Visual Studio 2012 Windows service .vdproj project migration - visual-studio-2012

I'm trying to move a solution I have over to Visual Studio 2012 and one of the project types is .vdproj.
According to this link this project type is not supported in Visual Studio 2012:
MSDN says they recommend that you use InstallShield Limited Edition for Visual Studio.
The problem is, when I open up my solution in VS2012 and try to add a new "Enable InstallShield Limited Edition" project to my solution, I get an error message saying:
Creating project 'test'...project creation failed.
Why might I not be able to add a project of this type to my solution?
If I make a new empty solution I can't make an InstallShield project it in either.
I'm going to try to download InstallShield limited edition and see if it does anything.
I tried out that InstallShield download, and it added two extra project types, but I'm unable to create either of them. I'm able to add normal website projects to my solutions just fine, but not deployment projects.
The installer was named the same, but this one prompted me to re-start. After re-starting I was able to add an InstallShield project, but it gets created in its own solution. So, it looks like now I have to figure out how to use it, and I'll be good to go.
It's looking like the limited edition doesn't have support to install Windows services.

This will probably be long and boring because there's lots of steps, but I'd like to write up how to move from a Windows service installer .vdproj to the new InstallShield LE that's available in Visual Studio 2012.
Step 1: Create a merge module (.msm)
Follow the steps of this guide.
Notes:
You will need to install WiX 3.6 and isWiX
The latest release of IsWiX doesn't enable the Tools menu item in Visual Studio 2012. Edit the file: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\MSEnvShared\AddIns\IsWiXAddin.Addin (XML) and clone the HostApplication element and update 10.0 to 11.0.
In step #8 of the guide, it references a code tab. This has been moved to the XML Editor item in the bottom of the left menu
I left the MergeRedirectFolder empty for my installation
Here is my isWix files view:
After you're done with the guide you should have an empty .wxs file that looks something like this:
Using the Component XML element pulled from here you should end up with a .wxs file that looks like this:
Hit build and you should now have a .msm file.
Step 2: Adding merge module to InstallShield
Go though the wizard to setup the basic install information like company and version information.
Find the redistributables view in ISLE. Right click the list and select browse for module. After your module is found and added, right click the modules and select properties. Set the destination folder drop down to INSTALLDIR. I had to set mine to the lowest level folder I created for my install path, so you might have to experiment a bit.
Build Project, and test on virtual machine
Redistributables Screen
If you're getting errors about the path being too long you might need to change the release location to something close to the root.
Here's a list of all the build errors for reference.
Now you should be able to run your installer and have it install/start a Windows service. A lot more work than .MSI files, we got it to generate in Visual Studio 2010, but overall it was not too bad.

While there is no easy or truly supported solution for Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2013 users can get an extension from Microsoft in the Visual Studio Gallery.

I found this post which says you must download InstallShield first. It's a very confusing way to work. I suggest to vote up the post on the connect site and give them comments letting know how poor that is. They could at least give a more descriptive error http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/732196/project-creation-failed-for-installshield-limited-edition#tabs

Related

Visual Studios Menu not showing build button

Hi I'm trying to teach myself c++ but I can't even get the most important feature to work. The build/compile button won't show. Its grayed out. I only want to use visual studios because its what all the devs use in my friends company where I want to work. So, any way to get this thing working? This is Visual Studios 2013, I've tried the profile changing feature in attempt to fix it but it still shows up as grayed out and I can't use it. I have made no other changes since installing it.
Also to start my code I did file> new> file> C++ file
Thanks for any help.
Visual Studio relies on projects, so you need for your source file to be part of a project - this would also hold all the configuration for compilation and linker settings, analogous to a *nix style Makefile.
To create a new project, Do File > New > Project... And choose a suitable template from under the Visual C++ section. Typically, if you're just starting out, and only want to work with the console, then you'll probably want to choose "Win32 Console Application" as the project type.

Insufficient privileges when updating help files in Visual Studio 2012

I have Visual Studio 2012 Ultimate and I've downloaded the Visual Studio 2012 ISO from MSDN.
When trying to install the documentation:
I open Visual Studio as an Administrator
Follow these instructions as per the install's ReadMe file
On the menu bar for Visual Studio 2012, choose Help, Add and Remove
Help Content.
Help Viewer 2.0 starts, showing the Manage Content tab.
On the Manage Content tab, choose the Disk option button, choose the
Browse (…) button, and then navigate to the DVD drive.
Choose the helpcontentsetup.msha file, and then choose the Open button.
Under Available Documentation, the list of available content sets from the
DVD appears.
Choose the Add link next to the content set that you want
to install onto your local computer.
The items that you specify appear
in the Pending Changes column. You can remove an item from the Pending
Changes column by choosing the “X” next to the item.
Choose the Update button.
And click Update.
When I click Update, it progresses for about 3-4 seconds, and then it fails with an error:
The following errors occurred while performing the requested tasks:
An error occurred while updating content. You have insufficient
privileges to complete this task.
How can I resolve this issue?
Update
I'm running Help Viewer in Admin mode.
try this. It solved my problem.
change security permission of vs2012doc.iso to full control for your account.
Mount it
Install the documentation ONE BY ONE. Remember ONE BY ONE.
Might it help...
Change your machine date and try again. In my case work with "oct/01/2012".
This was using the Visual Studio 2013 but is likely to be similar to the help of Visual Studio 2012 and probably 2015. I have not tried it so you tell me.
I got the ISO with the help of vs2013 to Microsoft directly. Now I do not remember the address so I did not put it here. It is very easy to get around with google looking for.
When I'm using the Microsoft Help Viewer 2.1 with local installation way I get an error: Insufficient Privileges and not the books are installed.
What I will describe is possible for you to do so more easily. But I could not validate it and then they describe the steps I followed to do so.
The first thing I did was copy the entire contents of the ISO to a folder on my HDD for my comfort my case was in C:\T
With the command prompt navigate to the folder where it was copied from the iso content and the C:\T\Packagesrun the following winrar t * .cab
This causes a test winrar make all cab files and protest whenever any of them is corrupt.
This was to score those files that had to go down again, in my case only had a .cab file with problems
v2Visual_Studio_2011_NET_Framework_4_B1545_VS_100_en-us_13(b0ba5cce-2b72-f582-80f3-8a6165ef6b9b).cab
The following was download it directly from Microsoft in this direction,
 
http://packages.mtps.microsoft.com/v2Visual_Studio_2011_NET_Framework_4_B1545_VS_100_en-us_13(b0ba5cce-2b72-f582-80f3-8a6165ef6b9b).cab
All other packages I think are there too.
The next thing was to replace the damaged file with the new and final step is to go into the folder where the files of the Visual Studio Help are, in my case I always use to put this folder in a comfortable place for me.
D:\VS_2012_2013_HLP\VisualStudio12
Inside this folder there are other two \Incoming\Cab, we must ensure that the cab folder is completely empty.
The last thing is to enter the Microsoft Help Viewer 2.1 and say that the new power plant is one where we copy the contents of the ISO (D:\T\helpcontentsetup.msha). The rest is just install the books ..

Unable to edit Orchard CMS site in Visual Studio 2012

I'm trying to create a site using Orchard CMS. To get started, I downloaded / installed Orchard from WebMatrix. I successfully setup a site using the "Default" recipe. I then click the "Files" tab within the accordian along the left side. From here, I can see all of the files in my project. To begin editing within Visual Studio 2012, I click the "Visual Studio" button in the ribbon.
Once inside Visual Studio, I right-click on the solution and select "Rebuild Solution". The solution begins building, but then I receive an error. The error says:
Error 1 Object reference not set to an instance of an object. C:\Users\username\Documents\My Web Sites\Orchard CMS2\Modules\Contrib.Cache\Contrib.Cache.csproj 1
Please note that at this point, I have not even edited a single file. Rather, I created a basic site and attempted to open it in Visual Studio. What am I doing wrong?
Only the full source code will build in Visual Studio. You can edit the compiled web site version that you downloaded in Visual Studio, but you won't be able to build it. It actually doesn't need building as it has dynamic compilation built-in.
If you want to build the framework and core, get the full source code version.

Visual Studio 2012 doesn't convert vs2010 solution?

I opened my vs2010 solution with vs2012 but it didn't make any conversion as from 2008 to 2010 was happening. So my solution still remains the same as 10 label on it. when I make a new solution of course it has 11 label on it. I haven't got any problem running like that but I am curious. Is there any difference? if yes, how to convert into vs2012 solution?
I managed to 'convert' the solution file to change the line containing '# Visual Studio 2010' to '# Visual Studio 2012' in the .SLN file.
Manual editing of the solution file is not necessary, or recommended. Simply open the VS2010 solution in VS2012, left-click the solution (at the very top of the Solution Explorer), then use File | Save As to overwrite the original file. This will effectively convert the VS2010 solution file to a VS2012 solution file.
There are some exceptions, but mostly you'll be able to open the same project and solution files files in both VS2012 and VS2010 SP1.
VS2012 may convert projects when you first open them, but the changes are (except noted in the document linked) backward compatible with VS2010 (ie using conditionals where needed to only apply to either version when loaded) Most project types will be left entirely untouched though.
It is about Visual Studio 2012 Compatibility
If you created your assets in Visual Studio 2010 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), many of them will load and run in Visual Studio 2012 without any further action on your part.
Many assets will also open again in Visual Studio 2010 with SP1 without any issues, even after you open those assets in Visual Studio 2012
For C++ projects it makes a difference, as the 2012 compiler (VC11) will only be used on projects that are explicitly 2012, not on 2010 projects opened in VS 2012. Some C++11 improvements are available with the VC11 compiler but not with VC10 (see this SO Answer for a summary), including:
Range based for-loops
New standard library headers (atomic, mutex, thread,...)
Smaller standard library container sizes
(And more to follow when the Nov 2012 CTP is delivered to VS 2012)
In order to convert from VS 2010 project to VS2012 there is no need to manually edit the solution file or 'Save As' over the existing project. Instead:
If you decline the update when first prompted, you can update the project later by opening the Project menu and choosing Update VC++ projects... [at the top of the menu options]
From MSDN's "How to: Upgrade Visual C++ Projects to Visual Studio 2012"
(This page was linked from #Joachim's MSDN link, but I wanted to have the answer here on SO since a number of other answers suggested manual workarounds instead of this VS 2012 feature)
In my case, I had some Visual Source Safe stuff (my project was created with Visual Studio 2003/2005, yes, very old!)
Once I manually removed the VSS stuff, the conversion succeeded.
PS: I know it's about VS2010, but maybe this helps others.
You can convert a project from VS2010 to VS2012 by doing the following:
Add the 2010 project to your VS2012 solution by right-click on your solution in the Solution Explorer and Select Add --> Existing Project...
The project will appear in the solution and will have (Visual Studio 2010) appended to its name.
Right-click on the added project and select Properties.
In the Configuration Properties --> General pane, change the setting in Platform Toolset field to Visual Studio 2012 (v110)
Repeat for each configuration type, e.g. Release and Debug.
I came across this question while googling for a solution to a specific problem: MSBuild was failing to execute the Publish target against a VS2012 solution that had started life in VS2010 when called from the command line (specifically through TeamCity):
error MSB4019: The imported project "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Windows Azure Tools\2.3\Microsoft.WindowsAzure.targets" was not found. Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk.
MSBuild was looking for the Azure SDK 2.3 targets in the VS10 location (C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Windows Azure Tools\2.3\Microsoft.WindowsAzure.targets). The cause is explained by Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi in a blog post and, as I understood it, boils down to some decisions they made while enabling cross-version compatibility for solution files. The solution was simple: add the VisualStudioVersion property to the MSBuild invocation, something like this:
msbuild.exe MyAwesomeWeb.sln /p:VisualStudioVersion=11.0
Practically speaking, this overrides the following in each csproj file:
<VisualStudioVersion Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''">10.0</VisualStudioVersion>
Presumably you could get the same result by editing all of these by hand to replace 10.0 with 11.0 but that might break backwards-compatibility -- I haven't tried it. I also haven't tried an update to VS2013 to see if the problem persists.
So to wrap this up by answering the question: yes, there are some differences before you "convert" (using any of the methods offered by other answerers) and some differences remain afterwards.
This is slightly different, but along the same lines so in case it helps anyone:
I was loading a project where it looked like it was loading and then kept showing all projects as unavailable. No errors were on the migration report. I tried reloading the solution and projects many times, using various methods including suggestions here.
Finally I found a "Resolve Errors" option when right clicking on the solution in the Solution Explorer. VS went through a load process again and it worked; no problems.
I don't know what it did differently that time, but apparently it made a difference.
it's to simple just edit the .sol file
change the version to 11
like this
Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00
Visual Studio 2012

Is it possible to download source tree from TFS Azure without using Visual Studio?

I'm looking around mysite.tfspreview.com and I can view individual files, but I couldnt find a download all or get solution option.
So if a colleague doesnt have Visual Studio 2010 available and they wish to download a solution from TFS Azure preview what are the available options?
You should be able to use the command line client in the Microsoft Team Explorer Everywhere 11 Beta. It's not a big download (11MB), but I don't think there is a way to download a source tree directly from tfspreview without a client unless a zip has been added. Other source control services work this way (github, jira etc)
You don't need visual studio, but you need Team Explore which is add-on for Visual Studio or can be stand alone, it exists on the TFS media (DVD) or ISO, once you install Team Explore, you can access TFS Preview using GUI or Command line, you can also install TFS Power Tool 11 Beta, that will give you windows shell integration, so the context menu of the windows (when right click) it will has command to interact with TFS, as #Simon said, you can install Team Explorer Everywhere 11 Beta, but this for none windows OS or for add-on for other IDEs
Visual Studio Online has provided a means to do this (partly). On the website, navigate to your project's 'CODE/Explorer' tab. Right-click on whatever source directory/branch you wish and click the Download as ZIP menu item.
This will download a snapshot of whatever it is you selected. While extracting this won't "magically" link the files back to Visual Studio Online (ie, changes made will not be able to be committed directly from Windows Explorer, etc) or give you direct access to history; it will retain any source control bindings in any Visual Studio projects. This may be a good or a bad thing, depending on your circumstances.

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