We have a team on vs 2005. We want to upgrade to vs 2008 but want to do it incrementally. If we have a few folks on the team upgrade to 2008 (still targetting the 2.0 framework) while others working on the same solutions stay on vs 2005, would this cause any issues .
Do solution or project files change due to this?
Are there any backward compatibility issues to deal with or other conflicts that is going to force a big bang upgrade for the team?
Why do you want to upgrade incrementatlly? You can still target .NET 2.0 while working with Visual Studio 2008.
Won't work. 2k8 upgrades your solutions.
Let me qualify that. Solutions, once upgraded, can't be opened in 2005. I believe individual projects can be.
So, one solution might be to make a copy of the solution, call it project.2005.sln, then upgrade the original solution and call it project.2008.sln.
I don't have 2k5 on my box, so I can't test this. It would be simple and, as long as you check in fully beforehand, non-destructive to test this.
You could achieve this by renaming all of the solution/project files (leaving the actual source alone) - then members of your team can load the version appropriate to them.
For C#, the project files are almost identical (different version number, new target platform property). VS2008 however will always try to "convert" the old VS2005 files, while VS2005 refuses to open the new files. Therefore, a mixed environment is not very practical.
What we do with mixed VS versions is create the solution in 2005, with all the project's set up. Then check that into SourceSafe (or whatever you use). Then the users with VS2008 upgrades the solution locally on his machine, then undoes the check-out VS2008 does when it upgrades the solution and everyone can then work on that project at the same time, as long as no changes are made to the solution file!
As far as I know it is the solution file (*.sln) that is changed when upgrading to VS 2008, not the project files .csproj/.vbproj.
So you can use both IDE's for the same gode if you have different .sln files.
We've been doing exactly what you want to do for about 6 months now.
Our experience has been limited to Web Application, Class Library and basic WinForms projects. But we've had no issues with developers split between 2005 and 2008.
You will need two seperate solution files (one for 2005 and one for 2008) but they differ only in that one contains the string "9.0" and the other "10.0".
The project files will be modified by 2008, however it basically only adds new attributes which are ignored by 2005.
2008 Project files ARE compatible with 2005, in my experience.
2008 Solution files are not, but creating a compatible copy is a simple task of replacing the "9.0" with "10.0" or vice versa.
If you are dealing with Web Application projects, there is one additional change you should make to the project file so it is compatible with both version.
See my answers here and here for details.
go for the big bang, 2008 rocks compared to 2005. I have no problems found whatsoever with converting projects.
Partly possible but must be carefull.
Need a version control system (and build server with 2005/2008 based config)
Separate solution and project files based on VS.NET version. Everybody should open just corresponding .sln van .proj files. (Some hints about project file changes: .NET 2.0 Project in VS.NET 2005 != .NET 2.0 Project in VS.NET 2008)
It's possible to commit common C#/VB.NET source files, XML files. Other files - lets say .resx - can causes pain.
I think it's more easier to switch all projects to VS.NET 2008.
One note to VS.NET 2088: we have strange experiences with WinForms designer and had some after-build freezing.
Related
my client using visualstudio 2010 for his application and app OS version is windows 7. they shared the sourcecode of that application and asked me to migrate that code into VSTS. but, i am using visualstudio 2019 with OS version windows 2010 in my system. can we use that sourcecode in my system. any compatabilities are there ?
Yes, but you will most likely have to adjust for the target runtimes/frameworks and configuration differences that the VSProject file will have between the versions. The VSProject file will almost certainly migrated to the latest version for VS2019.
You may not be able to if the target runtime/framework for the application is not supported by VS2019. For example, if it something less than .NET 4.5.2, you may run into problems.
The best solution is for you to get his system, his version of VS and the code base updated to the latest. If this will be a significant effort on your part, tell your client that migration will be a billable item.
If you're merely trying to share code, write, but not build anything you can certainly use VS2019, but at that rate, you may as well us VS Code.
There is no such thing as visual studio 2010 source code. THere is source code, that has been written in VIsual Studio, but a .cs file is a .cs file, regardless of the editor. A text file is a text file. Source code is not like word, where there are a ton of formatting information embedded in a file format that is complex - source code are SIMPLE text files.
2010 to 2019 MAY be a little large for the project file - you have to try it out. That being said, making new project files is trivial.
2010 likely (not sure, it is like ages ago) does not use nuget - you likely run into more problems with .NET versions and links to third party libraries.
Is anyone out there using Visual Studio 2015 and 2017 .CSPROJ files alongside each other in the same folder? Are there any other incompatibilites, besides the solution and project files that I should worry about?
Basically what I want to do is allow our developers to continue to use VS2015 and those projects -- just for a while -- while all still working on exact same set of same code files. I don't want to move/change anything else.
I've already created all the new project files and solution file. But 'm wondering if I can just put them in the same physical disk folder alongside each other and have everyone go merrily about their development tasks with either VS2015 or VS2017.
The duplication of work synchronizing the project files themselves is not a concern. I just want to make sure there aren't any OTHER format differences that might cause some sort of build/run problem for me.
Is anyone else out out there doing this? Is this workable?
There is not any incompatibility, but you should check when you are creating a new project in VS2017 the kind of project, you should have two things in mind, first, when you are creating .net projects, you have to keep using the old .net framework instead of .net core, and second (only if you are going to create desktop/libraries/console projects), you need to use the Common option instead the new option (check on the dropdown to select the .net framework version that allows you to select versions lower than 4.5), cause if not, then you have the incorrect kind of project selected and this kind of project doesn't work in VS2015 as they change the structure of the .csproj file. Hope this little explanation helps you.
Update
What I wanted to say with this explanation is that every projects that comes from VS2015 or 2017 if they have the same structure (same old kind of .net framework), then you can do what you want to do, but if for some reason you need to make a .net core, then this will not work.
Cheers.
Just be aware that VS2017 supports C# language version features that 2015 does not. If anyone uses those features you will not be able to build the projects in VS 2015.
You can enforce language version in the .csproj files but this is done per BuildConfiguration and can be tedious to configure for larger solutions with many projects.
To make the changes
Right click the Project and select Properties
Then Build Then
Advanced (Bottom Right corner) General > Language Version
Change to C#6.0
Overall it is possible but you may need to retain VS2015 if you have any SSIS or SSRS packages as the tooling is still not available for general release (Oct 17) and is still in preview.
You should be able to run Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2017 side by side without any issues. Our application ran on both Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2017 before every developer migrated to VS 2017.
You do need to keep in mind few things though:
Visual Studio 2017 by supports C# 7.0. Make sure that you use same language version in both the IDEs.
VS 2017 also supports stuff like editor.config. I would suggest to avoid using it (though I feel it should not be an issue)
If you are using on .NET Core project without csproj. Do not think you would be able to upgrade it.
my team have built many tools for our project using win forms and Visual Studio 2005. We are thinking about upgrading to VS 2010.
Just wanted a heads up on any compatibility issues and also any benefits of upgrading.
Does upgrading involve lot of time and effort or does Visual Studio take care of it?
Your answers will be help us take a decision. Thanks.
Pros:
.NET improvements (provided that you upgrade the framework version)
Availability of newer 3rd-party libraries and tools for newer .NET (same as above)
IDE improvements
Neutral:
WinForms hasn't changed much between .NET 2.0 and 4.0.
Cons:
VS 2010 is a vastly heavier program, requiring much more CPU and RAM and faster disks to operate smoothly.
You decide.
as far as I know are there no downside's
I only know that all your changes in the visual side are gonna be placed in [name of form or usercontrol].Designer.[cs/vb]
I am a user of VS2010 and Im really happy with it so,
but why not wait on VS2012?
Kind Regards,
Corné
Yes it is possible and easy but lot of depends on the features you have used in your app. It should not be depreciated in VS 2010. Take a back up of your project and try to convert it, conversion wizard will list out all the warnings and error it faced while converting your app.Then you can take a decision on the basis of it whether to upgrade your app or not?
You'll want to check the breaking changes in C# 2008 and C# 2010, then the migration issues in .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.0, but only if you choose to upgrade the Framework target. Simply upgrading it to be readable and compilable by VS 2010 should not introduce any major issues. But, check if your project involve external component that's upgraded/removed in VS 2010, such as Reporting components, SQL connection, etc. In my experience, third party component suffer the most.
As for the benefit, lots. Check the Visual Studio Gallery for some extremely useful extensions (my favourite is the free Coderush Xpress), experience the joy of C# REPL with Roslyn, or heck, simply the Intellisense improvements makes me dread every time I'm forced to use 2008 or other IDEs.
Open the VS2005 solution in VS2010 and a wizard will open and upgrade your solution.
Just take a backup on the existing solution and give it a try. VS 2010 is very nice!
Everyone has different expectations and differences in their list of pros and cons. As such, the best way to decide if it's right for you is to go ahead and try it. As already mentioned, it will upgrade your project files (including making a backup for you first) when you try to open them.
You can download the trial from the Microsoft website and install it alongside your existing VS2005 install. If you're worried about installing alongside, install it into a virtual machine or download the ready made virtual machine images from http://blogs.msdn.com/b/briankel/archive/2010/06/25/now-available-visual-studio-2010-rtm-virtual-machine-with-sample-data-and-hands-on-labs.aspx
So on my computer I only have Visual Studio 2010 Express. I need to edit a Visual Studio 2008 project, however it needs to be kept in C# 3.5.
Before I open it in 2010 and accidentally upgrade it, will it be kept in 2008 or C#3.5 format?
I realize I wont be able to use .Net 2010 features, so thats no problem. I just want to make sure if I save my 2008 project using 2010 I will still be able to open it in 2008 and it will work fine.
The target framework of the project is independent of the solution format. That is, you can convert your project to Visual Studio 2010 and still target the 3.5 Framework. But, once it's converted to 2010, you will not be able to open it in 2008.
You cannot open a project in VS2010 without it being upgraded. The Framework version can be controlled independently, so you can still target 3.5.
The changes to the project/solution files to use 2010 (assuming you don't use any newer features) are fairly minimal, so there may be mileage in just not committing the project/solution files (you can probably achieve this by dropping an ignore file for your source control provider in your local folder, including adding the ignore file to itself, so that doesn't get committed).
If you're mostly editing code (and not often changing the projects in the solution, or files in the projects) you could also have two copies of the files, one for each version, until you can commit to 2010 everywhere (and with Express for free, you might be able to do this quickly?).
No, VS2010 will convert the VS2008 project file. After it is converted, VS2008 can no longer open it. There are ways to hack around this, the simple solution is to just use VS2010 consistently. Next best thing is to only check-in the source code changes. Next best thing is to give the 2010 project a different name and maintain them both, at least for now.
You'd be hard pressed to accidentally upgrade it. When you open a VS2008 project in VS2010, it automatically starts the upgrade wizard, and you have to decide whether to let it do the upgrade, including making a decision whether to let it take a backup before it does the upgrade.
You can't open a VS2008 project in VS2010 and work on it without upgrading it to VS2010 format first. And once you've allowed VS2010 to upgrade it, you won't be able to open it in VS2008 any more.
Careful though - don't confuse the version of the framework you want to target, with the version of VS that you're using.
You can target framework 3.5 with VS2010.
There are hacks that let you open VS2010-upgraded projects in VS2008, but it's not a great plan to go down that road (guess how I know).
When you are going to convert it with compatible to 2010 it will ask for the backup...
so... later you can retrieve your file back ...
I might be wrong but I'm almost sure that project files don't differ between 2008 and 2010 or at least they are compatible. Solution files are a different matter and old solutions do indeed need to be converted. Usually you have few solutions for 2008 and 2010 versions of VS, but they contain the same projects, so the projects don't need to be converted.
I was on a seminar where they took this (short of classic?) accident as a sample for versioning. They get a 2008 project from git and start it in vs 2010.
Did the upgrade process and then "ops, i can't revert the upgrade". They commited the vs2010 converted files to a branch in GIT. When they "came home again", merged the changes in project together with 2008 solution files.
This may not come in touch to you, but the sense is:
All files is intact but the solution/project files. So just keep them safe and you can continue use the 2008 version after done your editing in 2010.
Though, without any kind of manual handling of solution/project files - answer (on the question in your subject) is No!
In short, no. Once it's upgraded, it stays that way. There is no official way to downgrade it either. The main driver behind this fact is because of the compiler. Even if you stay in .NET Framework 3.5, you can still use C# 4.0 features (like optional / named parameters) since 2010 will always use the 4.0 compiler.
Imagine a situation where it stayed in a 2008 format but you used a C# 4.0 language feature. Since VS 2008 always uses the C# 3.0 compiler, whenever you open it in 2008, it will no longer compile. This is a good reason to avoid work-arounds that have been posted for downgrading - you get mixed compiler features that can break things pretty easily.
We're a team of students doing a software project. As some of us don't use Windows, but the product needs to run on Windows and .NET, we want to develop on MonoDevelop and Visual Studio which both use Visual Studio files; language of choice is C#.
My question is: Can we check in the solution and project files into our repository without the possibility of severe conflicting problems? Example: Two guys add a new file to the same project, save and commit their changes. Will the project file get a conflict?
SVN works great with Visual Studio and the related Project/Solutions files. The Project files are just XML and the Solution files are a structured text file. If changes are made to the same project/solution file from two different people the second person will get a conflict notice. Warning, it can be tricky to merge project and solution files. Sometimes it's easier to just toss the changes and add the files back manually then check in again.
You could try Agent SVN plugin. It integrates with VS 2005, VS 2008 and VS 2010 and it also has a import wizard feature that makes it easy to import the solution and all project files into the SVN repository.
I use this free Visual Studio plugin http://ankhsvn.open.collab.net/ for working with SVN repo ...
VisualSVN integrates well into VS.