detailed instructions for using a new extension to VS2010 (available on Visual Studio Gallery) that allows users to change the images on the command UI. (Note that the old drag&drop customization interface is still not supported in this new extension.)
If you have custom icons, any attempt to make ANY changes to the tool bar will result in the custom icons disappearing and being replaced by text when you restart VS2010.
The only way I found to get my custom icons without text into VS2010 is to open VS2008, set up all of the tool bars the way I want, including custom icons, then export the settings (Tools| Import and Export Settings). Then open VS2010 and import those settings. Tedious, I know, but it allows me to have a down arrow icon that searches for the next instance of the word my cursor is on.
I have been trying to customize VS2010 toolbars/keyboard and what took a few minutes in previous versions takes hours now. The new system looks real pretty but is useless in practice. Apart from the fact you just can't do (like change the appearance of buttons as mentioned above) the things you can do are extremely time-consuming and annoying.
Why is it every new version of VS loses something really useful? Other examples:
VC++5 introduced a new HTML help system. Pressing F1 on a function name used to immediately show help for that function. After VC++5 getting context help became annoyingly much slower, and is still very slow (and inaccurate).
VS.Net (aka VS2002 or VC++7) had a useless bookmark system compared to VC++6. VS2010 bookmarks are better but not perfect.
VS.Net removed the search state buttons "whole word", "case sensitive" etc. These were possibly the most useful buttons ever as they quickly allowed you to see why a search may have failed.
I found a great extension: CommandingImage
It does not have an icon editor, but you can create your images as 16x16 png format (for transparency) and import it (I recommend Paint.Net)
Dave, here's how to add toolbar buttons:
1) in the IDE, find the down arrow looking thing on the far right of a toolbar and click on Add Remove Buttons, Customize
2) in the Customize window select the Menu Bar radio button then select the appropriate menu bar that you want to add a button to
3) click the "Add Command..." button
4) select the appropriate Category and Command button that you want to add, then click OK.
The command button you selected will be added to the menu bar you selected. You can move the button up or down.
I think this is what you are looking for.
Good luck!
I've been looking into into MEF (Managed Extensibility Framework), but I am not entirely sure if it is something that I need and can help me accommplish what I need to do.
Can someone provide an easy to understand description of MEF, provides good resources and tutorials (aside from MSDN), and/or know if it can do the task I am trying to do under Visual Studio?
The task I am trying to do is to "log" a string of text to a text file whenever the user selects a string of text. I also need this functionality to run passively and real-time, which Visual Studio Add-in's do not support this functionality, as their behavior is "click the button to work".
It looks like the docs here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd885240(v=VS.100).aspx
may be one useful starting point.
See my response to a similar question.
The answer is "yes", this is possible/supported. Look for the following in samples/documentation/walkthroughs:
IWpfTextViewCreationLister - for detecting when editor instances are created.
ITextView.Selection - the selection object
ITextSelection.SelectionChanged - raised whenever the selection changes (though not for the empty-selection tracking the caret)
I'm sure this is possible in .NET without going 'close to the metal', probably a reference to 'lower level code'. The .NET Method TextPattern.GetSelection Method will help you to accomplish your task if combined with a MouseEvent Handler.