Source Versioning for Visual Studio Express - visual-studio

Is there any Visual Studio Express plug ins for source versioning? I am starting a project on my own and only have the Express version of Visual Studio 2008.

Way I do this is I have TortosieHG installed and then in visual studios express i went to Tools>External Tools.
I created the following enteries:
Title: HG New Repositry
Command: C:\Program Files\TortoiseHg\hgtk.exe
Arguments: --nofork init Initial
directory: $(SolutionDir)
Title: HG Commit
Command: C:\Program Files\TortoiseHg\hgtk.exe
Arguments: --nofork init Initial directory: $(SolutionDir)
I then added the two external tools to the toolbar. Now I don't get as nice intergration as I would with the full version of visual studios but I can commit source code and create a source repository without leaving Visual Studios.

Short answer: No.
The Express editions support neither the Add-Ins nor Source Control providers (SCC plug-ins). While there are ways to make this work, they are undocumented, violate the license and have caused legal trouble before…

You don't really need an integration/plugin. First is not supported but there are very good alternatives to make it work.
Whatever SCM you decide to use (SVN, GIT, PlasticSCM, Mercurial) just use the "find changes" workflow:
Do your changes
Find your modifications within the tool you've chosen to use
Commit
http://codicesoftware.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-find-changes-on-plastic-scm.html
Edit: PlasticSCM is free for up to 15 users since Nov 1st 2010.

Visual studio 2012 Express offers an express version of Team Foundation Server.

Source control integration is not supported in the Express editions of Visual Studio. Check out the feature comparison chart at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/products/cc149003.aspx

I don't think there are any plugins for Express versions of VS. Googling 'Jamie Cansdale' is the canonical reference for this issue.

The VisualSVN manual says it works with all editions of Visual Studio - though I have not personally tried it. I know that none of Microsoft's Team Foundation Server stuff will work with Express.

VisualSVN doesn't support Visual Studio Express editions. Visit here for more info http://www.visualsvn.com/visualsvn/download/

Interesting, does the Express edition auto-check for file updates? If so, just use TortoiseSVN and save yourself the money of upgrading.

You can get cloud based Team Foundation Service for free as long as your project has 5 or fewer members. I've been using it for a few months now and it works great. There are a some features of Team Foundation Server that are not available yet, but, hey, it's free.
http://tfs.visualstudio.com/

Related

How To Choose Preferred Visual Studio Version When Cloning From Azure DevOps

My colleagues and I have several versions of Visual Studio installed which — for business reasons — we may need to keep for some time. For some teammates an inconvenient version of Visual Studio will open when cloning a git repository from Azure DevOps server, starting from this web UI:
How can we ensure the preferred version of VS opens upon/after cloning? As a bonus, would there be any way to configure this per repository?
So far the best we have worked out is to follow these steps. However it doesn't seem to consistently update the preference for every user. In particular, if a team member has already cloned at least once targeting an earlier version (e.g. VS 2015, VS 2017) we seem to have a dickens of a time getting an update of this preference to VS 2019 to stick.
Open “Default Apps” in system settings
Select “Choose default apps by protocol”
Scroll to “Microsoft Visual Studio Web Protocol Handler Selector"
Change handler to Visual Studio 2019
Note: Our machines have MS VS Web Protocol Handler Selector listed twice. We have experimented with setting both or either without success. Any suggestions why we're seeing the protocol selector twice may also help.
would there be any way to configure this per repository?
For this issue, I am afraid this is currently not achievable in azure devops.
As a workaround ,agree with James Z, you can perform cloning in a specific version of visual studio instead of from the web UI from azure devops, so you don't have to worry about the troubles caused by the default version. In addition , the MS VS Web Protocol Handler Selector icon for vs2017 and vs2019 looks almost the same, which is also easy to confuse.
Open a specific version of visual studio according to your needs, connect to your project in Team Explorer, and select the repo to be cloned.

Any quick ways to downgrade Visual Studio Ultimate/Enterprise edition to Professional?

I have Visual Studio Ultimate/Enterprise installed from a previous engagement. I've now started at a new place who only have licenses form VS Professional. So I need to downgrade but the supported route involves full uninstall and full reinstall which is obviously rather time consuming.
Are there any "clever" (probably unsupported) ways to do the downgrade?
It is not possible to downgrade an installation, as they are different products and can exist side by side. The components downloaded and installed for each product are different.
If you had previously installed VS Pro, as I had, you might be able to go to "Add/Remove Programs" and select "Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise with Updates." Modify->Uninstall worked perfectly for me. Be sure to backup any settings, as some of mine got reset. My extensions stayed the same, though. To be clear, I had VS Pro first, and I installed Enterprise Evaluation side-by-side with it.
I'm in a similar situation, unfortunately there's no supported option besides the uninstall/reinstall route you've already mentioned. You could probably save some time by backing up all your extensions and settings etc. The processes outlined below might be different for more recent versions but I think the process would be similar
Backup and restore settings
Backup and restore extensions
Edit:
This is pretty weird, I'm starting to think that perhaps Drunken Code Monkey's solution is more accurate than I initially thought. I was expecting to have to follow the same process as Schneider described (uninstall / full reinstall), but as soon as the uninstall of VS Enterprise finished, I was able to open VS Pro as normal.
Edit 2:
Turns out it was not as normal, a bunch of things didn't work (creating ASP.NET MVC projects) and I had to do a repair. Not quite as bad as a full reinstall, fortunately.
Just had to do this. You must first uninstall the enterprise edition. Visual Stuido Installer will complete the uninstall and when it's finished will prompt if you'd like to install a different version, such as Community.
Down Grade visual studio from enterprise to Professional
we can download separate professional version of Visual studio EXE.
Professional and enterprise run side by side in our machine but need separate 2 license for those 2.
if you want to downgrade you visual studio from Enterprise to professional just need to install EXe using below link
https://my.visualstudio.com/downloads?pid=2234.

what is Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode)?

I am new to Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode), I just want to know what is its function? (I did not find much clearly from the web.)
From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb510103.aspx
looks like it is some interface/framework to allow tools to integrate with VSTS IDE. My question is whether any Microsoft VSTS tools (like databse designer and other tools in VSTS) dependent on VSTS Shell? I am asking this question because it is conflicting with SQL Server 2008, and I want to make sure that if I uninstaill VSTS Shell, it does not impact anything.
thanks in advance,
George
SQL Server 2008 Management Studio using the VS 2008 Shell. (That's why it looks and feels just like Visual Studio).
Visual Studio Shell is an extensibility mechanism provided to use Visual Studio core platform to provide your own tools. It has two modes. In "Isolated Mode," it'll always set up a separate instance of Visual Studio that hosts your tool. In "Integrated Mode," it'll only install a new VS instance if there's no one already available. If one is already there, it'll integrate with it. I don't think removing it causes any problems for a VS installation. It seems to be smart enough to handle it (it might break a third party tool, however).
The shell version means that applications can merge into the shell and be used independently. Isolated mode means that this version only performs one task and is a complete separate application..
See: VS2k8 Shell
A clearly defined difference is here

Using Git with Visual Studio [closed]

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As a long-time Visual SourceSafe user (and hater) I was discussing switching to SVN with a colleague; he suggested using Git instead. Since, apparently, it can be used as peer-to-peer without a central server (we are a 3-developer team).
I have not been able to find anything about tools that integrate Git with Visual Studio, though - does such a thing exist?
What are the technologies available for using Git with Visual Studio? And what do I need to know about how they differ before I begin?
In Jan 2013, Microsoft announced that they are adding full Git support into all their ALM products. They have published a plugin for Visual Studio 2012 that adds Git source control integration.
Alternatively, there is a project called Git Extensions that includes add-ins for Visual Studio 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012, as well as Windows Explorer integration. It's regularly updated and having used it on a couple of projects, I've found it very useful.
Another option is Git Source Control Provider.
I use Git with Visual Studio for my port of Protocol Buffers to C#. I don't use the GUI - I just keep a command line open as well as Visual Studio.
For the most part it's fine - the only problem is when you want to rename a file. Both Git and Visual Studio would rather that they were the one to rename it. I think that renaming it in Visual Studio is the way to go though - just be careful what you do at the Git side afterwards. Although this has been a bit of a pain in the past, I've heard that it actually should be pretty seamless on the Git side, because it can notice that the contents will be mostly the same. (Not entirely the same, usually - you tend to rename a file when you're renaming the class, IME.)
But basically - yes, it works fine. I'm a Git newbie, but I can get it to do everything I need it to. Make sure you have a git ignore file for bin and obj, and *.user.
Git Source Control Provider is new plug-in that integrates Git with Visual Studio.
I've looked into this a bit at work (both with Subversion and Git). Visual Studio actually has a source control integration API to allow you to integrate third-party source control solutions into Visual Studio. However, most folks don't bother with it for a couple of reasons.
The first is that the API pretty much assumes you are using a locked-checkout workflow. There are a lot of hooks in it that are either way expensive to implement, or just flat out make no sense when you are using the more modern edit-merge workflow.
The second (which is related) is that when you are using the edit-merge workflow that both Subversion and Git encourage, you don't really need Visual Studio integration. The main killer thing about SourceSafe's integration with Visual Studio is that you (and the editor) can tell at a glance which files you own, which must be checked out before you can edit, and which you cannot check out even if you want to. Then it can help you do whatever revision-control voodoo you need to do when you want to edit a file. None of that is even part of a typical Git workflow.
When you are using Git (or SVN typically), your revision-control interactions all take place either before your development session, or after it (once you have everything working and tested). At that point it really isn't too much of a pain to use a different tool. You aren't constantly having to switch back and forth.
I find that Git, working on whole trees as it does, benefits less from IDE integration than source control tools that are either file based or follow a checkout-edit-commit pattern. Of course there are instances when it can be nice to click on a button to do some history examination, but I don't miss that very much.
The real must-do is to get your .gitignore file full of the things that shouldn't be in a shared repository. Mine generally contain (amongst other stuff) the following:
*.vcproj.*.user
*.ncb
*.aps
*.suo
but this is heavily C++ biased with little or no use of any class wizard style functionality.
My usage pattern is something like the following.
Code, code, code in Visual Studio.
When happy (sensible intermediate point to commit code, switch to Git, stage changes and review diffs. If anything's obviously wrong switch back to Visual Studio and fix, otherwise commit.
Any merge, branch, rebase or other fancy SCM stuff is easy to do in Git from the command prompt. Visual Studio is normally fairly happy with things changing under it, although it can sometimes need to reload some projects if you've altered the project files significantly.
I find that the usefulness of Git outweighs any minor inconvenience of not having full IDE integration but it is, to some extent, a matter of taste.
Microsoft announced Git for Visual studio 2012 (update 2) recently. I have not played around with it yet, but this video looks promising.
Here is a quick tutorial on how to use Git from Visual Studio 2012.
Also don't miss TortoiseGit...
https://tortoisegit.org/
There's a Visual Studio Tools for Git by Microsoft. It only supports Visual Studio 2012 (update 2) though.
Visual Studio 2013 natively supports Git.
See the official announcement.
The Git support done by Microsoft in Visual Studio is just good enough for basic work (commit/fetch/merge and push). My advice is just to avoid it...
I highly prefer GitExtensions (or in less proportion SourceTree). Because seeing the DAG is for me really important to understand how Git works. And you are a lot more aware of what the other contributors to your project have done!
In Visual Studio, you can't quickly see the diff between files or commit, nor (add to the index) and commit only part of modifications. Browse your history is not good either... All that ending in a painful experience!
And, for example, GitExtensions is bundled with interesting plugins: background fetch, GitFlow,... and now, continuous integration!
For the users of Visual Studio 2015, Git is taking shape if you install the GitHub extension. But an external tool is still better ;-)
TortoiseGit has matured and I recommend it especially if you have used TortoiseSVN.
The newest release of Git Extensions supports Visual Studio 2010 now (along with Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2005).
I found it to be fairly easy to use with Visual Studio 2008 and the interface seems to be the same in Visual Studio 2010.
The simplest solution that actually works quite well is to add the TortoiseGit commands as external tools.
Solution to adding a Git (TortoiseGit) toolbar to Visual Studio
As mantioned by Jon Rimmer, you can use GitExtensions. GitExtensions does work in Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, it also does work in Visual Studio 2010 if you manually copy and config the .Addin file.
Currently there are 2 options for Git Source Control in Visual Studio (2010 and 12):
Git Source Control Provider
Microsoft Git Provider
I have tried both and have found 1st one to be more mature, and has more features. For instance it plays nicely with both tortoise git and git extensions, and even exposed their features.
Note: Whichever extension you use, make sure that you enable it from Tools -> Options -> Source control -> Plugin Selection for it to work.
As of 2013-02-11, the Microsoft Git plugin for Visual Studio 2012 should work with the Express version as well.

Any experience with the Visual Studio Shell?

Our company is considering using the Visual Studio Shell for one of our products.
Does anyone have any experience using it? Was it easy to work with? Did it save time? Are there any things that you weren't able to get it to do? Have you shipped anything with it?
A couple of points regarding the Isolated shell.
As you might know, there are two considerations when you use shell - Isolated Mode and Integrated Mode. (Read more from MSDN)
Isolated Shell can be used by organizations, to build applications that run side by side with other editions of Visual Studio.
Here are some points we learned,
trying to use shell for some of our
applications.
If you are planning to use Isolated
shell, you can't use Microsoft
Language Packages like C# and VB.NET
inside that.
Creating a package for your shell is
much like creating any other VS
Package.
You don't have support for Team
Explorer and VS Built in Source
Control access, in Isolated Shell
(See this post from Vin)
Though not directly related - If you are using VS SDK 1.1 to develop your packages - remember that the managed package framework is no longer available with the default distribution. So don't get surprised if your old packages can't load MPF files after moving to SDK 1.1. It has got moved to Codeplex as a separate download.
I played around a bit with it a couple of weeks ago, like every thing there is going to be a learn curve but if you study the examples a bit and have a look at a project on codeplex called Storyboard designer. I'm sure that you could pick it up, I found it very hard to find other examples on the net but I wasn't looking very hard.
I would say if you think that the shell can give you want you need I would go for it, it is a very handy interface to work with and if your targeting developers it is also a common interface for them, so it will feel natural.
I typically use Visual Studio Community on my PC for developing business intelligence solutions (databases, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS), then deploying to the server. A few weeks ago my managers requested we put Visual Studio on a server so that other developers and consultants could connect to the server and access Visual Studio.
Ultimately I installed SQL Server Data Tools (14.0.61021.0), which automatically installed Visual Studio Shell 2015. After installation, I launched Visual Studio Shell and tried doing some of the things I am used to doing in Community edition. I was able to do pretty much anything I was used to doing for BI Development.
Visual Studio Shell 2015:
Solution files with BI projects...
SSIS
Installing extensions & add-ons...
ANKHSVN for version control with SVN server
Visual Studio 2015 Color Theme Editor
Project deployment

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