This has been a LONG time coming… and I’m sorry for the delay to those of you devoted users. Wait… are there devoted users? I see some folks use them, but not much feedback. Are you using them? Let me know by dropping a comment on this post! Known users = motivation to take them even further!
First, for those who aren’t familiar with my CR/R tools, here’s a little blurb I posted back when I announced them:
Additions for CodeRush & Refactor! Pro Visual Studio productivity add-ins. These include a dynamic list for SharePoint types, XML templates addressing the various XML files we use in SharePoint (eg: Feature schema, solution schema, field type definitions, *.webpart files, etc) as well as some refactorings.
Get the scoop here: Announcing AC’s VS CodeRush/Refactor Tools for SharePoint Devs (Part 1 of 5)
As always, the place to get the latest information, blog posts, screencasts as well as the most recent download is the main page on my blog:
I’ve just finished uploading an update to the tools as well as the main page that documents everything . If you are using these tools, I strongly advise you to update your stuff. The biggest reason is that in the CR/R v3.0.0 release a few weeks back, DevExpress changed the refactoring engine. This required all refactorings to be recompiled against the new assembly. The lone refactoring (Create Web Part Definition File) has now been fixed so should be working again. In addition, I also added some fixes for VS 2008.
To update your stuff, do the following:
- Shut down any open instances of Visual Studio (any version).
- Run the included install.bat file to overwrite the assemblies in the DXCore plugin folder.
- Delete the templates that were originally created (by simply deleting the folder containing all my original templates).
- Reimport the XML templates as well as a new template for the Plain Text section (for DDF files).
So what was changed?
- I fixed a few issues with the templates that were logged in the bug/feature list: list instance template , master page template , provisioning file template .
- Added numerous templates for solution files for creating root files, resources, and template files. See the main doc page for the new ones.
- Identified a bug in VS 2008 + CR/R v3.0.5 where two hyphens are added after expanding a template… logged with DevExpress ( B19793 ) and will hopefully be fixed in their next update.
- Added a templates for DDF files ,
- Modified Feature template (fxml) to use the project name as the default Feature name.
Now, some have asked when I will start giving the tool window away that have seen me demo @ SharePoint Connections last November, various user groups and ODC last week. I promised it would be in the next update, but you won’t find it in this one. It is still very brittle (as those at ODC saw unfortunately). Let me add some more stability and error checking to it before I give that away. I promise you’ll get a copy by the end of the SharePoint Conference 2008 where I plan to use it as well. I promise!
Got ideas for new features? Add them the list ! Oh, and if you are using these tools, please drop a comment.