How to fix build error Invalid command line switch for CreatePkgDef.exe. Can not find the tools for VS SDK

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Dec 27, 2013

I found this solution in the MSDN forum. I am merely posting it in my blog because I made this mistake twice and also I thought I should just document it here :-)

How to open web page in internal browser of Visual Studio

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Dec 6, 2013

Tarun and I have started working on new Visual Studio extension, which we plan to release in couple of weeks after Christmas. One of the first thing I do as soon as we start the work on new tool/extension, is to gather all the features we have planned and build as many sample extensions as I can (each extension doing part of the functionality which is demo-able). This helps me to get the sense of complexity and also minimal code needed for a functionality to work. Another benefit is, we get the advantages and limitations of the implementation. This helps us to look for other alternatives if the PoC doesn’t fit our need or too complex to build in the given time frame.

Persisting settings without using Options dialog in Visual Studio

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Nov 2, 2013

In one of my previous blog post we have seen persisting settings using Visual Studio’s options dialog. Visual Studio options has many advantages in automatically persisting user options for you.

What's new in Team Rooms for Visual Studio 2013

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Oct 26, 2013

Download: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/c1bf5e4f-5436-465d-87da-09b2f15ff061

Passing parameters to Visual Studio tool window using IServiceProvider

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Oct 16, 2013

Assumption

You have a toolwindow in your extension and show it on click of a menu/button/link as below.

Issues while extending Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2013

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Sep 14, 2013

If you have extended Team Explorer 2012 through your Visual Studio extension, I am sure you would have referred code from this article. The code in that article provides you all the necessary infrastructure to quickly integrate your extension with Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2012. However, with Visual Studio 2013 RC released, you will face an issue if you use the same base project to migrate your extension to Visual Studio 2013. So, in this blog post I will let you know what is the issue you will encounter, cause for it and how to resolve it.

Showing TeamExplorer Navigation Item only when connected to a Team Project

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Sep 9, 2013

Team Explorer in Visual Studio 2012 displays many context sensitive navigation items and links. If you would like to know what are navigation items and links take a look at the below picture.

Avanade Extensions - Sprint Burndown Plus Release Notes v1.3.1

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Aug 13, 2013

Download – Avanade Extensions - Burndown+

Problem

The Sprint burn down for few users would plot incorrectly. As you can see in the sample screen shot below, the sprint burn down has plotted like a sawtooth wave. Though the sprint burn down chart is expected to be plotted as shown in the screen shot on the right.

Using Visual Studio status bar in your extensions

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Aug 11, 2013

Visual Studio status bar is one of the most important status reporting indicator for any developer working with Visual Studio. In this blog post we will see how we can make best use of Visual Studio status bar to display a long running task.

Listening to tool window events in Visual Studio

Utkarsh Shigihalli on Aug 3, 2013

In this blog post we will see how to listen to toolwindow events. I am going to assume that you already know how to create toolwindows.

Tool windows are most common and widely used while you to work inside Visual Studio. If you are wondering what are tool windows inside Visual Studio, think about Solution Explorer, Immediate Window, Output Window and even Property Window. These windows are most flexible allowing you to dock, auto-hide and even support multiple monitors.