MSDN Magazine - February 2009 - (Page 69)

Figure 7 MSBuild File for “M” Projects Repository true true $(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\M\v1.0 then choosing a .mx file. For example, if you’d like to create a project that builds the values I’ve been playing with and references the types I’ve been demonstrating, it will look like Figure 6. When you build, you’ll see the errors in the Error List as you’d expect and the output will go into \bin\Debug or \bin\Release (depending on the configuration that you’re building), including both the .sql and .mx files for you to do with as you see fit (like run mx.exe on the output .mx file). All of these same things also work in the latest CTP of Visual Studio 2010. The build process inside Visual Studio is driven by an MSBuild file with the .mproj extension (see Figure 7). This is handy if you’d like to use the “Oslo” msbuild targets file in your own project files. Sample Code Figure 8 The repinst Sample in Action provides the same IntelliSense features you got in Intellipad. When you need more model files, you can right-click on your project in the Solution Explorer, add a new item, and then choose the “M” Model template. Further, if you’d like to reference existing “M” images, you can do so by right-clicking on your project and choosing Add Reference, The sample code included with this article is a toy Repository Installer utility (repinst.exe) that understands a slightly more fullfeatured model for describing MSI files that I’ve been discussing here. Once the types and values that describe the WiX models have been compiled (using m.exe) and loaded into the repository (using mx.exe), running the repinst.exe utility on the value data will read the data from the repository, create an MSI file from it, and launch the setup, allowing anyone with access to the database to deploy applications thus loaded, as shown in Figure 8. I did some work on this sample, mostly rearranging for exposition, but the bulk of the work (and the credit!) goes to Thomas Delrue, Alejandro Trigo, and Giovanni Della-Libera for their work on modeling WiX, translating “M” into WiX, and producing an MSI from SQL data. I could never have written this article in the time I did without their ground-breaking work. Also, thanks to Josh Williams, Martin Gudgin, and John Doty for a whole other sample built to explore the features of the repository that you’ll see on the “Oslo” Developer Center real soon now (msdn.com/oslo).  Chris sells is a Program Manager for the Connected Systems Division at Microsoft where he is working on next-gen application development techniques. More info about Chris and his various projects can be found at sellsbrothers.com. msdnmagazine.com February 2009 69 http://www.msdn.com/oslo http://www.sellsbrothers.com http://www.msdnmagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of MSDN Magazine - February 2009

MSDN Magazine - February 2009 Contents Toolbox CLR Inside Out Data Points Cutting Edge Patterns In Practice Best Practices .Net Interop "Oslo" Basics Patterns Silverlight Under The Table Foundations Windows With C++ .NET Matters Going Places { End Bracket }

MSDN Magazine - February 2009

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