MSDN Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 31)

Figure 9 MyValidation Installer MyValidation.zip My.Validation Extension Extends the My namespace with a set of string validation methods. VSTemplate 1.0 and ContentVersion values. For more information on creating a Visual Studio Installer file, as well as in-depth explanations of these elements, see the MSDN Library topic at go.microsoft.com/ fwlink/?LinkId=110908. But if you take a look at the entry for a typical code file, such as Module1.vb, you will only see this: Put this MyValidation.vscontent and the MyValidation.zip file into another .zip file called MyValidationInstall.zip. Then rename MyValidationInstall.zip to MyValidationInstall.vsi. Now all you have to do is double-click on it in order to install the template into Visual Studio automatically. Note that you will be prompted to overwrite the template if you already have one with the same name. If you’ve been following along that’s exactly what will happen, so overwriting the file should be fine. Now you can distribute this .vsi file in order to easily install your My Extension on other developers’ machines. As you can see, there are a few differences. First, the MyValidation.vb file is stored in the My Project folder, which means it is not visible unless the user presses the Show All Items button in the Solution Explorer pane. Additionally, the MyValidation.vb file has two extra pieces of metadata, which correspond to the values you added in the MyValidation.customdata file. By storing this information here, Visual Studio can allow the user to add and remove the extension through the My Extensions Project Designer tab rather than adding or removing the file directly. Additionally, if the reference to the trigger assembly is removed, Visual Studio can warn the user that the My Extension may stop working and prompt you to remove the template. This information also enables Visual Studio to prevent two copies of the Extension from existing in the same project. Code download available at msdn2.microsoft.com/magazine/cc135911. Send your questions and comments to instinct@microsoft.com. Matthew DeVore has one-and-a-half years of experience on the Visual Basic Language QA team, working on the latest evolution of the language he first learned to program in, QBasic. In Visual Basic 2008, Matt tested Anonymous Types, My Extensibility, and, to a lesser extent, Lambda Expressions. Try It! The My Extension is now ready for integrated use in the My Extensibility feature. To use it, first start a new instance of Visual Studio and create a new project. Then, open the Project Designer by rightclicking on the Project and selecting Properties or double-clicking on My Project in the Solution Explorer. On the My Extensions tab, click Add Extension and select the template you just created, and then click OK. The extension is now loaded into the project. If you type My. in your code (notice the dot), you will now see Validation as one of the namespaces available through IntelliSense. Publish the Extension in a Visual Studio Installer File In order to make it much easier to distribute your extension to other developers, you can create an installer file. A Visual Studio Installer file is a .zip file renamed to have an extension of .vsi. In the file are the Visual Studio add-on and a .vscontent file that describes it. Let’s expand on the sample and create a .vsi file for the My Extension. First, create a text file named MyValidation.vscontent with the text in Figure 9 in it to describe the content. When you create a different My Extension, the only elements likely to change are the FileName, DisplayName, Description, Basic Instincts april2008 31 http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=110908 http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=110908 http://msdn2.microsoft.com/magazine/cc135911 http://www.blackbaud.com/company/careers/careers_overview.aspx http://www.blackbaud.com/company/careers/careers_overview.aspx

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of MSDN Magazine - April 2008

MSDN Magazine - April 2008 Contents Toolbox CLR Inside Out Basic Instincts Cutting Edge Foundations Test Run Service Station Windows with C++ Going Places { End Bracket }

MSDN Magazine - April 2008

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