VB.NET project upgrade VS2005 to VS2008 - vb.net

I have a VB.NET 2.0 project developed using VS2005 Free Edition and I am considering to upgrade it to VS2008 FE, mainly because I have problems once per year, whenever my Temporary Certificate expires.
I was wondering if you can point to some resources describing in what parts of the code I should pay attention after the upgrade. My project uses only two external components (zipforge and objectlistview) and I am not using any databases, in case this information is of any use to your answers.

Try to open your project in VS2008, the wizard will ask you whether you want to convert your project, you hit yes, then point - to create backup, and show log after conversion.
At the end wizard will show you conversion results. If any error will occur, you'll be able to clearly see its location.
then it will be up to you if you want to upgrade project to .NET 3.5 version, but if no - fine, VS 2008 has .NET 2.0 support as well.

If you want to stick with the .NET 2.0 framework once you upgrade to 2008, click on My Project in the Solution Explorer, select the Compile tab, Advanced Complile Options button, Target Framework drop down box. If you don't do this, the project defaults to using the latest framework, 3.5, which could cause problems when you deploy upgraded exes if you inadvertantly start using 3.5 only features and your target PCs don't have 3.5 installed. Changing this option before you start making changes to your source prevents you using 3.5 only features.

Related

ASP.NET Core with .NET 4.6.2 and VS 2017 RC

Using Visual Studio 2017 (RC), I am trying to setup a project that uses ASP.NET Core, but with the .NET 4.6.2 library.
This is a supported configuration:
Visual Studio will then create a default project; but it doesn't run:
This is without changing a single line in the project: the VC2017 template just does not work.
I tried the following:
- Different versions of the .NET framework
- x86, x64, AnyCPU
- Clear the NuGet cache
- 'Repair' options on Visual Studio's installer.
My understanding is that the error is a x86/x64 mismatch. But since I didn't change a single file from the template, there has to be something else wrong.
Installing ASP.NET Core on .NET Core works perfectly, so the problem is limited to using the regular .NET framework.
Any ideas?
I have the same problem too. But I just found the solution.
In ".csproj" I change some things:
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net462</TargetFramework>
<!--<RuntimeIdentifier>win7-x86</RuntimeIdentifier>-->
<RuntimeIdentifier>win10-x64</RuntimeIdentifier></PropertyGroup>
And I enable the 64-bit version of IIS Express.
I had problems like these when I restored stuff to a new laptop.
I mindlessly I copied files from my old profile directory to a directory with the same name, but that isn’t a profile directory on the new machine.
A part of this process involved a cloud backup service that my wife bought for me but that I never actually set up right. That also copied files to new locations without my paying attention to what was happening.
I still don’t know (yet) exactly how the machine keeps track of which versions of frameworks and tools to use in the various application directories, but I can report what I did that finally allowed me to create new .NET Core apps on the new machine.
I deleted everything in this directory that was older than today.
%USERPROFILE%.nuget\packages
Again, pretty mindless. I don’t know, (yet) if all that was necessary. Maybe just deleting one or two of the files/directories would have worked. Regardless, I was very happy to see that I could create and develop .NET Core apps on my new machine.

How To Compile with Framework 3.5 instead of 4.5 (VS2012)

I have recently written two small apps in Visual Studio 2012 (VB). I compiled them using Framework 4.5. These have been tested on the end user's PC's and the feedback was to try and get the Apps Compiled using Framework 3.5 as this is already installed on the computers.The computers are using Windows 7.
My questions are these:
Is it possible to force a compile to use 3.5 instead of 4.5?
How would I go about doing this?
Yes, it is possible to target the 3.5 framework when you compile.
Go to PROJECT-> Properties (You can also right-click on the project in the solution viewer and select Properties).
Select .NET Framework 35. in the Target Framework dropdown.
The project will be closed and reopened automatically by Visual Studio (you will be asked to confirm this change).
Note that if you have anything specific to .NET 4.0/4.5 that is NOT present in the 3.5 framework you will have to make the necessary changes.
EDIT
A picture is worth a thousand words:

How to make a Vb.net file/program To Standalone .Exe

I have a project done in VB.NET and I want to publish it for distribution. I know that when I build solution It creates an .Exe. But that requires local resorouces. If I build for release I know it works but it still needs the .Net platform installed. Is there anyway to make a true standalone .exe or something that would run on a persons computer if they do not have .NET installed. Also the ClickOnce application thing is not a wanted Solution.
Is there any converter program that can do this for me?
The .NET framework represents the basic prerequisite to run a .NET program; equivalently than having Windows installed is the prerequisite to run a Windows program. Bear in mind that any Windows version includes the .NET framework (and, actually, it tends to involve top-priority updates and thus are automatically perfomed by Windows Update in many cases). A big proportion of the programs running on Windows created during the last 10 years are built on the .NET framework; a relevant proportion of the sites (like this one, for instance) are built on ASP.NET and thus the given server has to include the .NET framework. If overall compatility is a concern for you, you might rely on a-bit-old .NET version: the latest one in VS 2010 (4.0) should be fine for most of modern computers; but you can even rely on the previous one (3.5) to be completely sure. Lastly, bear in mind that a .NET program can also be run under a OS other than Windows (Linux or MacOS, for example); although, from my past experiences, these are not too reliable situations. Nonetheless, in case of being interested in other OS, you should do some research/testing on this front to see if the available options offer what you are looking for.
SUMMARY: the exe file generated by the Visual Studio is actually what you call "standalone .exe". One of its defining features is the .NET version (which can be changed in the Project Settings); a program can only be run on computers with a .NET framework (or equivalent) equal or newer than the one on which it was built. The 4.0 version should be OK for most of new/properly-updated computers; the 3.5 .NET would work with virtually any computer (although, logically, it includes less features than the 4.0 one).
---------------------------- UPDATE AFTER COMMENTS --------------------
From some comments, I have undertood that my statement wasn't as clear as I thought and this is the reason for this update
.NET is pre-installed in Windows only since Vista. XP does not include the .NET runtime by default. The reason for not having mentioned this issue in my answer was that having a XP Windows without .NET is highly unlikely. Firstly because this is a top-priority, automatic update and thus one of the first times the computer is connected to internet "Windows Update" will take care of this. And secondly because this is the basic framework for any Microsoft programming over the last 10 years and thus a Windows computer not having it will not be able to run almost anything. With this last sentence, I don't mind that most of the programs are built on .NET, but that for a Windows-based environment most of nowadays basic requirements do include .NET.
It was also pointed out that there is some compatibility problems between different .NET versions (that various side-by-side versions were required). The basic Microsoft approach to the different .NET versions is backwards compatibility, what means that a given .NET version can run any program built with that version or older. This is theoretically right, but not always right in fact. My approach to this problem is relying on a bit old .NET version (3.5) and not using too new/untested features (e.g., WPF). If you want a for-sure overall compatible program you should work quite a lot on this front (compatibility between versions is one of most typical problem of any programming platform), instead expecting Microsoft to take care of everything. Thus, in principle, just one .NET version (the last one) has to be installed (which, on the other hand, is not the case for a big proportion of computers; for example: computer including the 3.5 version being updated, over the years, to 4.0 and 4.5 by maintaining the previous versions).
Lastly, I want to highlight that my intention with this answer is not defending any programming approach over any other one; I am just describing what is there from the point of view of your question "can I remove the .NET part?" -> no, you cannot; there is no (sensible) way to do that. If you want to rely on a different programming platform you should get informed about it (I am sure that Camilo Martin will be more than happy to help you on this front). If you prefer to rely on .NET, be sure that you can generate an overall compatible program (to be run on Windows).
Easy way to convert in .exe in VB.NET-2010:
Create New Project
Select Windows Application And Save Proper Path
Comple Project then Select File-> Save All
Select Build->Start Build
Your Project .exe Created Your Project Save Path:
Select Windows Application 1
Select bin Folder
Select Debug Folder
And in Debug folder your .exe File is ready.
Quick Basic once made and executable (.exe) directly form their VB code, but I wouldn't recommend converting to Quick Basic. You can look at Mono to see if they have anything yet. (mono allows you to use compiled vb.net in other operating systems).
Ezirit Reactor makes a single executable, but it's not free.
You can bundle .NET Framework into your distribution so that users don't have download it.
Why do you need an executable (.exe)? If the reason is for security and to minimize chances of reverse engineering, then get a good obfuscator.

Where are the symbols for ASP.NET MVC 4.0 RTM?

I'm trying to configure Visual Studio 2012 to allow me to step into ASP.NET MVC 4.0 source code. (System.Web.Mvc.dll). I've followed SymbolSource's recommended configuration but when I try to load the symbols, Visual Studio can't locate them.
Recommended configuration
To configure Visual Studio for symbol/server
use, follow these instructions:
Go to Tools -> Options -> Debugger -> General.
Uncheck “Enable Just My Code (Managed only)”.
Uncheck “Enable .NET Framework source stepping”.
Yes, it is misleading, but if you don't, then Visual Studio will
ignore your custom server order (see further on).
Check “Enable source
server support”.
Uncheck “Require source files to exactly match the
original version”
Go to Tools -> Options -> Debugger -> Symbols.
Select a folder for the local symbol/source cache.
Add symbol servers
under “Symbol file (.pdb) locations”. Pay attention to the correct
order, because some servers may contain symbols for the same binaries:
with or without sources. We recommend the following setup:
http://referencesource.microsoft.com/symbols
http://srv.symbolsource.org/pdb/Public or the authenticated variant
(see above)
http://srv.symbolsource.org/pdb/MyGet or the authenticated
variant (see above) (other symbol servers with sources)
http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols (other symbol servers
without sources)
I am aware that the source code is available on CodePlex, however I'm specifically interested in stepping into the code using a symbol server instead of having to unreference Mvc from the GAC and reference a locally built assembly.
Has anyone had success doing this with MVC 4.0?
Just add a symbol server that serves more then just major releases.
Try this one, contains most minor builds.
http://srv.symbolsource.org/pdb/Public
Verify:
Run VS as administrator.
Check that something have been downloaded to your symbol cache directory.
Goto select only specified modules.
Add "System.Web.Mvc.dll"
Set a break point in your code. Start debug.
When break point hits rightclick in callstack on any mvc.dll row. Verify that symbols are loaded.
if loaded, try dubbleclick on one callstack row to open mvc source.
Get back with where you get in trouble.
I will make some refinements to Luke Gumbley's anwser.
Microsoft tries to make a developer's life easier. Whenever it release an MVC version installer, there should also be a Source to download. So people can use the source to explore what is installed by the Installer, as well as to debug the MVC.
Back to the way of downloading the MVC debug info. Your Visual Studio (I use 2010) will never try to download MVC PDB files from the aforementioned servers if you have MVC4 installed on your system. In this case, your Visual Studio will use the MVC from your GAC when you run debugger.
I have tried the way suggested by Luke Gumbley. However, once you uninstall MVC, your MVC project will not be loaded, and you cannot create a new MVC project since the Template is gone. So please don't unistall MVC. If you do so, you still need to reinstall it. This wastes time.
What you really need to do is exit your Visual Studio, run command
gacutil /u System.Web.Mvc
Then go to C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL, remove or rename the offending System.Web.Mvc folder. After this, lanuch your Visual Studio, and fetch the MVC package from NuGet.
I can't answer on your question directly and provide you URL with symbols (.pdb) for System.Web.Mvc.dll for ASP.NET MVC 4.0, but probably I can help you to solve the problem in another way.
As well known (see here for example) Microsoft provide the current source code of .NET on http://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/. In the post it's described how to use the Nightly version of ASP.NET (the current developer state of the code). If you didn't used Git before you can have problems with downloading RTM version of ASP.NET 4.5 (with ASP.NET MVC 4.0) which you could prefer to use instead of Nightly version. Nevertheless the downloading of the full source code of RTM version is easy enough. You need just to know that Git allows to save copy of the code in branches or tagged versions. In the way you can get access (and download it) to some previous versions of the full code. The link for example provide you jQuery 1.8.2 instead of another link get you the latest developer version which can be unstable. So to download the source code of RTM version you just need to choose "v2-rtm" branch and then click on "Download":
You can use the link to select "v2-rtm" branch directly.
I can repeat that it's not exactly what you asked and I know that compiling of ASP.NET source code could be also a little tricky, but I decided do write the information. If somebody would suggest you the better solution it would be interesting for me too.
I had exactly the same issue (correct version but no symbols), but after a day or so of trying everything I've been able to get it working. These are catch-all instructions that worked for me, they may contain unnecessary steps:
Sign up for SymbolSource and follow the VS instructions using the
authenticated URL form
Uninstall all versions of MVC with add/remove programs
Remove MVC assembly from the GAC (the question is about modifying
MVC but the GAC answer is good)
Remove and then reinstall the MVC 4 reference to your project with
NuGet
Start debugging, open the modules window, and cross your fingers
that ‘Symbols loaded’ is next to System.Web.MVC when it appears.
(sprinkle in restarts as you see fit, for me the key final step was reinstalling the NuGet reference)
My theory is that as the GAC library is used at runtime in preference to the local reference, the symbols are not found when they are searched for. By removing MVC from the GAC and then reinstalling the NuGet reference, it seems the local reference is used and the symbols are found. It's counterintuitive as the System.Web.MVC.dll files are binary-equivalent between NuGet and the GAC, although they are dated differently.
I'm not totally convinced though as I tried to do the same thing for Razor and that didn't work.
Let me start with that ReSharper provides a handy dialog to step in the code at any time:
So you get the following code screen if you drill to the source code:
But I became curious to accomplish this by hand. I started with proper pdb configuration:
After that I got the following error:
Next I copied the C:\Users\Andrew\AppData\Local\Temp\SymbolCache\MicrosoftPublicSymbols\System.Web.pdb\CA49C4332DE847FA967F58AFF370B70E1\System.Web.pdb to C:\Users\Andrew\AppData\Local\Temp\SymbolCache\System.Web.pdb (to match the lookup path). After that i encountered this:
And it turned out that the mismatching builds are only good for browsing the source, not debugging. (Current machine has VS2012 RC, hence MVC libraries are not RTM). If they match, you'll the the source.
I still don't know why doesn't the lookup path adjust to symbol configuration. Hope this helps.
I just solved this same problem.
The problem is that the dll stored in the GAC does not correspond exactly to the published pdbs on symbolsource.org. The one on symbolsource corresponds apparently to the latest version available through Nuget, and the one in the GAC must the one installed with .NET Framework 4.5. (.Net uses whatever is on the GAC before attemting to use anything local to your proyect, you can see this, when debuggin, go the Debug->Windows->Modules, there the System.Web.Mvc.dll is the one from GAC according to its path)
What I did was to include in the GAC the System.Web.Mvc.dll on the package folder of my solution, the one downloaded through Nuget. This you can do by using gacutil on a VS Command Prompt (run the VS Cmd as admin).
You can check on the same Modules Windows, right clicking on the System.Web.Mvc.dll, and then on Symbol Load Information. With the "old" GAC dll you get a message like (part of it)
SYMSRV: http://srv.symbolsource.org/pdb/Public/System.Web.Mvc.pdb/1E540B87149F4031B9CDEACAD8D771231/System.Web.Mvc.pdb not found
Notice here the subfolder 1E540B87149F4031B9CDEACAD8D771231 (yours might be different)
After replacing the GAC dll for the one recently downloaded through Nuget, the message is
SYMSRV: System.Web.Mvc.pdb from http://srv.symbolsource.org/pdb/Public: 336067 bytes
http://srv.symbolsource.org/pdb/Public: Symbols downloaded from symbol server.
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp\SymbolCache\System.Web.Mvc.pdb\68B2330E48624B6C9DE05BED1C8C320F1\System.Web.Mvc.pdb: Symbols loaded.
Notice the subfolder 68B2330E48624B6C9DE05BED1C8C320F1, which is the one that is searched for in symbolsource.org is the correctly found.
Hope this helps
There's some related info here: http://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/discussions/399312
And here: Debug into nightly build of ASP.NET MVC4 using Symbolserver

Building C++ projects that targets framework 3.5 but produces assemblies targeting framework 4.0

Background
We have a C++ solution that has been moved from VS2005 to VS2010 where the project files were targeting the .net framework 3.5 but since moving over to VS2010, all of the project files were showing that they were targeting the.net framework 4.0. I have since changed the .vcxproj files manually so that they are targeting the .net framework 3.5, using the method described in the Community Content on this link
The Problem
When I build these project files, manually or via an automated build, the output assemblies are still targeting the .net framework 4.0. I can tell this by using various methods described here. I also know that this is the case as I build and run the installer for this application. Once the application has been installed (which then shows as a service), I try to start the service on the target machine. This service will not start on a machine without the .net framework 4.0 installed. If 4.0 is then installed, the service will start, so this is another test that I can run that shows me that the application has a dependency on .net framework 4.0 which it should not.
The Aim
Ideally, I need to build this application so that the outputs are targeting the .net framework 3.5 instead of 4.0 so that it will actually run as it is supposed to! I have tried to use the 3.5 version of MSBuild as described in one of the answers given for this question here but got the same error that is described underneath that post.
Can anyone help with this? It's proving to be a right pain and I've been banging my head against the wall for over a week trying to get this sorted!
Thanks again in advance
Make sure you follow all the instructions as provided in the first link you posted.
For example,
Make sure you have Visual Studio 2008 installed on the build server.
Make sure you also change each project's "Platform Toolset" to v90.
Verify the project's framework version: "In Solution Explorer, right-click your project and then click Properties. In the Property Pages window, in the left pane, expand Common Properties and then select Framework and References. Verify that the new Framework version appears at the top of the right pane."