VS 2012 Start UI Windows from VSPackage - visual-studio-2012

Question

i've started to work with the VS2012 extensibility possibilities. I did the first few Walkthroughs and now I'm trying get further on. What I'm trying is pretty easy I guess... I'm trying to build a simply vspackage which starts an UI window. Actually i do not find any howto or sample code.
Do you have some links with further information about doing something like that ?
Thanks for you help..
Iki

Answer 1

You can find initial information here.
Here is my code for menu item:
/// <summary>
/// Initialization of the package; this method is called right after the package is sited, so this is the place
/// where you can put all the initialization code that rely on services provided by VisualStudio.
/// </summary>
protected override void Initialize()
{
Debug.WriteLine ("Entering Initialize() of: {0}", this);
base.Initialize();
// Add our command handlers for menu (commands must exist in the .vsct file)
OleMenuCommandService mcs = GetService(typeof(IMenuCommandService)) as OleMenuCommandService;
if ( null != mcs )
{
// Create the command for the menu item.
CommandID menuCommandID = new CommandID(GuidList.guidPackageProject, (int)PkgCmdIDList.Impl);
OleMenuCommand menuItem = new OleMenuCommand(MenuItemCallback, menuCommandID);
mcs.AddCommand( menuItem );
}
}
/// <summary>
/// This function is the callback used to execute a command when the a menu item is clicked.
/// See the Initialize method to see how the menu item is associated to this function using
/// the OleMenuCommandService service and the MenuCommand class.
/// </summary>
private void MenuItemCallback(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MyForm form = new MyForm();
form.ShowDialog(); // Here your form is opening
}

Answer 2

I have been searching for a solution to this recently as I also needed to start a WPF form from a VSPackage. I have got things working after a couple of hours searching various topics on this and some good ol' trial and error.
I had an existing WPF-Project in a separate solution, which had to be merged into a VSPackage. Here's the steps to get this working:
Create a new Solution of Project type 'Visual Studio Package'
Make sure you select the 'Tool Window' option in the VS Package
Wizard (see the image below)
Now that the Solution has been created, add the already existing
WPF-Project to it (Right-Click 'Solution', Add->Existing Project) NOTE: It might be wise to copy the WPF-project to the Solution folder prior to adding it to the Solution.
Make sure you create a reference to the WPF-Project from your
VSPackage-Project and (if necessary) edit the namespaces of the WPF-Project to meet those of the VSPackage-Project, or the other way around.
Your Solution will now look something like this:
Now, you need to edit MyToolWindow.cs:
// Original:
base.Content = new MyControl();
// Change to:
base.Content = new MainWindow();
Make the following changes to VSPackage1Package.cs (or whatever your *Package.cs file is called)
// Original
private void ShowToolWindow(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Get the instance number 0 of this tool window. This window is single instance so this instance
// is actually the only one.
// The last flag is set to true so that if the tool window does not exists it will be created.
ToolWindowPane window = this.FindToolWindow(typeof(MyToolWindow), 0, true);
if ((null == window) || (null == window.Frame))
{
throw new NotSupportedException(Resources.CanNotCreateWindow);
}
IVsWindowFrame windowFrame = (IVsWindowFrame)window.Frame;
Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(windowFrame.Show());
}
// Change to:
private void ShowToolWindow(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Get the instance number 0 of this tool window. This window is single instance so this instance
// is actually the only one.
// The last flag is set to true so that if the tool window does not exists it will be created.
//ToolWindowPane window = this.FindToolWindow(typeof(MyToolWindow), 0, true);
//if ((null == window) || (null == window.Frame))
//{
// throw new NotSupportedException(Resources.CanNotCreateWindow);
//}
//IVsWindowFrame windowFrame = (IVsWindowFrame)window.Frame;
//Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(windowFrame.Show());
MainWindow mainwin = new MainWindow();
mainwin.Show();
}
If you get no build errors, you should be fine.
To test if your WPF-form opens, Press 'Start' to run the VSPackage in a new 'Experimental' Visual Studio instance. If everything went OK, you will find and should be able to run your WPF-from from the View->Other Windows menu.
If you don't see your VSPackage listed in the menu, close your 'Experimental' Visual Studio instance. Then Clean en Build your Solution and press 'Start' again. It should show up now.