Pablo Galiano :

Subscriptions

<September 2010>
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
2930311234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293012
3456789

News

Subscribe to Pablo Galiano by Email

Post Categories

VSSDKAssist (RSS)

VSSDK Assist March 2008 CTP is OUT!!!

This new version includes several bug fixes and it is compatible with GAX February 2008 RTM.

You can download it from here.

 

Pablo

posted Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:49 AM by pga with 1 Comments

VSSDK Assist October CTP is OUT!!!

I am pleased to announce that VSSDK Assist October 2007 CTP is out and available for download.

Features:

  • Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 and Visual Studio 2008 SDK August 2007 CTP support
    • RANU support
    • VSCT code generation
  • Visual Basic support
    • New Visual Basic solution and project templates
    • New Visual Basic Code snippets
    • Code generation updated to support Visual Basic
  • VS Custom Tools / Single file generators creation support

For more information please visit http://www.codeplex.com/vssdkassist

Links:
Release

https://www.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=vssdkassist&ReleaseId=7644

Pre-requisites
http://www.codeplex.com/vssdkassist/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Pre-requisites&referringTitle=Home


Pablo

posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:30 PM by pga with 1 Comments

VSX July 07 community letter

Ken Levy, product manager of the VSX team just published the VSX community letter for July 07.

In my opinion this initiative provides a lot of transparency to the community about what the VSX team has been working on, recent news, announcements, events and on what they are working on now plus the roadmap for the future. Following this direction there is also a VSX Team blog.

Of course there is a lot of work to do to build a VSX community, my friend and VSX guru Victor already mentioned his vision of a VSX Community and I completely agree with him.

But I think that this is a really good thing and the VSX team is going to put a lot of effort to continue building the community.

On the news section there is a pointer to VSSDK Assist, many thanks to Ken and the VSX team to provide a pointer on the community letter and to increase the visibility of the project.

 

Pablo

posted Monday, July 02, 2007 5:50 PM by pga with 1 Comments

Visual Studio Extensibility got easier

Let’s make a small introduction first:

Visual studio provides three levels of extensibility:

·         Macros

o   Macros are not new and we know them from Office

·         Add-ins

o   This is the next level in the VSX hierarchy, it provides more powerful extensibility points and full control of the Visual Studio Automation Object model

·         Packages

o   This is the last level in the VSX hierarchy, it provides more power and flexibility than the Visual Studio Automation Object model

Packages:

Creating a VS Package is not a simple task and the beginning it was only for C++ experienced developers.

With the inclusion of the Manage Package Framework (MPF) developing a Vs Package got easier because MPF allows a VSX developer to extend VS using managed code.

But in my opinion a set of tools on top of the MPF were missing. A set of tools that provide a higher level of abstraction, guidance, best practices and code generation to support the creation on VSX assets, a set of tools that can make the learning curve really low and most important a set of tools that can boost your productivity.

VSSDK Assist to the rescue:

A couple of months ago I started on codeplex a project named VSIPFactory. This project was the beginning of this vision.

It then became VSSDK Assist and the current version provides an initial toolset of utilities that allow a VSX developer to:

Create:

·         VS Package solution

·         VS Package project

·         VS Services

·         VS Tool Windows

·         VS Commands

·         VS Tool Options Pages

·         Subscribe to VS Events

Configure:

·         VS Package

·         VS about/splash screens

Deploy:

·         Configure VS Package Load Key

·         Create VS Package Deployment Information

Test:

·         Create VS Package Load Key Report

·         Test VS Package Load Key

·         Test VS Splash Screen

Utility:

·         Register VS Packages

·         Unregister VS Packages

·         Refresh VS Package Registration Information

·         Launch VS on Experimental Hive

·         Browse your VS Package

Of course this is only the beginning, future versions will cover more and more Visual Studio Extensibility points.

So go and download it J

Pablo

posted Friday, June 08, 2007 8:15 AM by pga with 2 Comments

Visual Studio 2008 Shell

The Visual Studio 2008 Shell was just announced. After seeing the screenshots and reading the main features:

  • Faster Development. The Visual Studio Shell accelerates development by providing a base integrated development environment that can host custom tools and programming languages.
  • A Familiar Environment. Developers can build on the Visual Studio platform and provide end users a familiar user interface, speeding the learning curve for both.
  • Optimized for Languages & Tools. Created in response to requests from our partners, the Visual Studio Shell gives you the option of integrating your tools with Visual Studio or creating an isolated, custom-branded application.

I can only say WOW; finally extending VS will be much easier. :)

Meanwhile you can continue using VSIPFactory and of course a version running on top of Visual Studio 2008 Shell will be available in the future. :)

Pablo

posted Monday, June 04, 2007 6:42 PM by pga with 1 Comments

Configuring a Package Load Key with VSIPFactory

The Visual Studio authenticates valid VSPackages that users can install and use by using package load keys (PLKs).

A PLK is a public-key encoded string that is generated for a specific VSPackage. Visual Studio authenticates the PLK to before loading the VSPackage into the Visual Studio integrated development environment.

A PLK can be obtained for free from the Visual Studio Industry Partner Web site.

Once we obtain one we need to install it. This process is really simple but with VSIPFactory is even simpler :)

Steps:

  • Enable VSIPFactory
  • Right click on the VSPackage Project
  • Choose VSIPFactory\Deploy\Configure VS Package Load Key
  • Specify the information about the Package
  • Specify the PLK

ConfigureVSPLK1.jpg

ConfigureVSPLK2.jpg

ConfigureVSPLK3.jpg

Note:

The PLK is created based on the following information:

  • Package Guid
  • Company Name (This is entered when first creating your login on the Visual Studio Industry Partner Web site)
  • Product Name (This is entered when first creating the product information)
  • Product Version
  • Mininum Visual Studio Edition

    If you change any of these values you must obtain a new PLK from the Visual Studio Industry Partner Web site

     

    Pablo

  • posted Friday, May 18, 2007 11:04 PM by pga with 1 Comments

    VSIPFactory and the Package Browser

    I am currently working on my spare time on the next CTP of VSIPFactory, and in particular in a new feature that will be called the "Package Browser".

    The Package Browser basically gives you useful information about a VSPackage and a snapshot of the assets that it provides. The current implementation only shows Services and ToolWindows. On the future it will provide information about Commands, Option pages and so on. It is of course integrated with VS and is used at design time when are at the developing stage.

    As you may know VSIPFactory is an open source project and I am really open to suggestions to improve the authoring of Visual Studio Extensibility assets, so please let me know if you have any feedback before releasing it on the next CTP.

    Some screenshots:

    Package information:

    PackageBrowser1.jpg

    ToolWindow information:

    PackageBrowser2.jpg

     

    Pablo

    posted Friday, May 18, 2007 10:24 PM by pga with 1 Comments

    Analyzing a Package Load with VSIPFactory

    One of the new features of the Visual Studio 2005 SDK Version 4.0 is the Package Load Analyzer.

    Based on this tool VSIPFactory automates the creation of the PLK report at "design time" and displays the result into the VS Output Window.

    Steps:

    • Enable VSIPFactory
    • Right click on the VSPackage Project
    • Choose VSIPFactory\Test\Create VS Package Load Key Report
    • The report is shown of the VS Output Window

    CreateVSPackagePLKReport1.jpg

     

    CreateVSPackagePLKReport2.jpg

    If the PLK verification fails here you have some useful pointers to troubleshoot the issue:

    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb164677(VS.80).aspx

    http://blogs.msdn.com/dr._ex/archive/2006/12/14/debugging-package-load-failures.aspx

     

    Pablo

    posted Friday, May 18, 2007 12:04 AM by pga with 1 Comments

    Creating a VS Service with VSIPFactory

    Before focusing on the creation of a VS Service with VSIPFactory, some little background:

    Now the steps to create a Service with VSIPFactory:

    • Enable VSIPFactory
    • Right click on the VSPackage Project
    • Choose VSIPFactory\Create\VS Service
    • Specify the Service Name
    • Provide the contract definition on the generated IService interface
    • Provide the contract implementation on the generated service class
    • Thats all :)

    CreateService1.jpg

     

    CreateService2.jpg

     

    Pablo

    posted Thursday, May 17, 2007 5:41 PM by pga with 0 Comments

    Find any VS command GUID:ID pair

    VS SP1 introduced a really useful feature that will allow us to find any command GUID:ID pair.

    To enable the feature we need to:

    • Add the following registry information
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\General]
    "EnableVSIPLogging"=dword:00000001
    • Open a new instance of VS

    Example usage:

    Suppose that you want to find the GUID:ID pair of the File\Open menu item:

    1. Click on the File menu
    2. Hover the mouse over the Open sub menu
    3. Press CTRL + SHIFT
    4. Click on the Open menu

    You could also use VSIPFactory to enable the feature for you:

    EnableVSIPLogging.png

    Tip:

    To get the content of the window you need to select the window and then press CTRL+C and paste it on a Notepad for example.

     

    Pablo

    posted Thursday, May 17, 2007 5:33 PM by pga with 2507 Comments

    VSIPFactory May 07 CTP is out!!!

    The May 07 CTP version of VSIPFactory is out and it has a lot of new cool features:

     

             Create:

    *    VS Package solution (VS solution template)

    *      VS Package project (VS project template)

    *      VS Services

    *      VS Tool Windows

    *      VS Commands

    *      VS Tool Options Pages

    *      Subscribe to VS Events

    *   VS Solution Events

    *   VS Build Events

    *   VS RDT Events

    *   VS Project Item Events

    *   VS File Change Events

     

    Configure:

    *     VS Package

    *     VS about/splash screens

     

    Deploy:

    *     Configure VS Package Load Key

    *     Create VS Package Deployment Information

     

    Test:

    *     Create VS Package Load Key Report

    *     Test VS Package Load Key

    *     Test VS Splash Screen

     

           Utility:

    *     Register VS Package

    *     Unregister VS Package

    *     Refresh VS Package Registration Information

    *     Launch VS on Experimental Hive

     

    DSL authoring:

    *     Templates transformation per project / folder

     

    You can download it from:

    http://www.codeplex.com/vsipfactory/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4070

     

    Screenshots:

    http://www.codeplex.com/vsipfactory/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Screenshots&referringTitle=Home

     

    Documentation links:

    http://www.codeplex.com/vsipfactory/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Pre-requisites&referringTitle=Home

    http://www.codeplex.com/vsipfactory/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Install&referringTitle=Home

    http://www.codeplex.com/vsipfactory/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Usage&referringTitle=Home

     

    PS: If you want to see the plan for the next release please visit the roadmap section

     

    Pablo

    posted Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:56 PM by pga with 1 Comments

    VSIPFactory released!!!

    The M0 version of VSIPFactory was just released!

    VSIPFactory - A Software Factory for Visual Studio Extensibility

    M0 Features:

    ·         Recipe for creating a VS service

    ·         Recipe for creating a VS tool window

    ·         Recipe for creating a VS command

    ·         Recipe for configuring VSIP package

    ·         Recipe for configuring VSIP package PLK

    ·         Recipe for configuring VS splash/about screens

    ·         Recipe for registering/unregistering a VSIP package

     

    You can download it from:

    http://www.codeplex.com/vsipfactory/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=2829

    Pablo

    posted Tuesday, April 03, 2007 4:33 PM by pga with 14 Comments