I found something related here but did not give me a good start
Since recently I do a lot of webPart development I want to automate the none-code part of the process, I want to develop a small console app that creates SharePoint solution as the pic, i'll use it as a template for the upcoming webParts
assume the webpart name is a var
string webPartName = "usefulLinks";
Create Empty SharePoint Project
Add Visual WebPart webPartName
Create Classes Folder WebPartName
Create an empty class inside the folder
add the Layouts mapped folder
add css and img folders to the layouts folder
Change part of the .webpart content to custom values
Same to the Elements.xml file
add the Resources mapped folder and add two resources files for Arabic and English
and finally change the feature name to be like webPartName + Feature
any good starting points? or online resources
thank you.
What you are really describing is a custom SharePoint Solution Project, not a Visual Studio solution.
Project templates provide the files that are required for a particular project type, include standard assembly references, and set default project properties and compiler options.
This section in MSDN covers how to create project templates for Visual Studio. In particular, it sounds like the best option for you is the "Export Template Wizard", which will create a template based on an existing project you have created.
Related
Like a lot of developers, I often create new projects with the same features (Authentication, IoC, tests etc..).
What I want to do?
I would like to be able to create a new project based on a custom template code project.
What kind of project?
Currently I'm creating a lot of new in ASP.NET Core MVC projects.
My goal is to generate those new project from a specific template (with some configuration options like the project name).
It's possible in the JavaScript world (with some command lines like expo init my-react-native-project). So is it possible to do it for ASP.NET Core MVC projects?
I hope what I want to do is correctly explained :)
Thank you very much for your help.
You can create a custom template from an existing project by adding a .template.configtemplate.json file
Essentially, you can setup the project to have all of the common functionality you required i.e. Authentication, test, IOC and re-use this in a new project.
Have a look at this post for futher details:
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/how-to-create-your-own-templates-for-dotnet-new/
taken from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/how-to-create-project-templates?view=vs-2019
This topic shows you how to create a template using the Export Template Wizard, which packages your template in a .zip file.
Use the Export Template Wizard
Create a project.
Note
Use only valid identifier characters when naming a project that will be the source for a template. Otherwise, compilation errors can occur in projects that are created from the template. For more information about valid identifier characters, see Declared element names (Visual Basic) or Identifiers (C++). Alternatively, you can use Template parameters to use "safe" names for classes and namespaces.
Edit the project until it is ready to be exported as a template. For example, you might want to edit code files to indicate where parameter replacement should take place. See How to: Substitute parameters in a template.
On the Project menu, choose Export Template.
The Export Template Wizard opens.
On the Choose Template Type page, select Project Template. Select the project you want to export to a template, and then choose Next.
On the Select Template Options page, enter a name and optional description, icon, and preview image for your template. These items will appear in the dialog box where you create a new project. Choose Finish.
The project is exported into a .zip file and placed in the specified output location, and, if selected, imported into Visual Studio.
To find your template in the dialog box where you create a new project, search for it by name or scroll through the list. (Filtering based on language or project type is not currently possible for user templates.)
Other ways to create project templates
You can create project templates manually by gathering the files that constitute the project into a folder and creating a .vstemplate XML file with the appropriate metadata. For more information, see How to: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/how-to-manually-create-web-templates?view=vs-2019
If you have the Visual Studio SDK installed, you can wrap the finished template in a VSIX file for deployment by using the VSIX Project template. For more information, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/extensibility/getting-started-with-the-vsix-project-template?view=vs-2019.
So I'm having some trouble creating an item template and would like some help.
What I'm trying to do:
Create a template that adds 3 files. A Class.cs and two config files in the location "./Config/Acc/Config.xml" and "./Config/Prod/Config.xml".
I've managed to create the template through the wizard and editing the resulting files, but I would like an easy method of distributing the template on my teams TFS.
From some googling it seems that I should use A VSIX project to deply this easily. Problem is that I can't get it to compile. I have 2 projects: VSIXproject and ItemTemplateProject. I've set the assembly info on VSIX project to use the ItemTemplateProject and I've modified my Class.cs, but when I compile, visual studio doesn't know how to handle the Class.cs file.
What am I doing wrong? Is there a better way of including my ItemTemplate so that anyone who pulls the repo can use it?
The template project (a project that only contains Visual Studio project templates or item templates) is only used to be able to work with templates. Its output (say [myproject].dll) is not important (the project type may be C# but it's irrelevant) and you will only distribute the .vsix file in the end.
Files (.vstemplate files and any other files) in this project are like "static" files. They will also ultimately be included into the .vsix file output during build.
So, to ensure this files (.cs or other) are "static", you must make sure they have their action set to None (for example), not Compile.
I have Java background and am trying to start on C#.
I wanna create a lib in C# that will be used in other solutions. In Eclipse it's just a matter of creating a jar and adding it to classpath. I know each project in VS2013 becomes a dll, but how can I make a solution see these dll?
Also, in Eclipse, we can create a Web Fragment Project. It can have Servlets, jsp and static js and css files, it becomes a war file and can be imported into another project and its files be used in that project.
How can I do that in VS2013? I'd like to create a solution with static files, master page, some aspx stuff, C# dll, and then use them all in other solutions.
Is there any tutorial (I googled it but found nothing) teaching how to do it?
You have a few options depending on your preferences and scope
Option 1 - The Class Library
You can create Class Library, that can be referenced in your website project. The Class library is a library of classes, interfaces, and value types
You can either Add an existing/New Class Library project to your website solution and reference it directly
You can add the project to your solution by right clicking the
solution (inside VS) -> Add -> Existing project -> and navigating to said
project's .csproj file
or
You can use a new/existing Class Library Project - build it and reference the built dll in your website solution.
you can right click your website solution (inside VS) -> Add -> new project -> choose Class Library
After you've done one of the above ->
Right click the project, you want to add the reference to
Click "Add Reference"
navigate to the .dll in question.
If the dll you want to reference is part of your current solution (as in step 1) -> after you've pressed "Add Reference" - press the "Solution" Tab and it should show up
After you've added the dll.
Remember to reference it in your code files with
Using TheReferenceNamespace;
which will allow you to call the functions inside you dll like the following
FunctionInsideDll(param);
or you could fully qualify your calls instead, like the following
TheReferenceNamespace.FunctionInsideDll(param);
Option 2 - Share MasterPages
if you just want "shareable" masterpages
you can do the following - (taken from this -> MSDN article)
(for future reference - web archive link - just in case something gets moved)
Precompile the Code Used in a Master Page
If you are concerned about code in your master pages being visible to others reusing the pages, you can precompile the master pages' code into a library. In this library, you can include code-behind pages as well as user or custom controls. Compiling master pages does not remove the declarative code for the master files or any server controls used, but you can compile the master files to remove the code for controls or code-behind pages used by the master pages.
If you choose to compile the master pages into a library, you must use the "updatable" build option that allows for later modification of the markup. This option is determined by the Allow the precompiled site to be updatable check box in the Publish Web Site dialog box. For more information about precompiling pages into a library that can be reused, see Building Re-Usable ASP.NET User Control and Page Libraries with VS 2005.
Option 3 - The template
Create a template, and use that template for different projects
In Visual Studio - Press "File" -> Export Template -> follow the wizard.
After it has been exported and you've imported it (either through a checkmark in the wizard or double clicking the vsix file) -it will show up under your project templates when you create a new project.
You can include a project from solution A in solution B by right-clicking on solution B and choosing "Add existing project"
Don't be afraid to edit XML .csproj files. For instance, this works ...
<Compile Include="$(Codez)\z.Libraries\diff-match-patch\DiffMatchPatch\**\*.cs"
Exclude="NotThisOne.cs;**\NotThisFolderWith\This*.cs">
<Link>Libs\%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
</Compile>
...and will give you all the C# files from the source folder, and subfolders, as linked files in your destination project under a folder called \Libs\.
$(Codez) is a Windows Environment Variable I use on my PCs.
I also could have used *.* at the end instead of *.cs.
This is one of those things Visual Studio might break on you, adding a file into the folder full of wildcard-linked files may break them out to separate entries. Or not. Depends on the wind.
It's dead simple to share functionality across multiple MVC projects. You just put the code into its own project and reference it in as many solutions as your heart desires. Clean, standard, glorious.
Is there any means to do this for styling code? I'd like to have our common CSS files, the ones that give our applications a similar look and feel, in just one place. Right now I have to spawn new copies for every new application. Thus if something needs to be fixed, it needs to be fixed a dozen times in a dozen places.
Has anyone else dealt with this? I can't separate out the CSS files into their own project, nor do I really want to have a web application that's just css sitting somewhere so all of the applications can use the files remotely via fully-qualified Urls. Is there a TFS trick you can do with source control to link the files together? Is there something I haven't thought of?
Here is the "dead simple" solution for sharing web resources between projects without using CDN, LESS, SASS, NuGet, etc:
Create common Solution Folders containing the resources to be shared, or simply designate one of the projects to be the master.
Use "Add as Link" to add the shared resource files to each project as needed.
Add an AfterBuild task to each project file that will copy the linked files to project folders. This is only needed so that Visual Studio test/debug (F5) will work locally.
If you need the details on how to do this, keep reading.
Configuring Solution Folders for the Shared Resources
** Note that if you're simply going to share files directly from one project to one or more additional projects then you can skip this step.
Visual Studio solution folders do not have to reflect physical file system folders, but doing so will help preserve your sanity. So first create the folders on your local file system and copy the resource files into them. The new folders should be located under your solution folder. For example:
\MySolution
\Common
\Images
\Scripts
\Styles
Back in Visual Studio, right click on the Solution Items folder and use Add Solution Folder to replicate the new file system folders.
Next, add the files to the new solution folders by right-clicking each folder and using Add Existing Item to add the contents of the folders.
Add Shared Resources as Links
For each project that will use the shared resources, right-click the project folder and choose Add Existing Item. Browse to the common folder, select the desired files, click the drop-down arrow next to the "Add" button and choose "Add as Link".
You may get a source control warning about adding files that are outside of the project directory structure, but this can be ignored since the linked file will be under source control at its source.
Add an AfterBuild Task to Copy Files
When you publish the application to a server the linked files will copied to the project folders to which they are linked and everything works as expected. However, in the development environment the linked files do not physically reside in the project folders. So when you hit F5 to test your application in VS, the shared resources will be missing.
The simple solution is to add an MSBuild task to copy the linked files from their source after each build. This needs to be done to for each project that contains the shared resource links.
Right-click the project and choose Unload Project. Right-click the project again and choose Edit <ProjectFileName>. Scroll to the bottom and add the following (just above "</Project>"):
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<!-- Copy linked content files to local folders so that they are available in the debugger.
This is only an issue when running the application locally. The linked files should
be automatically published to the correct folder when publishing to a web server. -->
<Copy SourceFiles="%(Content.Identity)"
DestinationFiles="%(Content.Link)"
SkipUnchangedFiles='true'
OverwriteReadOnlyFiles='true'
Condition="'%(Content.Link)' != ''" />
</Target>
** Copy task adapted from this link in TheCodeDestroyer's answer.
Save the project file then right-click and choose Reload Project.
Why not just have one site host that base styling and the other sites reference those styles? I don't see anything wrong with this.
You could create a CDN application of sorts to do this, too.
MVC App #1
<link src="~/css/styles.css" />
MVC App #2
<link src="http://mvcapp1.com/css/styles.css" />
Well, I don't know much about asp.net development, so forgive me, if it's not the case, but
If resource files in your project have Build Action set to None or Content and Copy to Output Directory set to Copy..., you can easily create the Class Library type of project and place all the files there (preserving the paths), and then reference this "Class Library" in every project that needs the files. Every file will be copied to every referencing project on solution build.
For Embedded Resource build action it will also work, but, you'll need to find a way to specify the assembly, which contains these files (because it will differ from Assembly.GetEntryAssembly).
Personally I don't like or want the CDN solution as if you have many pages they depend on CDNs 100% up time. After some research I found this solution which was perfect for my use I hope whoever will look for an alternative this is one of them:
http://mattperdeck.com/post/Copying-linked-content-files-at-each-build-using-MSBuild.aspx
1 - Look into CSS template systems as mentioned :
SASS-Lang
Less
http://css-tricks.com/sass-vs-less/ (really good article to start, many related items to in his related posts widget)
These allow you to code your stylesheets in organised manners. You can quickly add dynamic configurations and global changes easily.
2 - Developer your own CSS global listing system :
If you prefer not to use the above CSS stylesheet system. Example
//cdn.com/assets/css/reset.css
//cdn.com/assets/css/main.css
//cdn.com/assets/css/page_home.css
//cdn.com/assets/css/page_cart.css
even...
//cdn.com/assets/global/form_styles.css
//cdn.com/assets/global/global_shortcuts.css
In these, the same form padding, table and tr and other padding rules. Example
.black{color:#000 !important}
.right{float:right}
.left{float:left}
I know I sound like framework mentality but it works..
You can quickly alter the global to ensure all pages are updated.
The CDN storage and compass suggestions are valid too. You see storing on a CDN will save the headache of worrying about application failure / speed / load.
Your application can simply be like
/cloud/servers/settings/global/db
/cloud/servers/settings/global/librarys
/cloud/servers/settings/global/css_config.php (example)
/cloud/servers/1/webapp.com/
/cloud/servers/1/webapp.com/model
/cloud/servers/1/webapp.com/view
/cloud/servers/1/webapp.com/view/themes/tpl
/cloud/servers/1/webapp.com/inc
/cloud/servers/1/webapp2.com/
/cloud/servers/1/webapp2.com/model
/cloud/servers/1/webapp2.com/view
/cloud/servers/1/webapp2.com/view/themes/tpl
/cloud/servers/1/webapp2.com/inc
//cdn.com/assets/css
3 - Configuration of Approach
I personally think that the question should be about the approach of your overall development methodology. Having CSS sit on a CDN application, or having a CSS on a separate server which syncs to the CDN for production live mode is a good idea - keeping it separate and maintaining it via a stylesheet language is even better. You can then quickly use skins, css libraries, image libraries and more. Keeps things organised, faster and much better and ENJOYABLE to look at and take pride in coding with.
Keeping it and using a better system is what is needed. You should use manual and the classical approach of a folder structure IMO. You won't have to worry about responsive application design for mobile/tablet and other bearing issues with updating one CSS line for all the apps or even single apps - even languages, and dealing with multi site development teams.
JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION
Would also strongly recommend a CSS stylesheet language, sure many people hate them. But they are becoming quite useful, especially SAAS it's not a hype like NodeJS was.. it actually works. And does wonders. Look at TopShop, GorgeousCouture.. Arcadia sites.. multiple languages, multiple currencies.. servers and teams working on the same cross brand and several applications for each store..
We had the same problem and for our purposes we put all general CSS/JS/Images/Layout View into NuGet package and reuse it from every application where we need it. It perfectly works for us.
If you're open to using Sass, Compass extensions might be just what you need.
http://compass-style.org/help/tutorials/extensions/
An extension, when bundled as a gem, allows you to easily include the styles contained within the gem from anywhere on the system that has the gem installed. I recently used this in my latest application (a specialized multi-user CMS where each user has their own subdomain that has a customized layout, but all of the components/widgets have the same styling throughout the application). Setting up a new subdomain's styling is as simple as running a single command and customizing the template I've setup that has a skeleton of a simple layout.
Compass extensions can be used to hold images and JavaScript files as part of a template, but deployed files aren't automatically updated like the styles are (templates from a Compass extension differ from the stylesheets, as the templates are for copying and the stylesheets are for importing).
I want to develop a C# template for visual studio. I need to assign a different GUID for each project generated with this template (it should remain the same for multiple builds of the same project). I believe there is already some mechanism to do that ([assembly: Guid] attribute or project guid I don't know). So what is the correct way to do that?
Navigate to the VS install directory, then drill into Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Windows\1033\ClassLibrary.zip. You'll find the template version of assemblyinfo.cs there. Copy that to your own template .zip file. Note that 1033 is English, it may a different code page on yours.
The relevant line in the file is
[assembly: Guid("$guid1$")]
The IDE replaces the parts of the file between $dollars$ with an appropriate substitution when you create a project from your template. Template parameters are documented here.