I have some vb code that is structured like this:
./AssemblyInfo.vb
./WindowsApplication1/AppUtils.vb
./WindowsApplication1/Form1.vb
./WindowsApplication1.Form1.resx
./WindowsApplication1.My/MyApplication.vb
./WindowsApplication1.My/MyComputer.vb
./WindowsApplication1.My/MyProject.vb
./WindowsApplication1.My/MySettings.vb
./WindowsApplication1.My/MySettingsProperty.vb
./WindowsApplication1.My.Resources/Resources.vb
./WindowsApplication1.Resources.resx
./WindowsApplication1.vbproj
I have tried several times trying to create an empty solution and then import the .vb and the .vbproj but I can not stumble on the right combination to get it to expose the build button on the menu so we can build it.
I am not a windows person so googling is difficult because the terminology is difficult to understand: Example: I use the New Project button to create a solution; that is confusing.
In short, I am hoping to get instructions that will cover:
A) Creating a new solution,
B) Importing the code listed above into the solution, and
C) Compiling the code into an .exe.
BTW: I am using Visual Studio 2008.
If you give me you best guess I will edit your answer as I try it and figure out more precise instructions.
[EDIT] When I double click on the .vbproj file on windows explorer visual studio opens and the .vbproj file is displayed as XML. No build button is shown.
[EDIT] When I do File -> Open Project... .vbproj is not listed as a supported extension so there is no way to load the project from that menu item. That menu items does not have a *.* all source option. The .vbproj file has an icon that indicates that windows knows what it is: "Visual Basic Project file". This code is the result of a decompiling an .exe of the original project where the source was lost.
[EDIT] I just followed Joel's advice, but I used VS2005 rather than VS2008 and it was able to find the .vbproj file. Does that make sense? Is there something wrong with my VS2008 that makes it not open .vbproj files or is that to be expected?
[EDIT] The version of VS that CANNOT see the .vbproj is VS2008 9.0.30729.4462. The version of VS that CAN see the .vbproj is VS2005 8.0.50727.762. By "see" I mean when I follow Joel's instructions of using File->Open Project VS will recognize the .vbproj file as something it can open.
When I double click on the .vbproj file on windows explorer visual studio opens and the .vbproj file is displayed as XML
Something is broken with file associations on your Windows system.
You can open Visual Studio first and choose "Open Project/Solution" inside Visual Studio. Doing this will makes sure Visual Studio treats it as a project file, rather than just an XML file, and will allow you to attempt to build the project.
BTW, recent versions of Visual Studio are free. You might be able to fix this by updating to a more recent version.
Related
So I got a crypter project from Github and I need help with it. Simply for the fact that I have no clue what I am doing when it comes to visual studio code and I need help with it. So below I have attached some pictures so you guys kinda understand the goal of what I am trying to achieve is (Building an exe file from .vb files).
img1
img2
Here I have opened the loadme.vb file
img3
I went to the build section and it is greyed out :(
img4
Like I said I have no clue what I am doing and I just want to take these .vb files from a project on Github and compile them into a simple .exe file to be executed.
Building .NET code in VS requires a project file. For VB, that's a file with extension .vbproj.
To do this, I suggest you create a new VB .NET project via File | New | Project... and selecting .NET Console Application with language VB.
Once you have a project, you can add the .vb source files to it by copying them into the project folder.
Then you just need to build the project.
I have been working on a few different applications and I want them all to share the same DLL library. The shared DLL is one that I created, so really I want each application to have a dependency on the DLL so that the DLL gets built in the same solution as the application. Then the DLL should copy itself to the application's bin folder before the application runs.
After figuring out how to do this, it seems that it should have only taken about 5 minutes, but unfortunately it took me an hour to figure out. That's partly because similar questions were referring to older versions of Visual Studio, or referring to 3rd party DLLs. So I thought I'd post the steps here.
You should already have one existing project and solution for your DLL. Open your solution for your new application that depends on your DLL
Highlight the top line in your Solution Explorer (your solution name), then go to the File menu and choose Add > Existing Project...
Browse to the project file for your DLL and select it. That will add the DLL project to your solution
Although your projects are now in the same solution, that didn't actually create a reference for your main project. So now right-click on your original project (should be 2nd line in your Solution Explorer) and choose Add > Reference...
The Reference Manager will appear. Be sure that you have Solution > Projects selected on the left. Then you should see your DLL project listed on the right. When you hover over it, a checkbox will appear. Select the check box. Click OK.
Last, be sure that your Project Dependencies are set correctly. Again, right-click on your Solution in Solution Explorer (top line). Choose Project Dependencies...
In the Projects drop down, make sure your main project is selected. Then in the Depends On list below, check the box for your DLL project.
Now when you Build your solution, it will first build the DLL, then copy it to your applications bin folder, then build your application. The Reference will also allow you to refer to the DLL in your code files, for example with "using MyLib;" for C#, or "Imports MyLib" for VB
Now when you Build your solution, it will first build the DLL, then copy it to your applications bin folder, then build your application.
Thank you for explaining this. I did all the steps (Visual Studio 2015) and I noticed that "Build solution" command builds all the DLLs, but it does not copy them to the right bin folder. To achieve that I need to build the active project (right-click on the active project, then "Build").
Occasionally, I find myself opening solutions in visual studio just to build them. I was considering creating a shell extension (purely for convenience) that would run msbuild on the solution for me without opening Visual Studio, but I was wondering if something like that already existed.
Does anyone know of a tool that allows you to build projects from an explorer context menu?
If you know the command to do so or generate a BAT file that takes the solution file as an argument you can create a registry entry in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shell\Compile solution...\command. You might be able to even use the .__sln entry in there somehow.
I've created my first Office Add-in using Visual Studio. It targets the 4.0 .Net framework and was created using the new VS 2012. I need to distribute/install this project on various 32-bit XP and 64-bit Windows 7 computers around the office. So I configured the project to be installed on XP (which was my first speed bump because I didn't realize VS 2012 needed an update in order to make a solution that was XP compatible). Now that I have a valid win32 application, I am getting another error:
The following error occurred attempting to install 'C:\filepath...\Import Contacts.vsto':
"No application is associated with the specified file for this operation."
After doing some digging, I think I need to install the Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime on the client computer. To do this, I would like to use the prerequisites properties for the project. So I read up on creating custom prerequisites using some noteworthy sites (e.g, Creating Bootstrapper Packages, Application Deployment Prerequisites, Adding Custom Prerequisites, and Creating a Bootstrapper package for Office 2013 in Visual Studio 2012). I created the files according to that last URL (even though I'm not sure it pertains to the package I need just yet), but it is not appearing in the dialog box under Project > Properties > Publish > Prerequisites
If you read the article, it says the VS prerequisites dialog box should automatically update once I restart VS 2012, which I did but to no avail. I know I'll need to use this feature again in the future, so I would really like to know what I'm doing wrong and fix this. Please help! And I promise to quickly give the ACCEPT to whoever helps me fix this problem! Thank you in advance.
I didn't have any problems following the directions given in the web page and got the bootstrapper added to the Prerequisites dialog. However, there are plenty of possible ways to get it wrong. Some possibilities:
Triple-check the folder you added these files to. Be sure that you picked Program Files (x86) on a 64-bit version of Windows and not Program Files. And be sure that you now see the added VSTOR40 folder along with the other existing bootstrapper folders, like ReportViewer and VBPowerPacks.
You do not have write permission to this folder, UAC prevents copying files there. Be sure that you managed to copy them from, say, an elevated command prompt. Right-click the Command Prompt shortcut and click "Run as Administrator".
If you created the .xml files with Notepad then make sure you didn't accidentally saved them with the .txt extension. If necessary, put Explorer in "programmer mode" so you can see the filename extensions. Control Panel + Folder Options, View tab, untick the "Hide extensions for known file types" checkbox. If you now see product.xml.txt then rename the file to product.xml, same for package.xml.txt
If you created the .xml files with Notepad then be sure to save the file in UTF-8 encoding. File + Save As, Encoding combobox.
For all those who still may face similar issue I think that I found the cause of this issue. It seems that copying folder with custom bootstrapper package (and all necessary files in it) does not "refreshes" the list of available packages. Only when i went through this walkthrough and manually created folder in %Programfiles%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bootstrapper\Packages\ for sample package from this walkthrough my package has shown
I am using Visual Studio Ultimate. I have made a fairly long program which worked fine.
One day I find that the debug button was disabled and both the build and rebuild buttons do not work. I have tried opening the same project files in Visual Basic Express 2010 but still, the sane problem.
I don't really want to have to reinstall but I'm not even sure that that will fix the problem. Thanks in advance.
Is there a startup project? One project in the Solution Explorer should be in bold. Right-click the executable project and select "Set as StartUp Project". Additionally, open the Project Properties, Application tab, and ensure Application type is either "Windows Forms Applications" or "Console Application".
Did you try to reset the setting of your Visual Studio Ultimate?
Type: (In your visual studio command prompt)
devenv /resetsettings
Buttons disabled for just that program, or all programs?
I vaguely remember having a similar problem many years ago. Re-creating the project and solution files fixed it, I think (ie. create a new solution/project and import all the .vb files).
Another thing to check would be whether the compiled files have become read-only. Maybe VB.NET can't delete the old .EXEs
You need to build a test application. I think thats more difficult then making the application itself. In my personal opinion, your better off building the whole software in a notepad.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms182532.aspx