Matt Ward

WiX 3.0 Integration

2008-01-02T23:28:00Z

SharpDevelop 3.0 now supports WiX 3.0.

There are some changes to how things work compared to the WiX integration in SharpDevelop 2. The differences will be covered in the following sections.

WiX Project Templates

There are some new WiX project templates available. A basic empty project template and a template for each of the standard WiX UI library dialog sequences.

Adding WiX Extensions

WiX extensions are now displayed in the project browser instead of in the project options. They can be added by right clicking the WiX Extensions folder and selecting Add WiX Extension.

Project Options

The Library and Linking tabs have been removed from the project options since the WiX extensions can now be added from the project browser.

The Compiling tab has some new options as shown below.

The WiX Variables field can be used to override the standard WiX UI library settings. In the screenshot above the standard licence agreement and dialog background bitmap are being replaced with new ones.

The Suppress ICEs field is used to stop WiX from showing errors or warnings for particular Internal Consistency Evaluators (ICEs). After building your installer WiX now validates it against a standard set of rules which saves you from having to use another validation tool such as Orca.

Localized string files are no longer specified in the Application's tab. Instead add the file to the project and change its Build action to Embedded Resource.

Other Editors

If you want integration with Visual Studio 2005 or 2008 then please check out Justin Rockwood's Votive.

Rob Mensching has a list of WiX editors, including commerical ones, on his blog.

It also looks like a future version of Visual Studio will ship with WiX.

Porting an AddIn from SharpDevelop 2.2 to 3.0

2007-12-09T17:28:00Z

There have been some fairly large code changes on moving from SharpDevelop 2.2 to 3.0 and addins written for 2.2 are unlikely to work without some modification. We will look at the changes in the core parts of SharpDevelop and then look at one way to do the porting.

Not all the differences are covered in the next section just those types and methods that are likely to have been used by an addin.

ICSharpCode.Core

Type	Description
ICSharpCode.Core.AddInReference
bool RequirePreload	New property that specifies that when a type from an addin is created any addins that are needed by this addin will be preloaded if this flag is set to true. This corresponds to the new requirePreload attribute in an .addin file. <Dependency addin="ICSharpCode.XmlEditor" requirePreload="true"/>
ICSharpCode.Core.AddInTreeNode.TopologicalSort	Type is no longer public.
ICSharpCode.Core.FileUtility
bool IsValidPath(string path)	New method that determines whether a full or relative path is valid. This replaces the IsValidFileName method.
bool IsValidFileName(string fileName)	Renamed to IsValidPath.
static string NormalizePath(string fileName)	New method that gets the normalized version of the filename. Slashes are replaced with backslashes, backreferences "." and ".." are 'evaluated'.
ICSharpCode.Core.Properties
void ReadProperties(XmlReader reader, string endElement)	Method is no longer public but internal.

NRefactory

Type	Description
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.ArrayInitializerExpression	Replaced by the CollectionInitializerExpression type.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.BlockStatement
BlockStatement Null	The Null property now returns a BlockStatement instead of a NullStatement type.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.FieldReferenceExpression	Replaced by the MemberReferenceExpression type.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.MemberReferenceExpression	Replaces the FieldReferenceExpression type.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.InvocationExpression
List<TypeReference> TypeArguments	This property has been removed.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullArrayInitializerExpression	This type has been removed.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullBlockStatement	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullConstructorInitializer	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullEventAddRegion	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullEventRaiseStatement	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullEventRemoveStatement	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullExpression	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullPropertyGetRegion	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullPropertySetRegion	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Ast.NullStatement	No longer a public type instead it is now internal.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.IAstVisitor	Various new methods on this interface to support new types.
object VisitArrayInitializerExpression(...)	Method removed along with the ArrayInitializerExpression type. Replaced by the VisitCollectionInitializerExpression method.
object VisitFieldReferenceExpression(...)	Method removed along with the ArrayInitializerExpression type. Replaced by the VisitMemberReferenceExpression method.
ICSharpCode.NRefactory.Visitors.NodeTrackingAstVisitor	All TrackedVisit methods have been renamed and now include the name of the type being tracked (e.g. TrackedVisitAddHandlerStatement).

ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom

Type	Description
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.AbstractAmbience
bool IncludeBodies	Replaced by the new IncludeBody property.
bool IncludeBody	Replaces the IncludeBodies property.
bool IncludeHTMLMarkup	Replaced by the new IncludeHtmlMarkup property.
bool IncludeHtmlMarkup	Replaces the old IncludeHTMLMarkup property.
bool UseFullyQualifiedMemberNames	Replaced by the new UseFullyQualifiedMemberTypeNames property.
bool UseFullyQualifiedMemberTypeNames	Replaces the old UseFullyQualifiedMemberNames property.
String Convert(ModifierEnum)	Method removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.AbstractReturnType
int TypeArgumentCount	Replaces the old TypeParameterCount property.
int TypeParameterCount	Replaced by the new TypeArgumentCount property.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.AttributeArgument	Type has been removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.ClassFinder	The constructors now take a ParseInformation type instead of a filename.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.ConversionFlags
IncludeBodies	Replaced by IncludeBody.
IncludeBody	Replaces IncludeBodies.
IncludeHTMLMarkup	Replaced by IncludeHtmlMarkup.
IncludeHtmlMarkup	Replaces IncludeHTMLMarkup.
QualifiedNamesOnlyForReturnTypes	Enum value removed.
UseFullyQualifiedNames	Replaced by two new enums UseFullyQualifiedMemberNames and UseFullyQualifedTypeNames.
UseFullyQualifiedMemberNames	Replaces the UseFullyQualifiedNames enum value.
UseFullyQualifiedTypeNames	Replaces the UseFullyQualifiedNames enum value.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.CSharpExpressionFinder
int LastExpressionStartPosition	Property has been removed.
string FindExpressionInternal(string inText, int offset)	Method has been removed.
ctor(string fileName)	Constructor now takes a ParseInformation type instead of the filename.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.CtrlSpaceResolveHelper
ResolveResult GetResultFromDeclarationLine(IClass callingClass, IMethodOrProperty callingMember, int caretLine, int caretColumn, string expression)	Obsolete method removed. Should use the GetResultFromDeclarationLine method that takes an ExpressionResult instead of a string.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.DefaultAttribute
int CompareTo(IAttribute attribute)	Method removed.
string Name	Property has been removed. The attribute name can now be obtained from the Name property of the AttributeReturnType.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.DefaultCompilationUnit
List<IClass> GetOuterClasses(int caretLine, int caretColumn)	Method removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.DomRegion
int CompareTo(DomRegion region)	Method removed and replaced by the Equals method.
ctor(Location start, Location end)	Replaced by the static FromLocation method.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.ExpressionContext
bool IsAttributeContext	Property has been removed. Instead compare the ExpressionContext against the ExpressionContext.Attribute.
ExpressionContext GetAttribute(IProjectContent projectContent)	Method removed. To indicate that an expression is an attribute use the ExpressionContext.Attribute type.
ExpressionContext TypeDerivingFrom(IClass baseClass, bool isObjectCreation)	Method now requires an IReturnType instead of an IClass type.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.ExpressionResult
ctor(string expression, ExpressionContext context, object tag)	Replaced by the new constructor that also takes a DomRegion.
ctor(string expression, object tag)	Replaced by the new constructor that also takes a DomRegion and ExpressionContext.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.GacAssemblyName	Type removed. Code should use the DomAssemblyName instead.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.GacInterop
GacAssemblyName FindBestMatchingAssemblyName(GacAssemblyName name)	Method now uses DomAssemblyName types.
GacAssemblyName FindBestMatchingAssemblyName(string name)	Method now returns a DomAssemblyName type.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.GacInterop.AssemblyListEntry	Type has been removed. Code should now use a DomAssemblyName type.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.IAmbience
String Convert(ModifierEnum)	Method removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.IAttribute
string Name	Property has been removed. The attribute name can now be obtained from the Name property of the AttributeReturnType.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.ICompilationUnit
List<IClass> GetOuterClasses(int caretLine, int caretColumn)	Method removed. Code should now use the IClass's DeclaringType property. For example: IClass type = callingClass.DeclaringType; while (type != null) { ... type = type.DeclaringType; }
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.IProjectContent
IClass GetClass(string typeName)	Method removed. Code should now use GetClass(string typeName, int typeParameterCount) and pass 0 for the typeParameterCount.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.IResolver
ArrayList CtrlSpace(int caretLine, int caretColumn, string fileName, string fileContent, ExpressionContext context)	Method changed to use a ParseInformation type instead of a filename.
ResolveResult Resolve(ExpressionResult expressionResult, int line, int col, string fileName, string fileContent)	Method changed to take a ParseInformation type instead of a filename and the line and column parameters have been removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.IReturnType
int TypeArgumentCount	Replaces the old TypeParameterCount property.
int TypeParameterCount	Replaced by the new TypeArgumentCount property.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.MemberLookupHelper
IMethod FindOverload(IList<IMethod> methods, IReturnType[] typeParameters, IReturnType[] arguments)	Method now has an extra out parameter called resultIsAcceptable. This parameter is true if the resulting method is an acceptable match, false if the resulting method is just a guess and will lead to a compile error.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.NRefactoryResolver
bool Initialize(string fileName, int line, int column)	Method now takes a ParseInformation type instead of a filename.
IClass SearchClass(string name)	Method now takes an extra Location parameter which is used to search for a class at a particular location in the file. Code that does not need to specify a location should use Location.Empty.
IReturnType DynamicLookup(string identifier)	Method now takes an extra Location parameter. Use Location.Empty if no location can be specified.
IReturnType SearchMember(IReturnType type, string memberName)	Method removed. Instead of using this method call GetMember and then use the IMember's ReturnType.
IReturnType SearchType(string name)	Method now takes an extra Location parameter. Use Location.Empty if no location can be specified.
ResolveResult Resolve(ExpressionResult expressionResult, int line, int column, string fileName, string fileContent)	Method now takes a ParseInformation type instead of the filename. The line and column parameters are no longer required.
ArrayList CtrlSpace(int caretLine, int caretColumn, string fileName, string fileContent, ExpressionContext context)	Method changed to use a ParseInformation type instead of a filename.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.ProjectContentRegistry
IProjectContent GetExistingProjectContent(AssemblyName assembly)	Obsolete method has been removed. Use the overloaded method that takes a DomAssemblyName type instead.
IProjectContent GetExistingProjectContent(string itemInclude, string itemFileName)	Method removed. Use the overloaded method that takes a single string parameter.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Dom.ReflectionProjectContent
AssemblyName[] ReferencedAssemblies	Property removed and replaced by the ReferencedAssemblyNames property which returns a list of DomAssemblyNames.
IList<DomAssemblyName> ReferencedAssemblyNames	Replaces the old ReferencedAssemblies property.

ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Widgets

Type	Description
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Widgets.SideBar.SideTab
bool IsClipboardRing	Property removed.

ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop

Type	Description
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.ClassBrowserIconService
int CombineIndex	Field removed and replaced with SolutionIndex.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.DefaultEditor.Gui.Editor.CtrlSpaceCompletionDataProvider
bool ForceNewExpression	Property removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.DefaultEditor.Gui.Editor.SharpDevelopTextEditorProperties
bool CreateBackupCopy	Property removed.
bool UseAntiAliasedFont	Property removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.FileService
IWorkbenchWindow GetOpenFile(string fileName)	Method now returns an IViewContent type.
IWorkbenchWindow NewFile(string defaultName, string language, string content)	Method now returns an IViewContent type and the language parameter has been removed.
IWorkbenchWindow OpenFile(string fileName)	Method now returns an IViewContent type.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.AbstractBaseViewContent	Class has been removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.AbstractSecondaryViewContent
void NotifyAfterSave(bool successful)	Method removed.
void NotifyBeforeSave()	Method removed.
void NotifyFileNameChanged()	Method removed. Code should either use the TitleNameChanged event or the FileNameChanged event on the PrimaryFile.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.AbstractViewContent
event DirtyChanged	Event renamed to IsDirtyChanged.
string FileName	Property renamed to PrimaryFileName.
bool IsUntitled	Property removed. The property has been moved to the OpenedFile type which can be accessed via the view content's PrimaryFile property.
void Load(string fileName)	Method replaced by the Load method that takes an OpenedFile and a Stream.
void Load(OpenedFile file, Stream stream)	New method that is used to open a file in a view. The OpenedFile type contains information about the file, whilst the stream is the actual file data.
event Saved	Event removed.
event Saving	Event removed.
string UntitledName	Property removed. The untitled name is now stored as the filename.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.DefaultWorkbench	Class is now private and no longer publicly accessible.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.DriveObject	Class is now private and no longer publicly accessible.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.ExtTreeView
void ApplyViewStateString(string state, TreeView tree)	Method moved to the TreeViewHelper class.
string GetViewStateString(TreeView tree)	Method moved to the TreeViewHelper class.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.FileList	Class is now private and no longer publicly accessible.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.IBaseViewContent	Interface has been removed. Most of the interface has been moved to the IViewContent interface apart from the following methods which no longer exist. void Deselected() void Deselecting() void Selected() void SwitchedTo()
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.ICanBeDirty
event DirtyChanged	Event renamed to IsDirtyChanged.
bool IsDirty	Property setter is no longer defined in the interface. Only the getter is defined.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.IParseableContent	Interface removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.ISecondaryViewContent	Interface removed. All secondary view contents now implement the IViewContent interface.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.IViewContent
bool IsDisposed	New property that indicates whether the view has been disposed.
bool IsUntitled	Property removed. Code should check the PrimaryFile's Untitled property instead.
event Saved	Event removed.
bool SupportsSwitchFromThisWithoutSaveLoad(OpenedFile file, IViewContent newView)	New method. Determines whether switching without a Save/Load is supported when switching from this view to another view.
bool SupportsSwitchToThisWithoutSaveLoad(OpenedFile file, IViewContent oldView)	New method. Determines whether switching without a Save/Load is supported when switching to this view from another view.
IWorkbenchWindow WorkbenchWindow	Property moved from the now obsolete IBaseViewContent interface. Gives access to the workbench window associated with this view.
List<ISecondaryViewContent> SecondaryViewContents	Property now returns an ICollection instead of a list.
event FileNameChanged	Event moved to the OpenedFile class which is accessible via the PrimaryFile property.
event Saving	Event removed.
OpenedFile PrimaryFile	New property that gives access to information about the primary file associated with this view.
IList<OpenedFile> Files	New property that returns a list of files that are associated with this view.
event Disposed	New event raised when the view is disposed.
event TabPageTextChanged	New event raised when the tab page text at the bottom of the window is changed.
string FileName	The filename associated with a view is now accessible from the PrimaryFileName property.
string TabPageText	Gets or sets the tab page text at the bottom of the window. This property was originally on the now obsolete IBaseViewContent interface.
string UntitledName	Property removed. The UntitledName is now the same as the PrimaryFileName.
Control Control	Gets or sets the control associated with this view. Originally part of the IBaseViewContent interface.
void Load(string fileName)	Replaced by the Load method that takes an OpenedFile and a Stream.
void Load(OpenedFile file, Stream stream)	New method that is used to open a file in a view. The OpenedFile type contains information about the file, whilst the stream is the actual file data..
void Save()	Replaced by the Save method that takes an OpenedFile and a Stream.
void Save(string fileName)	Replaced by the Save method that takes an OpenedFile and a Stream.
void Save(OpenedFile file, Stream stream)	New method that is used to save a file in a view.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.IViewContentMemento	Class removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.IViewContentMementoCreator	Class removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Gui.IWorkbenchWindow
IBaseViewContent ActiveViewContent	The ActiveViewContent property is now an IViewContent.
IViewContent ViewContent	Property removed. Use the ActiveViewContent property instead.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.IDisplayBinding
bool CanCreateContentForFile(string fileName)	Method now takes an OpenedFile type instead of a string.
bool CanCreateContentForLanguage(string language)	Method removed.
ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.ISecondaryDisplayBinding
ISecondaryViewContent[] CreateSecondaryViewContent(IViewContent view)	Method now returns an IViewContent array since the ISecondaryViewContent interface is obsolete.

ICSharpCode.TextEditor

Type	Description
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Caret
Point Position	The Position property now uses the ICSharpCode.TextEditor.TextLocation type instead of the System.Drawing.Point type.
Point ValidatePosition(Position pos)	The method now returns and uses the ICSharpCode.TextEditor.TextLocation type instead of the System.Drawing.Point type.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.Bookmark
event LineNumberChanged	Event removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.BookmarkManager
event Changed	Event removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.DefaultFormattingStrategy
int FormatLine(TextArea textArea, int line, int caretOffset, char charTyped)	Method now no longer returns anything.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.DefaultTextEditorProperties
bool UseAntiAliasedFont	Property removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.IDocument
LineSegment GetLineSegment(int line)	The default implementation in the DefaultLineSegment class no longer allows the line number to be equal to the number of items in the IDocument's LineSegment collection.
Point OffsetToPosition(int offset)	Method now returns a TextLocation type.
int PositionToOffset(Point point)	Method now takes a TextLocation type.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.IFormattingStrategy
int FormatLine(TextArea textArea, int line, int caretOffset, char charTyped)	Method now no longer returns anything.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.ILineManager	Interface has been removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.ISelection
bool ContainsPosition(Point point)	Method now uses a TextLocation type.
Point EndPosition	Property now uses a TextLocation type.
Point StartPosition	Property now uses a TextLocation type.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.ITextEditorProperties
bool CreateBackupCopy	Property removed.
bool UseAntiAliasedFont	Property removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Document.LineLengthEventArgs	Replaced by the LineLengthChangedEventArgs type.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Gui.InsightWindow.IInsightDataProvider
char CharTyped	Property removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.TextEditorControlBase
event Changed	Event renamed to TextChanged.
bool CreateBackupCopy	Property removed.
bool IsUpdating	Property removed.
bool UseAntiAliasedFont	Property removed.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.ToolTipRequestEventArgs
Point LogicalPosition	Property now uses a TextLocation type.
ICSharpCode.TextEditor.Undo.UndoStack
void CombineLast(int actionCount)	Method removed. Similar functionality can be obtained by using the StartUndoGroup and EndUndoGroup method.
void UndoLast(int actionCount)	Method removed. Similar functionality can be obtained by using the StartUndoGroup and EndUndoGroup method.

How to Port

This section looks at one way to port an addin. This is the way that the IronPython addin was ported from SharpDevelop 2.2 to SharpDevelop 3.

Download the source code for SharpDevelop 3.0 and 2.2.

Copy the source code of your addin to a folder inside SharpDevelop 3.0.

Run three copies of SharpDevelop, one to view SharpDevelop 2.2's source, one to view SharpDevelop 3.0's source, one with your addin. In the other copies of SharpDevelop you should open SharpDevelop.sln for 2.2 and 3.0. This will allow you to quickly search for SharpDevelop classes when you find your addin code will not compile.

Compile your code and fix the code or comment it out as you try to work out what is wrong.

You do not have to convert the project to use .NET 3.5. SharpDevelop itself uses it, but some of the addins do not. With the IronPython addin I needed to change it to use .NET 3.5 since there were some assembly conflicts between what SharpDevelop was using and what the addin was using. Obviously changing to use .NET 3.5 will allow you to use any new features of this framework.

.NET Framework Differences

One change in .NET 3.5 caused me a few problems when porting the IronPython addin. This was a change in MSBuild.

After finally getting the IronPython addin to compile with the modified SharpDevelop 3 assemblies there was an assembly conflict for MSBuild. The ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop assembly now uses MSBuild 3.5 assemblies whilst the IronPython build task project and test project were using MSBuild 2.0. This was fixed by converting these two projects so they use the .NET Framework 3.5. This can be done by opening the project's properties, selecting the Compiling tab, then clicking the Convert Project to C# 3.0 button. In the dialog that opens we select the "Change target framework to .NET 3.5" and click the OK button. After making this change the addin compiled and worked however all the unit tests for the IronPython build tasks were failing with the error:

System.ArrayTypeMismatchException : Attempted to access an element as a type incompatible with the array.

The test code that was failing:

PythonCompilerTask compiler = new PythonCompilerTask(); 
TaskItem sourceTaskItem = new TaskItem("test.py"); 
compiler.Sources = new ITaskItem[] {sourceTaskItem};

The last line was failing when the unit test was run. The TaskItem type implements the ITaskItem interface so the code should have worked. The reason for this error is that both the build task and build task tests project were referencing the MSBuild libraries just using the reference name.

    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Build.Framework" /> 
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Build.Tasks" /> 
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Build.Utilities" />

Running MSBuild from the command line the actual assemblies being used were a mix of 3.5 and 2.0 versions.

"Python.Build.Tasks.csproj": 
/reference:"C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll"  
/reference:C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.dll  
/reference:C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.Build.Utilities.dll

Printing out the code base of the TaskItem and ITaskItem types whilst running the unit tests showed that the TaskItem was being taken from Microsoft.Build.Utilities assembly version 2.0 and the ITaskItem was being taken the Microsoft.Build.Framework 3.5 assembly. The TaskItem we actually needed was in the new Microsoft.Build.Utilities assembly version 3.5. Changing the project references so they used this new 3.5 assembly fixed the problem.

IronPython AddIn Internals

2007-11-18T15:54:00Z

This is a tutorial about how to create a language binding for SharpDevelop using the IronPython addin as an example. As well as covering how to create a language binding it will also look at how the addin used IronPython. The source code for the IronPython addin is available at the end of this tutorial. The tutorial will cover the following. * Syntax Highlighting * File Filters * Project and File Templates * Compiling a Project * Project Options * Code Folding * Class View * Creating a Forms Designer * Code Completion * Code Conversion ...(read more)

IronPython Integration In SharpDevelop 2.2

2007-10-21T16:02:00Z

Support for IronPython 1.1 is now available for SharpDevelop 2.2.1.2648. The IronPython addin is an early alpha release and is not an official part of SharpDevelop 2.2.1 so it is available as a separate download at the end of this post.

The addin will not work with SharpDevelop 3.0 nor IronPython 2.0.

Features

Code folding
Syntax highlighting
File and project templates for Console and Windows Forms applications
Code completion (limited)
Windows Forms designer
C# and VB.NET code conversion to Python

Please note that code completion, the forms designer and code conversion all need a lot more work.

Creating a Windows Application

Open up the new project dialog by selecting New then Solution from the File menu. Selecting the Python category will show two project templates. One will create a Windows console application and the other will create a Windows Forms application.

Once you have created a new project you will then need to add a reference to the IronPython assembly. Open the Projects window by selecting Projects from the View menu. In the Projects window, right click the project and select Add Reference. Select the .NET Assembly Browser tab and click the Browse button. Then browse to IronPython.dll. The addin includes this file so can either extract it from there or if you installed it from the sdaddin file then you should be able to find the IronPython.dll in the folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\[YourUserName]\Application 
    Data\ICSharpCode\SharpDevelop2.1\AddIns\ICSharpCode.PythonBinding

To build the application select Build Solution from the Build menu.

The built executables cannot be run with the debugger so instead select Run without debugger from the Debug menu. If you are running a windows app and nothing seems to happen then open a command line window and run it from there. This way you should see any errors reported from the IronPython runtime.

There are a few file templates which can be added to the project as shown below.

Designing Windows Forms

The Windows Forms designer is still in its early stages so please be warned that it may break the form's code or worse. Most of the Windows Forms controls work with the designer but things like adding columns to a list view will generate code that does not compile.

The designer can be opened in the usual way by opening the form in the text editor and selecting the Design tab at the bottom of the text editor.

Once open in the designer you can add controls to the form in the usual way from the Tools window. In the screenshot below a label, text box and a button have been added.

Click the Source tab to view the generated code in the InitializeComponents method.

Code Folding

Code folding allows you to collapse regions of a class.

Code Completion

Code completion is very limited currently. If you type a space after an import statement then you will get a list of namespaces available.

Code completion for classes is one area which has the most limited support. If you open Program.py you can get code completion for static classes such as System.Console but it does not work everywhere.

Code Conversion

To convert VB.NET or C# to Python open the file you want to convert and then select Convert code to Python from the Tools menu.

The code conversion is limited to classes so it will not convert an arbitary piece of code that is not inside a class. A C# class being converted to Python is shown below.

The code conversion is still at an early stage of development so it will fail on complicated classes.

Class View

Classes in the open solution will be displayed in the Class browser (Select Classes from the View menu).

From there you can double click a class or method and the text editor will display the corresponding code.

Standalone Python Files

The addin has support for standalone Python files. If you open a file with a .py file extension then a Python menu will appear.

From this menu you can run ipy.exe and have it execute the file. Any output from the Python script will be shown in the Output window.

By default the ipy.exe run is the one that ships with the addin. You can choose another IronPython console by select Options from the Tools menu. Selecting the Python option allows you to choose another IronPython console.

Installing the IronPython AddIn

Rename the IronPythonAddIn-0.2.1.zip file to IronPythonAddIn-0.2.1.sdaddin.
From the Tools menu select AddIn Manager .
Click the Install AddIn button.
In the Open File Dialog browse to the IronPythonAddIn-0.2.1.sdaddin file and click the Open button.
Click the Close button.
Restart SharpDevelop.

Future Work

Since SharpDevelop 2.2.1.2648 is the last release in the 2.x branch the next release of the IronPython addin will be for SharpDevelop 3.0 and it will support IronPython 2.0.

Python Links

Some of the Python tutorials and links used whilst creating the IronPython addin.

Python documentation by Guido van Rossum the author of Python.
Dive into Python book by Mark Pilgrim. The full text is available online.
IronPython homepage.

New Features in SharpDevelop 2.1

2007-03-05T18:27:00Z

Here is the list of features that have been added to SharpDevelop 2.1.

Feature	Description
Code Analysis with FxCop	Analyse your code with FxCop inside SharpDevelop.
Code Completion for Different Frameworks	When a particular .NET framework is targeted by a project you will get code completion for that framework. Currently .NET 1.1, Mono 2.0 and Compact Framework 2.0 are supported.
Code Navigation History	Allows you to quickly navigate backwards and forwards through visited code.
Compact Framework Support	New templates and code completion for the Compact Framework have been added.
Component Inspector	SharpDevelop includes the .NET Component Inspector created by Oakland Software. The Component Inspector allows you to explore any type in an assembly or COM component, create an instance of that type, execute its methods, change its properties, and monitor its events.
Custom Tool Support	A custom tool is a component that is run every time a particular file is saved. SharpDevelop ships with a ResXFileCodeGenerator custom tool that can be used to automatically generate a class that provides strongly typed access to a resource file. An addin can also extend SharpDevelop with its own custom tools.
Edit Solution Configuration	You can now add, remove and rename solution build configurations.
Go to XML Schema Definition	Whilst editing an XML document with an associated schema you can quickly navigate to the schema definition of the currently selected element, attribute or attribute value.
Hosting SharpDevelop - SharpDevelop for Applications	You can now host SharpDevelop inside your own application. This allows you to create your own IDE with support for addins without having to write the code from scratch.
Incremental Search	You can now search the active document incrementally. As you type in each character the document is searched from the current cursor position and the first match is highlighted.
Resource Toolkit	The resource toolkit provides code completion and tooltips for string resources when localizing an application.
SQL Queries	SharpDevelop includes a simple SQL query tool that allows you to run SQL queries and view the results.
Standalone SharpDevelop Reports	SharpDevelop Reports is now available as a standalone application as well as being integrated inside SharpDevelop.
Subversion Integration	SharpDevelop integrates with TortoiseSVN to provide support for Subversion.
Testing with .NET 1.1	If your unit test project targets .NET 1.1 then the tests will be run under this framework.
WiX Integration	You can create WiX setup packages and design WiX dialogs with SharpDevelop's forms designer.
XML Tree Editor	You can view and edit XML in a tree based editor similar to Microsoft's XML Notepad.
XPath Queries	You can run xpath queries on the active XML document and the matched items will be highlighted in the text editor.

Creating an Installer with SharpDevelop

2007-01-08T21:30:00Z

This tutorial will walk you through creating an installer from scratch using the integrated WiX support included with SharpDevelop 2.1. It takes you step by step through the process, from creating an empty WiX setup project, adding files to the installer, using the WiX dialog library, through to building and validating the installer....(read more)

Configuring File Associations in the Installer

2007-01-01T12:34:00Z

The installer for SharpDevelop 2.1, from revision 2245 onwards, now allows you to configure the file associations that are created. Previously the installer would register them without asking and you would lose any file associations that Visual Studio had previously set up.

When you install SharpDevelop you will now be presented with a dialog containing a feature tree.

Expand the File Associations feature to see the list of file associations that will be created by default.

From this dialog you can stop the installer from registering any file associations or you can disable individual file associations. To stop the installer from registering any associations, right click File Associations and select Entire feature will be unavailable.

Disabled file associations will then be marked with a red cross.

Individual file associations can be selected and disabled in the same way.

Testing with .NET 1.1 in SharpDevelop 2.1

2006-12-14T21:12:00Z

SharpDevelop 2.1, as of revision 2135, now allows you to run your unit tests against .NET 1.1 or .NET 2.0.

Which framework your tests are run under is determined by the target framework your test project. So if you choose .NET 1.1 as your target framework, your tests are run in the .NET 1.1 framework. The project's target framework can be set by selecting Project Options from the Project menu, then opening the Compiling tab.

Only .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0 are supported, so if you choose another framework, such as one of the Compact Frameworks or Mono SharpDevelop will run your unit tests under .NET 2.0.

There's currently no support for Mono because our modified nunit-console has a threading problem which happens very frequently under Mono, but never seems to occur under Microsoft's .NET Framework.

Running under another .NET Framework

Since SharpDevelop recently moved to using nunit-console to run unit tests it was a fairly simple task to make it possible to test against .NET 1.1 or .NET 2.0. It is straight forward because nunit-console can be compiled against .NET 1.1. Since SharpDevelop is launching nunit-console as a separate process we could have used one of the following to target one particular framework.

app.config
COMPLUS_Version environment variable

App.Config

Using an app.config file is the most obvious and well documented way to target a particular framework and is actually how SharpDevelop gets nunit-console to target the different frameworks.

To run unit tests with .NET 1.1 we have nunit-console.exe built against .NET 1.1 and an app.config file, called nunit-console.exe.config which, contains the following:

<configuration>
    <!--  
        The startup section may be used to specify the runtime versions supported
        in the order that they will be used if more than one is present.
    --> 
    <startup> 
        <supportedRuntime version="v1.1.4322" /> 
    </startup> 
</configuration>

Note that the actual nunit-console's actual app.config has some extra things which I have removed in the above example so it just shows what is needed to target a particular framework. The <supportedRuntime> element is used to determine which framework the application is run against.

To run against .NET 2.0 we use the same copy of nunit-console, built against .NET 1.1, but with an app.config which has .NET 2.0 as the supported runtime. When you run the unit tests SharpDevelop looks at the project's target framework and runs the corresponding nunit-console.

COMPlus_Version

With Microsoft's .NET framework you can set the COMPlus_Version environment variable before running your .NET application to run it under a particular framework. So at the command line you could execute

SET COMPLUS_Version=v1.1.4322

Then your application would run against .NET 1.1. Specifying a framework in your app.config will override the COMPLUS_Version setting however.

SharpDevelop does not use this method since using an app.config makes it easy to support running unit tests with NCover and the debugger. Using COMPLUS_Version we could not run NCover since it is compiled against .NET 2.0. The debugger would also need to be modified so it could set environment variables before debugging an application.

Mono

How do we target another framework with Mono? You can use one of the following:

app.config
mono.exe --runtime command line parameter

Again we can use the app.config file as discussed previously. We can also use the new --runtime command line parameter that was added in Mono 1.2.2. This works in a similar way to the COMPLUS_Version environment variable allowing you to set the framework version globally. Using the command line

mono --runtime=v1.1.4322 nunit-console.exe

would run nunit-console under Mono's .NET 1.1 framework.

There is one difference though, specifying the target framework in the app.config does not override this command line setting.

Code Coverage with .NET 1.1

If you want to look at code coverage when running your unit tests under .NET 1.1 you will need to use NCover version 1.5.4 since the latest release 1.5.5 does not work produce any coverage results when profiling a .NET 1.1 assembly.

Unit Testing Changes In SharpDevelop 2.1

2006-11-22T19:31:00Z

The Unit Tests window in SharpDevelop 2.1 (revision 2039) has been changed in order to fix a few bugs and problems that it had. How you unit test in SharpDevelop is still the same, as explained in the Unit Testing feature tour, but there are some new features shown below. Most of the changes have been behind the scenes so everything should look the essentially the same.

New Features

Unit Tests window shows classes and methods obtained from SharpDevelop's parser.
Unit Tests tree dynamically updates itself to show new test methods and classes as the parser information is updated.
All tests are run using a slightly modified nunit-console.exe.
You can now run all tests from all the projects with the debugger or with code coverage in one step. Previously you had to select an individual project in the Unit Tests window.
Running a test with code coverage or with the debugger will now update the Unit Tests tree.
Running tests from the Unit Tests window will use the test project's app.config so you can now run tests in a STA or MTA.
The Reload and Unload toolbar buttons have been removed since they are no longer needed.

Running Tests in a STA or MTA

By default SharpDevelop runs tests in the MTA. This is the default behaviour of NUnit which is what SharpDevelop uses.

To run your tests in an STA you can create an app.config file for your test project as shown below:

    <configuration> 
           <configSections>
                   <sectionGroup name="NUnit">
                           <section name="TestRunner"
                                    type="System.Configuration.NameValueSectionHandler" />
                   </sectionGroup>
           </configSections>
           <NUnit>
                   <TestRunner>
                           <!-- Valid values are STA,MTA. Others ignored. -->
                           <add key="ApartmentState" value="STA" />
                   </TestRunner>
           </NUnit>
    </configuration>

Unit Tests Internals

In this section we will look at what is actually happening when you open a solution and then run its tests.

Dynamically Updating Unit Tests Tree

When a solution is opened in SharpDevelop any project that has a reference to the NUnit.Framework assembly will have a corresponding tree node added to the Unit Tests tree. Expanding the project node shows test classes grouped according to namespace. Expanding a test class node shows the individual test methods.

What classes and methods are considered to be test fixtures and tests are all determined based on the information from SharpDevelop's parser. If a class has a [TestFixture] attribute then it is considered a test class. If a method has a [Test] attribute then it is considered a test method.

The Unit Tests window will update itself as the parser notices changes in your code. So new test classes and methods will appear in the test tree as you type.

Customised NUnit-Console

Whenever you run unit tests in SharpDevelop nunit-console.exe is involved. This NUnit-Console is a slightly modified version of that which ships with NUnit 2.2.8. It has three extra command line arguments:

testMethodName
Added by Daniel Grunwald in SharpDevelop 2.0. This allows NUnit-Console to run a single test and takes the fully qualified test method name.
results
Used to specify the filename where the test results are written to as they occur.
namespaceFilter
If this argument is used then NUnit-Console will only run the tests that exist in the specified namespace. SharpDevelop sets this argument when you select a namespace node in the Unit Tests tree and run the tests.

As the tests are run SharpDevelop monitors the generated test results file. As each test result is added to the file the Unit Tests tree is updated with the usual red, green and yellow colours. Any test failures are added to the Errors window.

Whenever you run a test or set of tests nunit-console.exe will be run, either by SharpDevelop itself, or by NCover when looking at code coverage, or by the debugger when you need to debug your tests.

[Update 25th November, 2006]

In revision 2076 you can now select a namespace node in the Unit Tests tree and run only those tests for that namespace. This was done by adding a new namespace filter argument to nunit-console.exe. The post has been updated to reflect this.

WiX Integration

2006-09-17T14:14:00Z

Support for creating WiX setup packages is now available in SharpDevelop 2.1. It was originally disabled in SharpDevelop 2.0, but has now been re-enabled and some new features have been added. It is still a work in progress. Some parts are not quite finished and there are some missing features, but it is currently being used to build and maintain the installer for SharpDevelop itself. At the moment SharpDevelop ships with WiX 2.0.4221, but it will be updated to 2.0.4415.0 shortly.

Features

WiX project and file templates.
Build a setup package (.msi), merge module (.msm) or WiX Library (.wixlib) from inside SharpDevelop. All built using MSBuild and WiX's custom MSBuild tasks.
Add WiX libraries, WiX extensions and preprocessor variables to the WiX project.
WiX Dialog Designer.
Setup Dialogs window. Lists all dialogs in a project. Each dialog can then be opened up in the designer.
Setup Files editor. Add directories, components and files to the installer via a GUI instead of editing the XML.

The next sections will look at the WiX support in more detail.

Creating a WiX Project

To create a new WiX project, from the File menu, select New and then select Solution.... In the New Project dialog select the Setup category.

SharpDevelop has two WiX project templates available

Empty Setup.
This project template creates a Solution (.sln), a WiX Project (.wixproj) and a minimal WiX Setup file (.wxs).
Setup.
The Setup project template creates a basic WiX project which can be built immediately after creation.
The installer created by this project installs a License.rtf file to the installation directory.
The Setup project template also has its own dialogs which can be customised.

The Setup project is the project we will be using in this walkthrough.

Building

Building the WiX project is done in the same way as for other projects in SharpDevelop from the build menu.

Output messages from the WiX compiler and linker are displayed in the Output window and any errors are added to the Errors window.

Creating a Merge Module or WiX Library

By default the project will build an MSI file. You can choose to create a merge module (.msm) or WiX Library (.wixlib) from the project options. Select the project in the Project Browser, then from the Project menu select Project Options.

From the Application tab you can change the output type to msi, msm or wixlib.

Running

To run the installer, select Run from the Debug menu or press F5. The installer will then be built and run and you will see the first dialog of your installer.

Adding a new WiX File

You can either have one big WiX setup file (.wxs) or split the project up into several different files. The WiX MSBuild tasks will compile all the WiX files and link them all into one installer.

To add a new WiX file, select the project in the Project Browser window, right click, select Add and then select New Item.... From the New File dialog selecting the Setup category will show you the WiX file templates.

Adding WiX Libraries

To add a wixlib to your project, select WiX Libraries in the Project Browser, right click and select Add WiX Library.

This opens up the file dialog where you can browse to one or more wixlibs and add them to the project.

Adding WiX Extensions

WiX extensions can be added to the project in the Compiling, Library and Linking tabs available from the project options. The Compiling tab determines what extensions are passed to Candle the WiX compiler. The Linking tab determines what extensions get passed to Light the WiX linker. The Library tab determines what extensions get passed to Lit the Wix Library Tool. If you are creating a setup package (.msi) then typically you should put the extensions in the Compiling and Linking tab. If you are creating a WiX Library (.wixlib) then you need to put the extensions in the Library tab.

The extensions can either be typed in directly into the Extensions text box, one per line, as shown above, or you can click the Add button to open the Add Extensions dialog and select one or more of the standard extensions WiX provides.

Preprocessor Variables

Preprocessor variables can be added in the Preprocessing tab available from the project options.

In the screenshot above the DATADIR variable is defined. Generally the variable values will just be strings, but you can also use MSBuild properties. In the screenshot above the SharpDevelopBinPath MSBuild property is being used. You can use MSBuild properties here since these properties will be expanded before WiX compiles anything.

In the UserInterface.wxs file the DATADIR preprocessor variable is referenced as shown below:

<Binary Id="dialog.bmp" SourceFile="$(var.DATADIR)/default-dialog.bmp" />

Visually Designing a Dialog

To open a setup dialog in the designer, open the WiX file, move the cursor so it is inside the dialog element, then click the Design tab.

You can also open a dialog in the designer from the Setup Dialogs Window, which is described in the next section.

You can have multiple dialogs defined in one WiX file or create one file per dialog, it is up to you. If you have multiple dialogs then you need to move the cursor inside the dialog element before you select the Design tab otherwise the designer will not know which dialog to load. If you have only one dialog element in the file then the cursor can be anywhere in the WiX document and does not need to be inside the dialog element.

In the designer you can reposition, resize and remove existing controls. You can also add new WiX controls from the Setup Dialog Controls tab by dragging them to the dialog.

At the moment not all the WiX controls are supported and WiX specific properties are not available in the properties window.

Setup Dialogs Window

To open the Setup Dialogs window, from the View menu select Setup and then select Dialogs.

The Setup Dialogs window is then opened.

This window lists all the dialogs available in the project. You can open a dialog into the designer by right clicking it and selecting Open. Or view its XML by selecting View Code.

Visually Editing Directories, Components and Files

To open the Setup Files Editor, from the View menu select Setup and then select Files.

The Setup Files Editor will look at all the WiX files in the project for the TARGETDIR Directory element or the DirectoryRef element. Once this is found then it will show the directories, components and files that will be installed.

The left hand side of the editor shows the files in a tree view. On the right hand side of the editor you can modify the properties of the currently selected item.

You can add directories, files and components to your installer by right clicking a tree node, selecting Add and then choosing an item to add.

Adding Directories

To add a directory and all its contents recursively to your setup, select the tree node where you want your directory added to, then right click and select Add Directory.

This opens the Browser for Folder dialog. Select the directory and then click OK to have that directory and all its contents added to the setup package. Every file added will have its own component.

Future Improvements

The WiX integration is not completely finished. Here is a list of items that will hopefully be added at some point.

Improve the WiX dialog designer. Add support for all the WiX controls.
Improve the files editor.
- Drag and drop support.
- Directory vs installer diff. Shows missing and new files.
Add support for WiX include files (.wxi).
Add GUI Editors for:
- Features
- Properties
- Binaries
- Icons
- Sequences
- Error and UI Text.

Alternatives

There are a few other applications and plug-ins available that can be used to create WiX installers instead of SharpDevelop. Here is a list of the ones I am aware of.

Votive

Votive is a Visual Studio plug-in that you can use to create WiX setup packages from inside Visual Studio.

Just a few days ago, September 15th, Justin Rockwood released Votive version 3, which supports Visual Studio 2005. It does not have a dialog designer, but that is on its list of features that will be added in the future.

WiX Edit

WiX Edit is a standalone WiX Editor application, created by Jasper Keuper, that you can use to create WiX setup packages. It includes a dialog designer along with a whole host of other features, that SharpDevelop does not have. In fact you can create an installer and never look at any XML.

WixTrim

WixTrim is a WiX Visual Editor, created by Oleg Zelenkov, that supports a very advanced dialog designer amongst other features. The source code for the editor is also available from GotDotNet. Unfortunately, WixTrim is not under active development like the previous two.

WiX Tutorial

If you want to learn more about WiX then a fantastic WiX tutorial, created by Gabor Deak Jahn, is available online.

Incremental Search

2006-09-09T15:11:00Z

SharpDevelop 2.1 now supports incremental searching. For those of you who have used Visual Studio, the incremental search works in a similar way. First you enter incremental search mode, then type in the search text. As you type in each character the document is searched from the current cursor position and the first match it finds is highlighted.

Features

Ctrl+E enables incremental searching. The search will start from the current cursor position and move down the document.
Ctrl+Shift+E enables reverse incremental searching. The search will start from the current position and move up the document
As each character is typed in the corresponding matching text is highlighted in the document.
Any text selected before the incremental search is start will become the first part of the searched for text.
If the string is not found an error message is displayed in the status bar.
Pressing the Backspace key removes the last character from the search string.
Pressing the Escape or Enter key stops the incremental search.
If the search text contains only lower case characters the search will be case insensitive.
If the search text contains an upper case character then the search is case sensitive.

Searching Incrementally

Position the cursor at the location where you want the search to start from.

Enable the incremental search either by selecting the Incremental Search from the Search menu or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+E.

The mouse cursor over the text editor will then be changed to the Incremental Search icon to indicate that you have enabled the search.

The status bar text will change to "Incremental Search".

Type in a character and the first match below the current cursor position will be highlighted. The search text is also displayed in the status bar.

As you type in characters the search text is changed and matching text is highlighted. If the search text cannot be found the status bar text will show an error message.

The search is case insensitive if all the characters of the search text are lower case. If any character is upper case then the search will be case sensitive.

If the first character typed in does not match anything below the cursor but can be found above the cursor position, at the start of the document, then the match will be highlighted and the status bar will show a warning message informing you that the end of the document has been passed. In the screenshot below the cursor was put at the end of the document and then the incremental search was started.

To stop the incremental search press the Escape or Enter key.

Reverse Incremental Search

The reverse incremental search will search from the current cursor position to the start of the document.

Enable the reverse incremental search either by selecting the Reverse Incremental Search from the Search menu or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+E.

The mouse cursor will then be changed to the Reverse Incremental Search icon to indicate that you have enabled the search. The status bar text will also be changed to "Reverse Incremental Search".

As you type a character the matching text will be highlighted and the search text will be shown in the status bar.

To stop searching press the Escape or Enter key.

Visual Studio Comparison

The differences between the SharpDevelop's and Visual Studio's incremental search.

Feature	SharpDevelop	Visual Studio
Shortcuts	Ctrl+E, Ctrl+Shift+E	Ctrl+I, Ctrl+Shift+I
Case sensitive search	An upper case character in the search string makes the search case sensitive.	Select the Match case option in the Find dialog.

New WiX Installer for SharpDevelop 2.1

2006-09-04T22:11:00Z

Chris just announced in the forums that the build server is now up and running for SharpDevelop 2.1. This includes a new installer for SharpDevelop using WiX rather than NSIS. If there are any problems with this installer please report them in the forum.

Installing

The installer is now an MSI file and not an executable as it was previously. To install, download the MSI file and then double click it to install, or right click the file and select Install.

If you install under an account with Administrator privileges SharpDevelop will be installed for All Users.

You can install SharpDevelop under a non-privileged account, however the following things will not be done:

NGen is not run on SharpDevelop.exe.
NUnit is not installed in the GAC. Without this the Unit Testing window cannot be used.

Uninstalling

Open the Control Panel.

Select Add or Remove Programs.

Select SharpDevelop 2.1.

Click the Remove button.

Upgrading

The new installer now supports upgrades and will upgrade an old SharpDevelop 2.1 if it finds one. To upgrade simply run the new installer without uninstalling the previous version of SharpDevelop.

You cannot install an older version over the top of an existing installation (i.e. downgrade).

You can install SharpDevelop 2 alongside SharpDevelop 2.1.

What does the Installer do?

Installs the SharpDevelop files.
Adds a desktop shortcut to the SharpDevelop executable.
Adds program menu shortcuts for SharpDevelop and a link to the SharpDevelop website.
NGens the SharpDevelop executable (Admin only).
Installs NUnit into the GAC (Admin only).
Registers file associations for:
- .booproj
- .cmbx
- .csproj
- .prjx
- .sdaddin
- .sln
- .vbproj
- .wixproj
- .xfrm

Future Improvements

The following improvements should hopefully be added to the installer at some point.

Optional file assocation with SharpDevelop.
Choose UI language.
Choose name of program group.
Option to install source code.
Check if optional components (e.g. FxCop, NCover) are installed and advise the user to install them to activate certain features inside SharpDevelop.

Go To XML Schema Definition

2006-08-09T20:14:00Z

The XML Editor in SharpDevelop 2.1 now can has Go To XML Schema Definition support....(read more)

XPath Queries

2006-08-05T13:44:00Z

SharpDevelop 2.1 now has an XPath Query window where you can run an XPath query on the active XML document and the matched nodes will be highlighted....(read more)