Melody's VSTA Blog : projectgen, Project Template

Using a Registry Entry to Specify the DebugInfoExeName

Melody — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:49:00 GMT

When a VSTA add-in is run or debugged from a stand alone or destructive scenario, the life of the host application is tied to the debugging or running session. In order to start the host application the VSTA add-in must know the location of the exe to run. This information is specified in the project file, in the element DebugInfoExeName. This element can accept either a path to the exe, or a registry entry to search for the value. This can be specified through ProjectGen, changed manually in the project template, or set programmatically by the host. The ShapeApp SDK samples use a registry entry (see code below) so that the path to the exe can be easily changed without editing individual add-ins or manipulating and re-registering project templates. This can be very useful for several reasons, including allowing for a more flexible install instead of requiring the host exe to be at a particular path.

For more information regarding the project templates please see:
     Creating Project Templates (Visual Studio Tools for Applications)
     Project Template Generation Tool (Projectgen.exe)
     Descriptor Schema for Projectgen.exe
     Creating Project Templates Using the Project Template Generation Tool (Projectgen.exe)

ProjectGen Gotcha: Updating the Host Item Name when using a Project Descriptor File as Input

Melody — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:48:00 GMT

On the third screen of ProjectGen there is an item to fill in titled “Host item name”. This item is used in two places in the project descriptor file and three places in projects based off the template:

Project template descriptor file:	Projects based off the template:
Host Item Name	Main code file
Host Item Name	Startup Class
PrimaryCookie	PrimaryCookie (MainCode.designer.xml file)

In VSTA v 1 the host does not need to be aware of any of these.

In VSTA v 2, the startup class is used when loading add-ins and the PrimaryCookie is used in DPM scenarios.

ProjectGen offers the option of using a project descriptor file as input instead of manually entering all of the information. This is where the Gotcha comes in. If you use a project template descriptor file as input for ProjecGen and change the host item name on the third screen, in the new project template descriptor file and the resulting template only the host item name will be updated. The PrimaryCookie will remain unchanged.

Workarounds:

1) Manually change the PrimaryCookie in the project template descriptor file before use as input for ProjectGen. Then use the descriptor file as input- no additional steps are required.

2) Manually change the PrimaryCookie attribute in the xml designer file for the main code file. To do this:

a. Create the template with ProjectGen

b. Extract the templates (both CSharp and VB).

c. Open the xml designer file for the main code file (MainCode.designer.xml).

d. Update the PrimaryCookie attribute of the HostItem element.

e. Save the file.

f. Zip the updated template (zip the items individually- do not zip the folder which contains them).

g. Place the template in the ProjectTemplateLocation if not already there.

h. Run setup for the host.

Project Template Potpourri

Melody — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:52:00 GMT

I've been working a lot with project templates and ProjectGen lately. Here are some miscellaneous findings based on the VSTA v 2 CTP February 2008 release.

ProjectGen does not find hosts registered in the Wow6432Node. This is a known issue with this build and is listed as fixed in the next release. To work around this, register the host in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\VSTAHostConfig registry hive as well.

ProjectGen fails to register the template on 64bit machines, displaying an error that neither Visual Studio or VSTA are installed. The project template is created in the location specified on the 4th screen (manually enter the ProjectTemplatesLocation in the "Create project template" box). The workaround is to manually register the template by running setup for vsta and devenv.

The template parameters listed in the Project Template Generation Tool (ProjectGen) section of the SDK do not work. The regular Visual Studio template replacement variables do. These replacement variables are listed in the Visual Studio SDK (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/eehb4faa.aspx).

If the ProjectTemplateLocation is not properly registered*, ProjectGen uses the default location of "%Program Files%\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates". *Properly registered meaning that the registry entry ProjectTemplatesLocation contained a valid value and the VSTAHost\<HostID>\9.0 registry hive was not present when vsta /setup was run.

If the VSTAHostConfig registry hive does not contain entries for VSCSProjectTemplatesLocation and VSVBProjectTemplatesLocation (the Visual Studio C# and VB project templates location), selecting "Register template with host application" from the fourth screen of ProjectGen will create these entries based on the ProjectTemplatesLocation. These locations will be <ProjectTemplatesLocation>\CSharp and <ProjectTemplatesLocation>\VisualBasic.

When using a project template descriptor file as input, changing the host item name through ProjectGen does not change both of the parameters the host item name is used for. The host item name is used for both the HostItemName and PrimaryCookie parameters; however, only the HostItemName changes and the original host item name is used for the PrimaryCookie.

For example, here is a descriptor file made using the SDK Walkthrough: Creating a Project Template Using the Project Template Wizard. The variables which are assigned the Host Item Name specified on the third screen of ProjectGen are marked with an *.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<Name>ShapeAppCSharp Add-in</Name>

<Description>A project for creating add-ins for ShapeAppCSharp</Description>

<DefaultProjectName>ShapeAppCSharpAddIn</DefaultProjectName>

</TemplateProperties>

<HostName>ShapeAppCSharp</HostName>

<DebugInfoExeName>C:\ShapeAppSamples\ShapeAppBasicCSharp\core\obj\Debug\ShapeAppCSharp.exe</DebugInfoExeName>

<HostIdentifier>ShapeAppCSharp</HostIdentifier>

<ProxyAssemblyName>C:\ShapeAppSamples\ShapeAppBasicCSharp\proxy\bin\Debug\ShapeAppCSharpProxy.dll</ProxyAssemblyName>

<HostItemName>ThisApplication</HostItemName> *

<BaseType>Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Samples.ShapeApp.ApplicationEntryPoint</BaseType>

<PrimaryCookie>ThisApplication</PrimaryCookie> *

</HostItem>

</HostItems>

</ProjectProperties>

</ProjectGen>

Here is an updated version of the descriptor file made by using the above descriptor file as input in ProjectGen and changed the Host Item Name from "ThisApplication" to "AppAddIn". Notice that the HostItemName parameter is changed; however, the PrimaryCookie parameter still has the original value.