Visual Studio Orcas and .NET 2.0

VS Orcas is available as a CTP install from Microsoft.com. I’ve been using it side by side VS 2005 on my laptop and haven’t had any issues in THIS environment, although I think it screwed up my workstation at NewsGator. (Don’t tell Lane.) The following applies to the March CTP.

WHY would I even THINK about using an MS Tool in CTP stages? Well… here’s the short list:

1. JavaScript intellisense for JS class libraries.

Well, I’m not sure of any other benefits– that one alone is worth it if you’re writing AJAX libraries in JavaScript! I’m sure there are a ton of new features for the Orcas framework (.NET 3.5), but I’m quite happy with the 2.0 framework these days– most of my professional coding has been in AJAX components, using my favorite web architecture pattern of JavaScript and HTML components that talk to a Web Services API (SOAP and REST). I suppose I could benefit from WCF, but ASMX (SOAP) is fine for my current needs. And LINQ is cool– but again, I have no need for it until it’s ready for production code, since my dev to production cycles are shorter than Microsoft’s.

So I repeat- IF you’re an AJAX developer writing object oriented JavaScript Code (and you SHOULD be!), VS Orcas is for you! If you’re writing "ASP.NET Classic" apps or just using the UpdatePanel (shame on you!), VS Orcas may be too bleeding edge for you.

So can you use VS Orcas against .NET 2.0 code? You bet! After loading a class library for the first time with VS Orcas, it will upgrade the .csproj file by adding just a few Xml elements. (It’s JUST Xml using the MSBUILD schema.) The csproj file will maintain compatibility with VS 2005– but you’ll need to edit the csproj file for compatibility with the 2.0 Framework.

Editing the CSPROJ File for .NET 2.0 Compatibility

To edit the CSPROJ file, right click it and select "Unload Project".

From their, choose "Edit CSPROJ file:"

 Next, edit the XML.

The root Project element, change the ToolsVersion from 3.5 to 2.0.

In the top PropertyGroup element, find the TargetFramework node. It should say:

<TargetFrameworkVersion>v3.5</TargetFrameworkVersion> Just change it to <TargetFrameworkVersion>v2.0</TargetFrameworkVersion>, and be sure to remove any 3.5 references such as <Reference Include="System.Core"> from the file. You may also need to change <RequiredTargetFramework>3.5</RequiredTargetFramework> to <RequiredTargetFramework>2.0</RequiredTargetFramework>.  

That’s it! When adding new classes, you may need to remove the references to System.Linq. Also, the solution files are NOT backwards-compatible, so you’ll need to keep a VS’05 version and a VS Orcas version.

With these tweaks, you can enjoy VS Orcas today using the 2.0 framework. If you’re slinging Atlas code, this may be worth it to you! Here’s an example of intellisense on the Litware.WikiControl, INCLUDING methods that it inherits from Litware.EditableControl:

With these steps, you should have no problem using VS Orcas side by side with VS 2005– but do it in an environment that isn’t your main dev box, or be prepared to un-hork your environment in case it gets horked! BTW– to get it installed, you’ll need to install .NET 3.5 "Greenbits", the .NET framework add-on for Orcas. It’s also LIKE 3.0– it’s not a NEW framework, just new toys on top of the 2.0 framework. (A really great approach that MS is taking!!!)