We Keep Coding

Dotnet core code sample for using DescribeInstancesAsync for getting AWS EC2 instance data

I've used the AWS sample project with .NET Framework 4.6.1 and that had a DescribeInstances method which worked. When trying to move the sample code to ASP.NET Core I find that I have to use DescribeInstancesAsync. I cannot figure out how to get the DescribeInstancesResponse.
// Print the number of Amazon EC2 instances.
IAmazonEC2 ec2 = new AmazonEC2Client();
DescribeInstancesRequest ec2Request = new DescribeInstancesRequest();
DescribeInstancesResponse ec2Response;
IAsyncResult asyncResult;
asyncResult = ec2.DescribeInstancesAsync(ec2Request);
while(!asyncResult.IsCompleted)
{
// Do some work
}
try
{
// ec2Response =
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}
I'm using AWSSDK.EC2 version 3.3.152.1 and ASP.NET Core 3.1

Dotnet core sample code for counting AWS instances in a region
Initial set up not covered here
You need to be familiar with Dotnet core basics and have installed the required Dotnet SDK.
Follow the instructions here for initial set up of the AWS SDK for .NET including setting up your AWS credentials.
Add your config settings to appsettings.Development.json
"AWS" : {
"ProfileName" : "<YourProfileName>",
"Region" : "<your region>"
}
The region will determine where the code below will look for instances.
The steps below are for Dotnet core version 3.1
Create MVC project and install packages
dotnet new mvc –o WebProject Create a new MVC project called WebProject
dotnet add package AWSSDK.EC2 Install the AWSSDK.EC2 package
dotnet add package AWSSDK.Extensions.NETCore.Setup Install the AWSSDK.Extensions.NETCore.Setup package to help using your AWS configuration in your code. See here for details.
Inject the configuration class into the HomeController
Modify your ConfigureServices method in the Startup.cs file by adding this line services.AddSingleton(Configuration);
public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
services.AddControllersWithViews();
services.AddSingleton(Configuration);
}
To your HomeController.cs file add the following line to the usings section using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
Modify the constructor so it looks like below. Also add the _config readonly field.
private readonly IConfiguration _config;
public HomeController(ILogger<HomeController> logger, IConfiguration config)
{
_logger = logger;
_config = config;
}
Add the code for getting data from AWS
To your HomeController.cs file add the following to the usings section
using Amazon.EC2;
using Amazon.EC2.Model;
using System.Text;
To your HomeController.cs add the following method for getting the instance count from AWS.
private async Task<string> GetInstances()
{
// Print the number of Amazon EC2 instances.
var options = _config.GetAWSOptions();
IAmazonEC2 ec2 = options.CreateServiceClient<IAmazonEC2>();
DescribeInstancesRequest ec2Request = new DescribeInstancesRequest();
DescribeInstancesResponse ec2Response;
var sb = new StringBuilder();
try
{
ec2Response = await ec2.DescribeInstancesAsync(ec2Request);
if (ec2Response.Reservations.Any())
{
sb.AppendFormat("The number of instances are {0} in {1}",ec2Response.Reservations[0].Instances.Count(), _config["AWS:Region"]);
}
else
{
sb.AppendFormat("No instances found in {0}", _config["AWS:Region"]);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
sb.Append(ex.ToString());
}
return sb.ToString();
}
Modify you HomeController.cs index method to look like this:
public async Task<IActionResult> Index()
{
var numberOfInstances = await GetInstances();
ViewData["numberOfInstances"] = numberOfInstances;
return View();
}
Add the following line to the related Index.cshtml view <p>#ViewData["numberOfInstances"]</p>
Run the project and if all is well it will tell you how many instances were found in your specified region.

Adding Assemblies/Types to be made available to Razor Page at Runtime

I'm trying to build a dynamic Web interface where I can dynamically point at a folder and serve Web content out of that folder with ASP.NET Core. This works fairly easily by using FileProviders in ASP.NET Core to re-route the Web root folder. This works both for StaticFiles and For RazorPages.
However, for RazorPages the problem is that once you do this you can't dynamically add references for additional types. I'd like to be able to optionally add a folder (PrivateBin) which on startup I can loop through, load the assemblies and then have those assemblies visible in Razor.
Unfortunately it doesn't work as Razor does not appear to see the loaded assemblies even when using runtime compilation.
I use the following during startup to load assemblies. Note the folder that these are loaded from are not in the default ContentRoot or WebRoot but in the new redirected WebRoot.
// WebRoot is a user chosen Path here specified via command line --WebRoot c:\temp\web
private void LoadPrivateBinAssemblies()
{
var binPath = Path.Combine(WebRoot, "PrivateBin");
if (Directory.Exists(binPath))
{
var files = Directory.GetFiles(binPath);
foreach (var file in files)
{
if (!file.EndsWith(".dll", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase) &&
!file.EndsWith(".exe", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
continue;
try
{
var asm = AssemblyLoadContext.Default.LoadFromAssemblyPath(file);
Console.WriteLine("Additional Assembly: " + file);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Failed to load private assembly: " + file);
}
}
}
}
The assembly loads into the AssemblyLoadContext() and I can - using Reflection and Type.GetType("namespace.class,assembly") - access the type.
However, when I try to access the type in RazorPages - even with Runtime Compilation enabled - the types are not available. I get the following error:
To make sure that the type is indeed available, I checked that I can do the following inside of Razor:
#{
var md = Type.GetType("Westwind.AspNetCore.Markdown.Markdown,Westwind.AspNetCore.Markdown");
var mdText = md.InvokeMember("Parse", BindingFlags.InvokeMethod | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static, null,
null, new object[] { "**asdasd**", false, false, false });
}
#mdText
and that works fine. So the assembly is loaded and the type is accessible, but Razor doesn't appear to be aware of it.
So the question is:
Is it possible to load assemblies at runtime and make them available to Razor with Runtime Compilation, and use it like you normally would use a type via direct declarative access?

It turns out the solution to this is via the Razor Runtime Compilation Options which allow adding of extra 'ReferencePaths', and then explicitly loading assemblies.
In ConfigureServices():
services.AddRazorPages(opt => { opt.RootDirectory = "/"; })
.AddRazorRuntimeCompilation(
opt =>
{
opt.FileProviders.Add(new PhysicalFileProvider(WebRoot));
LoadPrivateBinAssemblies(opt);
});
then:
private void LoadPrivateBinAssemblies(MvcRazorRuntimeCompilationOptions opt)
{
var binPath = Path.Combine(WebRoot, "PrivateBin");
if (Directory.Exists(binPath))
{
var files = Directory.GetFiles(binPath);
foreach (var file in files)
{
if (!file.EndsWith(".dll", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase) &&
!file.EndsWith(".exe", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
continue;
try
{
var asm = AssemblyLoadContext.Default.LoadFromAssemblyPath(file);
opt.AdditionalReferencePaths.Add(file);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
...
}
}
}
}
The key is:
opt.AdditionalReferencePaths.Add(file);
which makes the assembly visible to Razor, but doesn't actually load it. To load it you then have to explicitly load it with:
AssemblyLoadContext.Default.LoadFromAssemblyPath(file);
which loads the assembly from a path. Note that any dependencies that this assembly has have to be available either in the application's startup path or in the same folder you're loading from.
Note: Load order for dependencies may be important here or a not previously added assembly may not be found as a dependency (untested).

A Quick look into the ASP.NET Core source code reveals:
All Razor view Compilations start at:
RuntimeViewCompiler.CreateCompilation(..)
which uses:
CSharpCompiler.Create(.., .., references: ..)
which uses:
RazorReferenceManager.CompilationReferences
which uses: see code on github
// simplyfied
var referencePaths = ApplicationPartManager.ApplicationParts
.OfType<ICompilationReferencesProvider>()
.SelectMany(_ => _.GetReferencePaths())
which uses:
ApplicationPartManager.ApplicationParts
So we need somehow register our own ICompilationReferencesProvider and this is how..
ApplicationPartManager
While it's search for Application parts does the ApplicationPartManager a few things:
it searchs for hidden Assemblies reading attributes like:
[assembly: ApplicationPartAttribute(assemblyName:"..")] // Specifies an assembly to be added as an ApplicationPart
[assembly: RelatedAssemblyAttribute(assemblyFileName:"..")] // Specifies a assembly to load as part of MVC's assembly discovery mechanism.
// plus `Assembly.GetEntryAssembly()` gets added automaticly behind the scenes.
Then it loops throuth all found Assemblies and uses ApplicationPartFactory.GetApplicationPartFactory(assembly) (as seen in line 69) to find types which extend ApplicationPartFactory.
Then it invokes the method GetApplicationParts(assembly) on all found ApplicationPartFactorys.
All Assemblies without ApplicationPartFactory get the DefaultApplicationPartFactory which returns new AssemblyPart(assembly) in GetApplicationParts.
public abstract IEnumerable<ApplicationPart> GetApplicationParts(Assembly assembly);
GetApplicationPartFactory
GetApplicationPartFactory searches for [assembly: ProvideApplicationPartFactory(typeof(SomeType))] then it uses SomeType as factory.
public abstract class ApplicationPartFactory {
public abstract IEnumerable<ApplicationPart> GetApplicationParts(Assembly assembly);
public static ApplicationPartFactory GetApplicationPartFactory(Assembly assembly)
{
// ...
var provideAttribute = assembly.GetCustomAttribute<ProvideApplicationPartFactoryAttribute>();
if (provideAttribute == null)
{
return DefaultApplicationPartFactory.Instance; // this registers `assembly` as `new AssemblyPart(assembly)`
}
var type = provideAttribute.GetFactoryType();
// ...
return (ApplicationPartFactory)Activator.CreateInstance(type);
}
}
One Solution
This means we can create and register (using ProvideApplicationPartFactoryAttribute) our own ApplicationPartFactory which returns a custom ApplicationPart implementation which implements ICompilationReferencesProvider and then returns our references in GetReferencePaths.
[assembly: ProvideApplicationPartFactory(typeof(MyApplicationPartFactory))]
namespace WebApplication1 {
public class MyApplicationPartFactory : ApplicationPartFactory {
public override IEnumerable<ApplicationPart> GetApplicationParts(Assembly assembly)
{
yield return new CompilationReferencesProviderAssemblyPart(assembly);
}
}
public class CompilationReferencesProviderAssemblyPart : AssemblyPart, ICompilationReferencesProvider {
private readonly Assembly _assembly;
public CompilationReferencesProviderAssemblyPart(Assembly assembly) : base(assembly)
{
_assembly = assembly;
}
public IEnumerable<string> GetReferencePaths()
{
// your `LoadPrivateBinAssemblies()` method needs to be called before the next line executes!
// So you should load all private bin's before the first RazorPage gets requested.
return AssemblyLoadContext.GetLoadContext(_assembly).Assemblies
.Where(_ => !_.IsDynamic)
.Select(_ => new Uri(_.CodeBase).LocalPath);
}
}
}
My Working Test Setup:
ASP.NET Core 3 WebApplication
ASP.NET Core 3 ClassLibrary
Both Projects have no reference to each other.
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.0</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Content Remove="Pages\**" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.RuntimeCompilation" Version="3.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
services
.AddRazorPages()
.AddRazorRuntimeCompilation();
AssemblyLoadContext.Default.LoadFromAssemblyPath(#"C:\path\to\ClassLibrary1.dll");
// plus the MyApplicationPartFactory and attribute from above.
~/Pages/Index.cshtml
#page
<pre>
output: [
#(
new ClassLibrary1.Class1().Method1()
)
]
</pre>
And it shows the expected output:
output: [
Hallo, World!
]
Have a nice day.

Create solution file(.sln) and project files(.csproj) dynamically

I am creating code generation tool (auto code generation based on table structure) as a Windows forms application in Visual Studio 2012 using .NET Framework 4.0. It's generating the portable object, controller, WCF services and business logic code files.
All code files bundle in the appropriate project and all project bundle in one solution. The solution and projects need to create dynamically through program.
I have tried to create the solution and project using Visual Studio Add-in project. It is working fine in Add-In project (separate solution). The OnConnection method call automatically in Add-in project. Now I want to implements this in my code generation tool. While debugging in Add-In project the application variable shown like COM object.
I am tried to pass the value for OnConnection method from code generation tool, it throws an error (I passed this object for application variable). I really don't know how to call this method from my code generation tool. Anyone help this?
Code
private DTE2 _applicationObject;
private AddIn _addInInstance;
public void OnConnection(object application, ext_ConnectMode connectMode, object addInInst, ref Array custom)
{
_applicationObject = (DTE2)application;
_addInInstance = (AddIn)addInInst;
createProjectsFromTemplates(_applicationObject);
}
public void createProjectsFromTemplates(DTE2 dte)
{
try
{
Solution2 soln = (Solution2)dte.Solution;
string csTemplatePath;
string csPrjPath = "SamplePath\\TestCreateProject";
csTemplatePath = soln.GetProjectTemplate("WpfApplication.zip", "CSharp");
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("C# template path: " + csTemplatePath);
soln.AddFromTemplate(csTemplatePath, csPrjPath, "NewWCFCSharpAutoGeneratorProject", false);
Project prj;
ProjectItem prjItem;
String itemPath;
// Point to the first project (the Visual Basic project).
prj = soln.Projects.Item(1);
prjItem = prj.ProjectItems.AddFromFileCopy("SampelCSharp.cs");
}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("ERROR: " + ex.Message);
}
}

You can instantiate a VS from the host application and generate the files. Hope that will work. The below code works well for me.
Use the following namespaces to get work the below given code.
Namespaces:
using System;
using Extensibility;
using EnvDTE;
using EnvDTE80;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.CommandBars;
using System.Resources;
using System.Reflection;
Code:
EnvDTE80.DTE2 dte2;
dte2 = (EnvDTE80.DTE2)System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.GetActiveObject("VisualStudio.DTE.11.0");
Connect objConnect = new Connect();
Array objArray = null;
objConnect.OnConnection(dte2, ext_ConnectMode.ext_cm_UISetup, null, ref objArray);

I got this reference it is really useful.
http://rcos.rpi.edu/projects/unmake/commit/programmatically-launch-devenv-generate-a-solution-and-save-it/

You can use this. This is for .cs project files and framewwork above .NET 2.0 versions. VB project sources are not compatible.
protected void Build(string project)
{
Engine engine = new Engine();
BuildPropertyGroup properties = new BuildPropertyGroup();
properties.SetProperty(#"Configuration", #"Debug");
// Point to the path that contains the .NET Framework 2.0 CLR and tools
engine.BinPath = #"c:\windows\microsoft.net\framework\v3.5";
// Instantiate a new FileLogger to generate build log
FileLogger logger = new FileLogger();
// Set the logfile parameter to indicate the log destination
string str = #"logfile=D:\temp";
str += project.Substring(project.LastIndexOf("\\"), project.LastIndexOf(".") - project.LastIndexOf("\\")) + ".log";
logger.Parameters = str;
// Register the logger with the engine
engine.RegisterLogger(logger);
// Build a project file
bool success = engine.BuildProjectFile(project, new string[] { "build" }, properties);
//Unregister all loggers to close the log file
engine.UnregisterAllLoggers();
using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(File.Open(#"D:\temp\Prj.log", FileMode.Append)))
{
if (success)
{
writer.Write("\nBuild Success :" + project.Substring(project.LastIndexOf("\\")));
}
else
{
writer.Write("\nBuild Fail :" + project.Substring(project.LastIndexOf("\\")));
}
}
}

mefcontrib interceptingCatalog export error

I am trying to test mef and mefcontrib in asp.net mvc2 app but i got an error:
Cannot cast the underlying exported value of type LoggerExtSys.Domain.WebLogger
(ContractName="LoggerExtSys.Domain.IWebLogger") to type LoggerExtSys.Domain.IWebLogger.
My test project here
code in Global.asax:
protected void Application_Start()
{
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
var catalog = new CatalogBuilder()
.ForAssembliesInDirectory(HttpRuntime.BinDirectory, "*ExtSys.dll")
.Build();
// Create interception configuration
var cfg = new InterceptionConfiguration()
.AddInterceptor(new StartableStrategy());
// Create the InterceptingCatalog with above configuration
var interceptingCatalog = new InterceptingCatalog(catalog, cfg);
// Create the container
var container = new CompositionContainer(interceptingCatalog);
// exception here
var barPart = container.GetExportedValue<IWebLogger>();
barPart.Debug("Test");
}
Exception when i try to get GetExportedValue
code in WebLogger:
[Export(typeof(IWebLogger))]
public class WebLogger : IWebLogger
{
#region IWebLogger Members
public void Debug(string str)
{
}
#endregion
#region ICoreExtension Members
public void Initialize()
{
}
#endregion
}
But in desktop app all working good.
How to fix it? Thanks for all

Ok, the problem was in code block which load assemblies:
public AggregateCatalog ForAssembliesInDirectory(string directory, string pattern)
{
IList<ComposablePartCatalog> _catalogs = new List<ComposablePartCatalog>();
var dir = new DirectoryInfo(directory);
Assembly assembly;
foreach (var file in dir.GetFiles(pattern))
{
assembly = Assembly.LoadFile(file.FullName);
_catalogs.Add(new AssemblyCatalog(assembly));
}
return new AggregateCatalog(_catalogs);
}
After all test i remove it and use DirectoryCatalog. I dont know why but its work in desktop and web app.
Who will tell me why my old code not working in web app will get accepted answer and 50 bounty. Thanks for all

I think the problem is either here:
[Export(typeof(IWebLogger))]
public class WebLogger : IWebLogger
{
or in the way you handle type referencing and resolution.
I would try to change the line:
var barPart = container.GetExportedValue<IWebLogger>();
into:
var barPart = container.GetExportedValue<WebLogger>();
or you can also try to always use fully qualified names so not only IWebLogger but put its full namespace before.
you say this works well in windows based application, what assemblies did you reference in that project or how do you write in there the content of your Application_Start event handler? Are you sure it's absolutely the same?

How to deploy a visual studio custom tool?

I have my own custom tool for Visual Studio 2008 SP1. It consists of 5 assemblies: 3 assemblies with code that are used heavily in my other projects, 1 assembly-wrapper above VS2008 SDK and an assembly with the tool.
If I'd debug my tool from visual studio, using "Run external program" option with command line "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" and arguments "/ranu /rootsuffix Exp" all works perfectly.
After that I'm trying to deploy it to my working VS copy, not to experimental hive, doing: gacutil /i Asm1.dll for all my assemblies and doing RegAsm Asm1.dll only for assembly with custom tool. Neither of utils prints any error, all work as planned, even registry keys appear. But my tool doesn't work (error occurred "Cannot find custom tool 'TransportGeneratorTool' on this system") even after PC restart. What did I do wrong?
Wrapper looks like that:
[ComVisible(true)]
public abstract class CustomToolBase : IVsSingleFileGenerator, IObjectWithSite
{
#region IVsSingleFileGenerator Members
int IVsSingleFileGenerator.DefaultExtension(out string pbstrDefaultExtension)
{
pbstrDefaultExtension = ".cs";
return 0;
}
int IVsSingleFileGenerator.Generate(string wszInputFilePath, string bstrInputFileContents, string wszDefaultNamespace, IntPtr[] rgbOutputFileContents, out uint pcbOutput, IVsGeneratorProgress pGenerateProgress)
{
GenerationEventArgs gea = new GenerationEventArgs(
bstrInputFileContents,
wszInputFilePath,
wszDefaultNamespace,
new ServiceProvider(Site as Microsoft.VisualStudio.OLE.Interop.IServiceProvider)
.GetService(typeof(ProjectItem)) as ProjectItem,
new GenerationProgressFacade(pGenerateProgress)
);
if (OnGenerateCode != null)
{
OnGenerateCode(this, gea);
}
byte[] bytes = gea.GetOutputCodeBytes();
int outputLength = bytes.Length;
rgbOutputFileContents[0] = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(outputLength);
Marshal.Copy(bytes, 0, rgbOutputFileContents[0], outputLength);
pcbOutput = (uint)outputLength;
return VSConstants.S_OK;
}
#endregion
#region IObjectWithSite Members
void IObjectWithSite.GetSite(ref Guid riid, out IntPtr ppvSite)
{
IntPtr pUnk = Marshal.GetIUnknownForObject(Site);
IntPtr intPointer = IntPtr.Zero;
Marshal.QueryInterface(pUnk, ref riid, out intPointer);
ppvSite = intPointer;
}
void IObjectWithSite.SetSite(object pUnkSite)
{
Site = pUnkSite;
}
#endregion
#region Public Members
public object Site { get; private set; }
public event EventHandler<GenerationEventArgs> OnGenerateCode;
[ComRegisterFunction]
public static void Register(Type type)
{
using (var parent = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0", true))
foreach (CustomToolRegistrationAttribute ourData in type.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(CustomToolRegistrationAttribute), false))
ourData.Register(x => parent.CreateSubKey(x), (x, name, value) => x.SetValue(name, value));
}
[ComUnregisterFunction]
public static void Unregister(Type type)
{
using (var parent = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(#"Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0", true))
foreach (CustomToolRegistrationAttribute ourData in type.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(CustomToolRegistrationAttribute), false))
ourData.Unregister(x => parent.DeleteSubKey(x, false));
}
#endregion
}
My tool code:
[ComVisible(true)]
[Guid("55A6C192-D29F-4e22-84DA-DBAF314ED5C3")]
[CustomToolRegistration(ToolName, typeof(TransportGeneratorTool))]
[ProvideObject(typeof(TransportGeneratorTool))]
public class TransportGeneratorTool : CustomToolBase
{
private const string ToolName = "TransportGeneratorTool";
public TransportGeneratorTool()
{
OnGenerateCode += GenerateCode;
}
private static void GenerateCode(object s, GenerationEventArgs e)
{
try
{
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof (Parser.System));
using (var reader = new StringReader(e.InputText))
using (var writer = new StringWriter(e.OutputCode))
{
Generator.System = (Parser.System) serializer.Deserialize(reader);
Generator.System.Namespace = e.Namespace;
Generator.GenerateSource(writer);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
e.Progress.GenerateError(ex.ToString());
}
}
}
Resulting registry keys:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\Generators]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\Generators\{FAE04EC1-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\Generators\{FAE04EC1-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}\TransportGeneratorTool]
#="TransportGeneratorTool"
"CLSID"="{55a6c192-d29f-4e22-84da-dbaf314ed5c3}"
"GeneratesDesignTimeSource"=dword:00000001
"GeneratesSharedDesignTimeSource"=dword:00000001
Here is the code of my custom attribute (it is in wrapper assembly):
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class, AllowMultiple = true, Inherited = true)]
public class CustomToolRegistrationAttribute : RegistrationAttribute
{
public CustomToolRegistrationAttribute(string name, Type customToolType)
{
Name = name;
CustomToolType = customToolType;
}
/// <summary>
/// The type that implements the custom tool. This starts
/// as MyCustomTool by default in the template.
/// </summary>
public Type CustomToolType { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
#region RegistrationAttribute abstract member implementations
public override void Register(RegistrationContext context)
{
Register(x => context.CreateKey(x), (x, key, value) => x.SetValue(key, value));
}
public void Register<T>(Func<string, T> keyCreator, Action<T, string, object> valueCreator)
{
var keyName = CreateKeyName(Name);
var key = keyCreator(keyName);
valueCreator(key, string.Empty, Name);
valueCreator(key, "CLSID", CustomToolType.GUID.ToString("B"));
valueCreator(key, "GeneratesDesignTimeSource", 1);
valueCreator(key, "GeneratesSharedDesignTimeSource", 1);
var disposable = key as IDisposable;
if (disposable != null)
disposable.Dispose();
}
private static string CreateKeyName(string name)
{
return string.Format(#"Generators\{0}\{1}", vsContextGuids.vsContextGuidVCSProject, name);
}
public override void Unregister(RegistrationContext context)
{
Unregister(context.RemoveKey);
}
public void Unregister(Action<string> keyRemover)
{
keyRemover(CreateKeyName(Name));
}
#endregion
}

My solution is to make a setup project. I get the registry settings from the pkgdef file by adding the following to the csproj file of the package:
<Target Name="GeneratePackageRegistryFiles">
<Exec Command=""$(VSSDK90Install)VisualStudioIntegration\Tools\Bin\RegPkg.exe" /root:Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0 /codebase "$(TargetPath)" /regfile:"$(OutDir)$(TargetName).reg"" />
</Target>
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>$(BuildDependsOn);GeneratePackageRegistryFiles;</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
When building look in the output directory you should find a .reg file which you can import in the setup project.
Obviously you can run the regpkg.exe from the command-line if modifying the project is not an option.

This is what I ended up with last time when I struggled to get my custom tool registered.
I hope this instruction is detailed enough and covers everything so you won't spend much time fighting it. The following MSDN article was used as a starting point. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/bb166527(v=vs.80).aspx Unfortunately you cannot use it alone. What you really need to do is:
Make sure the assembly is signed. Why? Because otherwise you won't be able to put it into GAC at step 6 below.
To sign your assembly follow these steps:
1.1. Go to the Properties screen of the project.
1.2. Once there go to the Signing tab.
1.3. Once there check the Sign the assembly checkbox.
Make sure you know the version number of your assembly. You will need this number to specify the ASSEMBLY_VERSION parameter later.
In order to get this number open the AssemblyInfo.cs file in the Properties folder of your project and look for the line starting with: [assembly: AssemblyVersion(
Make sure you know the GUID of the generator class. You will need it to specify the GENERATOR_GUID parameter later.
In order to get this GUID open the file with the generator class and look for the Guid class-attribute that decorates this class, something like: [Guid("17799E85-421B-4684-B59E-650E34ECC718")]
Build the project
Get the public token key of the assembly. In order to do that you will have to run the following command:
sn.exe -T ASSEMBLY_FILE
You will need this information later when for PUBLIC_TOKEN_KEY.
The sn.exe file can be found in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\bin\sn.exe
Pay attention to the version number of the framework (v8.0A) in the filepath above. It needs to be consistent with the version of the framework used to compile the project.
Put the assembly to the GAC using the following command:
gacutil.exe /i ASSEMBLY_FILE /f
Getting registered in GAC requires administrative permissions.
The gacutil.exe file can be found in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools\gacutil.exe
Pay attention to the version number of the framework (v8.0A) in the filepath above. It needs to be consistent with the version of the framework used to compile the project.
Make the following changes to the .REG (see below) file. PLEASE NOTE: that both GENERATOR_GUID and PROJECT_TYPE_GUID need to be supplied WITH curly braces: {XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}
7.1. Fix version number of Visual Studio is used (for example: 10.0 or 9.0): VS_VERSION
7.2. Fix the GUID of the generator: GENERATOR_GUID
7.3. Fix the namespace of the assembly: NAMESPACE_NAME
7.4. Fix the generator class name: GENERATOR_TYPE_NAME
7.5. In order to register the generator the Visual Studio needs to know to which project types this generator can be applied to. So you need to get GUID's of proper project types (C#, VB.NET, etc.).
To figure out the GUID's of the project types you need to open a visual studio project file (*.csproj) in a text editor and look for GUID's in the ProjectTypeGuids XML element.
For each of these GUIDs repeat the block of last 3 entries in the .REG file replacing the PROJECT_TYPE_GUID with the a GUID just found.
7.6. Fix the extension of the file associated with the custom tool: FILE_EXTENSTION
Run the .REG file. You may need to have administrative permissions for doing this.
.REG file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\VS_VERSION\CLSID\GENERATOR_GUID]
#="COM+ class: NAMESPACE_NAME.GENERATOR_TYPE_NAME"
"InprocServer32"="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\mscoree.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Both"
"Class"="NAMESPACE_NAME.GENERATOR_TYPE_NAME"
"Assembly"="NAMESPACE_NAME, Version=ASSEMBLY_VERSION, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=PUBLIC_TOKEN_KEY"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\VS_VERSION\Generators]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\VS_VERSION\Generators\PROJECT_TYPE_GUID]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\VS_VERSION\Generators\PROJECT_TYPE_GUID\\.FILE_EXTENSTION]
#="GENERATOR_TYPE_NAME"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\VS_VERSION\Generators\PROJECT_TYPE_GUID\GENERATOR_TYPE_NAME]
#="Code generator for whatever you like"
"CLSID"="GENERATOR_GUID"
"GeneratesDesignTimeSource"=dword:00000001
PS.
Sorry for not being able to make placehoders in the REG file distinct, unfortunately the text editor that StackOverflow uses cannot distinguish its markup elements from the content.