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How to write a Visual Studio Addin to manage comment annotations

I am new to Visual Studio addin development and want to create a small prototype of an addin for a course at the university. I already looked at a couple of tutorials and the VS SDK. Before I dig further into this topic, I want to ask if it is possible to develop what I want:
My goal (for the prototype is) to receive all annotations in the sources commentary annotations (i.e. TODO, HACK, FIXME, etc.) in my plugin and then to run some analytics.
So, is it (theoretically and using the existing API) possible to get a list of those commentary annotations? If yes, any link to a tutorial, blogpost or code sample would be very much appreciated!
Thank you!

You can use the SVsTaskList service to access standard VS annotations. See also the following EnumTaskItems sample.

Reverse Engineering asp.net web app

I have an asp.net web application. I don't have the source code. The bin contains 10 assemblies and a .compiled file. I used Reflector on the App_Code.dll and it shows me classes and namespaces and stuff, but its such a mess.
Is there any way to reverse engineer this web app that won't take weeks/months to unfold? The application is pretty basic.
Note, the code is written by an engineer that left the company. We own the product.

With reflector you can save the reflected code out to a project which you can load up in Visual Studio. It´s probably your best choice.
What you see is what you get and you just have to wade thru it in order to understand what´s going on in the program. Reading code is no free lunch.

Unfortunately if you don't have the source code, you have one of 3 options:
Reflector
Rewrite
Sue the original dev to give you the source code that you own (IANAL, so YMMV)

Windows.Form c# without visual studio

I am trying to learn Windows.Forms, and while I have Visual Studio (edit, my mistake obviously), I feel that I learn much more effectively by doing everything in Notepad. I have searched everywhere for a tutorial that takes this approach. I finally got started with http://www.geekpedia.com/tutorial33_Windows-forms-programming.html, but after the first example, it too begins working with multiple files? somehow generated with Visual Studio. How can I do this in Notepad? Can anyone point me somewhere helpful?
Thanks!
**While the overwhelming response seems seems strongly against this and I started to be convinced, I saw SmokingRope talking about it being as simple as writing all classes into one file. This is what I have been doing up till now for sizable, just non Windows.Form projects into. Can you maybe help explain how those necessary files can be included using this method?*

Seriously... I admire your fire, but you are out of your mind! What you can possibly hope to learn about .NET with NotePad that you couldn't learn a zillion times faster with Visual Studio? It's like asking, "I want to learn to drive a car. I have put wheels on my couch. What should I do next?"
I mean no disrespect, but make friends with Visual Studio and get busy learning. You're wasting your time otherwise.

It is actually quite easy to code C# outside of the IDE. It will basically come down to using the csc.exe compiler from the command line prompt.
The hardest part of this process is making sure the environment variables are correctly configure and Microsoft provides the vsvars32.bat batch file to do exactly that.
Here is a short tutorial on how to do use this batch file and the compiler from the command line: http://www.zeusedit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1235
And an even better, but slightly more complicate approach is to use MsBuild utility to manage the building of the project: http://www.zeusedit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2518
Finally you can even use the external C# Debugger to debug you programs: http://www.zeusedit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2507

Your best approach is really to learn how to write code from within Visual Studio. You gain a lot of coding assistance (IntelliSense, syntax checking, etc.) that will help you learn the language.
If you really want to use Notepad, then you create as few or as many files as you want and then compile them in to an assembly using the command line compiler by listing each file as an input to the compiler.
The reality of this is that using notepad and the command line compiler is possible but very cumbersome and almost never used outside of showing simple "Hello, world" type examples.

I am going against the grain here... But I think that your idea is not such a bad one... especially for a small project.
But using Notepad (or at LEAST use Notepad++) will teach you more about MSBuild and the VBC or CSC compiler syntax than it will teach you about the language features. The best way to learn the language, is, as other have said, using Visual Studio. The intellisense is a great way to learn.
But it also makes us lazy and it is true that we don't have to memorize as much...and sometimes having things memorized comes in handy. (ie.... I am at a customer and logged in remotely to the servers... no visual studio is installed... BUT... yippee... .NET 2 is there... at that moment you will have appreciated the exercise...)
Honestly, to do this for a reasonably small project I think would be a good exercise in learning. I say go for it. Hell, I might even join you.
But, that said, I think the very best way to do it would be to use both methods side-by-side. For example... If you want to use multiple files the way to do that is to create a folder and put an vbproj (or csproj) file in it. MSBuild.exe receives vbproj files (and sln files for that matter) as arguments. So, one of the quickest ways to learn the vbproj file syntax is to use visual studio to create a project... and then open the vbproj file in Notepad++.
The problem is that Visual Studio IS SO AWESOME BECAUSE it abstracts so much away from the developer. But it is silly to not acknowledge there is a downside to that. That abstraction means that we don't need to have as deep an understanding. Things just work automagically. So I say dig a little deeper. I don't think you will regret it.

Assuming that the thing you want to avoid is magically-generated-code and visual designers, you can just open the System.Windows.Forms namespace and start coding against the APIs. Start with that first example, and then programmatically add buttons and textboxes and whatnot. You don't have to create a forms project or work with the designers, you can just 'write code' in VS and turn off all the magic.
If you're looking for example code, you might consider looking at F# samples, e.g. the UI stuff at
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/fsharpsamples
for ideas of a few basic controls you can add to forms to do basic UI stuff.

You can write multiple classes in a single C# file (despite the generally accepted best-practice of putting one class per file):
using System;
namespace Test{
class Class1{ }
class Class2{ }
}
You also could look into how the MSBuild system works from the commandline. I believe you will still have to maintain a project file (xml type syntax, use visual studio to create a project and then open that in notepad for an example) but i don't have any experience with it personally.
It's possible to do it all from notepad and the command prompt. You will probably find it to be a little more time consuming however.

If you want to learn c# and winforms, part of the skill set you need is being proficient in Visual Studio.
You can do things in Notepad for awhile (I wrote some web services in notepad once because I didn't have VS available), but eventually you will want to take advantage of the tools available in VS.

I highly recommend you use Visual Studio (Microsoft offers free Express versions that will meet your needs). Learning the syntax of the language is wonderful, but you must be able to work within the VS environment to be truly successful in C# (and any of the .NET languages). It benefits you more to do it right and learn it all together rather than try and piece it together later. Just my own two cents.

Just to repeat what's already said, again with no disrespect, you are not going to learn .NET in notepad. It's just not probable. Not only are you not be productive, but you're also not going to learn the tools used in the industry, best practices, and other important factors about .NET. It's not just about sitting down and writing code. By limiting yourself to notepad, it's like limiting yourself to one meal a month: you lack the nutrition needed to keep moving forward at a good pace.
Utilize the tools and resources available to you. Limiting yourself like that is a kick in the rear end.

Use sharpdevelop (Windows) or monodevelop (*nix). Both have Windows.Form support. Although they dont offer as much as VS, they'll at least get you started. I've never used the VS Express edition, so I don't know what it's limitations are.

Note that notepad is not even the equal of vi not to speak of vim.
If you want to use a text editor then you could try it but I don't see the point of using notepad. Use a real text editor, not necessarily vim/emacs, you could pick a nice gui text editor like notepad++ or kate.
Notepad can't even display unix line endings(I think).

Go download an Express edition of Visual Studio. I understand the possibility of thoroughly learning this via notepad, but with a free IDE out there, it makes no sense.

if u have something against MS or VS.net u can try sharpdevelop
http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/
last time i looked it was xcopy deployable :)

I don't know where to find tutorials, but the approach is pretty straightforward: import System.Windows.Forms, derive a class from Form, and give it a .Show(). Your components are members of the class, and can be positioned using their respective position/size properties. Events are handled through delegates.
I do see where this technique is useful, though I'd use a decent IDE instead of Notepad. .NET is just too prolific. Knowing how to construct forms on the fly can come in handy.
If you're looking for an alternate IDE, check out icSharpCode's SharpDevelop.
Also, look into JScript.NET tutorials - there is no forms editor for that language, as inheritance simply isn't possible. But it's still based on .NET, so the basic motions are the same. Here's a decent one:
http://www.webreference.com/js/column117/

I know this is answered by strangely I haven't seen anyone talk about NAnt.
For years I developed in TextPad, with some syntax highlighting, + NAnt to do my builds. These days it'd be even easier as you can have your buildserver prep a proper msbuild for you (CC.NET + NAnt).
I also learned about a few things that physically couldn't do in Visual Studio (at the time it was .net 1.1). Definitely a good experience, and I'd recommend it really. Probably not for winforms though, because the designer is actually useful for that.

i am a notepad user. :) i don't have visual studio installed on my computer.
this is what im doing.
1st u must register your .net framework folder on Environmen Variables.. Path
or run on CMD this lines
path=%path%;(this is where ur .net framework address were)
(ex path=%path%;C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319)
then hit enter
2nd to compile a single notepad(save as .cs), locate the destination of the file using cmd. then. type "csc nameOfCS.cs"
for multi file.. "csc ManinCsForname.cs classes.cs classes.cs"
it will compile as exe.
for more command.
"csc /?"
its ok to use Visual Studio. but if you want to become more familiar with C# and structure. or can make a system on any PC. without using any IDE. u can do this.

Not using Notepad will help. Crimson Editor or TextPad or others have line numbering, syntax highlighting and many features you'd need. I'm sure Notepad has file size limitations which you might run into.
The sans-IDE element I can only fully answer from a Java point of view. I've done a fair amount of Java UI development using Crimson Editor, the Java SDK, batch files and/or either ANT or Maven at times. If you developing UI code that's generic or does a fair amount in dynamically then its ok. If your work involves designing many different specific Forms (i.e. screens that have many customer forms and aren't subject too much reuse) then the Designer features of the IDE are extremely useful.
However, I have found .NET IDE development a little frustrating coming from the above model of Java development.

How to quickly code and run small C# code

There are times when I want to test new code from the forums or when I need to help my friends with specific C# problem. The problem is I don't want to create new "project" in Visual Studio each time just to code/run only this small code.
Java & Eclipse IDE comes up with "Scrapbook" feature which allows the execution of arbitrary Java expressions. What are the choices for C# programmers?

Snippet Compiler is great for this.
LINQPad is also good for testing out all sorts of C#, F# or VB code, not just LINQ queries.
EDIT
I suppose it's time that I mention that Snippet Compiler hasn't been updated in over five years, and is therefore no longer the best option.
However, I undersold LINQPad originally. As Will Dean mentioned in the comments, LINQPad is excellent for all sorts of code, not just LINQ queries. In fact, it has become an indispensable tool for me. I use it daily, not only to quickly test out short snippets, but for relatively complex mini programs. Its advanced output formatting makes it extremely easy to quickly examine intermediate and final results.

A bit late to the party, but I came here while searching for this myself.
The best suitable solution for me was using the C# Interactive-window inside Visual Studio 2015 or later.
You can access it by opening it via View > Other Windows > C# Interactive, or by selecting some c# code and clicking on Execute in Interactive in the right-click context menu.
Here is a link on how to use it: http://dailydotnettips.com/2016/01/12/use-c-interactive-window-for-your-coding-experiment-in-visual-studio-2015/
I know it works in VS2015, I don't think it works in older versions.

The website .NET Fiddle seems like a nice option. It has code completion, code timing, and NuGet Package integration.
From their site:
We are a group of .NET developers who are sick and tired of starting
Visual Studio, creating a new project and running it, just to test
simple code or try out samples from other developers.
This tool was inspired by http://jsfiddle.net, which is just awesome.
In particular, I recommend trying out their MVC mode. On the left side of the screen choose Project Type: MVC.

Here's what I do:
Go to Tools->Options->ProjectsAndSolutions, and disable "Save new projects when created".
Fire up a new VS, Ctrl-Shift-N to create a project, and use that.
Use C# Express to have something that launches more quickly and has less clutter, but still enough power to do most things.

I usually use csc directly from the command line
C:\Users\Greg>csc /o- /debug+
Test.cs

You can run a lot of things in the Immediate window (Debug >> Windows >> Immediate)
For example, you can run the following:
System.IO.File.WriteAllText(#"c:\temp\blah.txt", "Hi there!");

Check also Snippy and the Snippy Addin for Reflector

There's also the interactive C# shell, built on top of Mono:
http://mono-project.com/CsharpRepl
That's similar to what other languages have (for example, irb with Ruby)

Have a look at Introducing the Microsoft “Roslyn” CTP.
The "C# Interactive" window is perfect for this.

Late in here, but if you also want to share the code with others, then .NET Fiddle is the best I have tried so far. For offline solutions, LINQPad definitely would have my vote as well, and not just for LINQ queries.

I just use the scratch console application project that I've defined for just this purpose. I cut out whatever is in the main program and go to town. If I decide that I need to keep whatever I've prototyped, I create a new project and copy to it. Since I do this all the time, the project's always in my recent-projects list, too.

I use a batch file (csc.bat):
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\csc %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
For vb.net I use this batch file(vbc.bat):
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\vbc %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 /r:system.windows.forms.dll /r:system.data.dll /r:system.dll
For example: C:>csc testit.cs
Each will create a .net .exe file.
This solution is not so good for Windows Forms applications, however.

RoslynPad - nice lightweight open-source alternative to LINQPad.
RoslynPad, https://roslynpad.net/
GitHub: https://github.com/aelij/RoslynPad

This is something I've never liked about visual studio. One thing (and probally the only thing) I miss from VB6 was the ability to create a project, and run it without saving it or anything. Was great for just what you said.
I typically have at least one or two scrap projects of each type, (Console, Winforms, and Web), that I just rotate and use. This way I'm not always creating new projects.

you could have a look into C# Scripting.
C# scripting
this is ment to allow you to build fast scripts without the use of the IDE.
HTH
bones

I always keep a copy of Express Edition running; this can execute and debug projects without needing a proper file location (as long as you don't hit save). Does the job for me...

Try SharpDevelop. It doesn't contain everything, but is good for quick examples. You can open a solution and easily swap out the code to test something else. In the project properties you can change a solution from console to window app via a combobox selection. You can easily translate your code from C# to Boo, Python, Ruby or VB, or from any of these languages to another, starting with whatever your source is. Therefore, if you go looking for a problem solution on the web and can't find one in VB - but do find one in C#, you may be able to convert it.

There is an online web C# compiler and executor: http://www.compileonline.com/compile_csharp_online.php

You can try using ScriptCS. It uses the Roslyn compiler to create a scripting language using C#.

Visual Studio should be a better choice, but it is too heavy. Some simple tests, I often try here.
https://learn.microsoft.com/zh-cn/learn/modules/csharp-write-first/2-exercise-hello-world
or use linqpad and vscode
https://www.linqpad.net/
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Built-in localization tools in VS2008

I am working on a WinForms application programmed in C# .NET 2.0 and VS2008. I am just about to start translating the app into several languages. Before I start, is it a good idea to use the VS2008 itself for all the localization? Or is it better to use some external tool right away? This is my first .NET app, so I rather ask before I start. What are others using?
All strings used in my app are in resources, so I think the app is ready to be translated.
Thank you,
Petr

Who will be localizing it? Most external localization companies have utilities for this. If its yourself or your team the simplest thing is probably to use Visual Studio or something like what's mentioned here to convert it to and from a word doc:
http://blog.vermorel.com/?p=73

I finished the work on a site (REFULOG) and I generated the .resx files for every page (Tools/Generate Local Resource; Make sure you are in design or split mode, otherwise the menu item does not appear).
After this I tested the app called Resx Crunch (It is about to come out.) I loaded all the generated .resx files, added the desired languages, made the application copy the values from the default .resx files, so at the end it looked like this:
Default value | DE | ES
-------------------------------
apple |apple | apple
...
I saved the info as a CSV file and I sent it to the translator. When it came back from the translator:
Default value | DE | ES
-------------------------------
apple |Appfel | Manzana
...
I loaded it, Saved As into the application folder, and that was it.
I tried to use other localization tools, but they wante3d to do too much and could not do enough.
So to answer your question: Generate the meta tags & .resx files using Visual Studio and do the translation using some localization tool.

For the benefit of others who may come across this (2+ years after the last post), I'm the author of a professional localization product that makes the entire translation process extremely easy. It's a Visual Studio add-in that will extract all ".resx" strings from any arbitrary solution and load them into a single file that can be translated using a free standalone application (translators can download this from my site). The same add-in will then import the translated strings back into your solution. Extremely easy to use with many built-in safeguards, lots of bells and whistles, and online help (you won't need it much). See http://www.hexadigm.com