Tag: Visual Studio

Custom Tool to build protobuff files in Visual Studio

~ chriseyre2000 ~ Leave a comment
Here is the source to a visual studio addin for compiling protobuf files directly to cs source.
This is a great starting point for using an external compiler as a code generator that fits directly into visual studio.
This allows the definition of a Custom Tool that creates a code behind file that is automatically regenerated every time the top level item is saved.
It does require references to some items in the VS.NET SDK.
The error handling is fairly simplistic: Errors are embedded in place of the generated code.
The resulting dll needs to be registered for COM.  The registration code is as minimal as possible – even having the attribute use a constant.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextTemplating.VSHost;
using Microsoft.Win32;
using System.Diagnostics;
namespace ProtogenGenerator
{
[Guid(CustomGuidString)]
[ComVisible(true)]
public class MinimalTool : BaseCodeGeneratorWithSite
{
//This allows this to be defined once – the com registration routines need to match the declared guid
#warning Replace this with your own guid…
public const string CustomGuidString = “99C3D237-70D3-498c-BD54-CD108CC5E82A”;
private static Guid CustomToolGuid = new Guid( “{” + CustomGuidString + “}”);
private const string CustomToolName = “ProtogenGenerator”; // Need to update this…
private const string CustomToolDescription = “Generates ProtoGen”; // Need to update this…
private const string SourceFileExtension = “.proto”;
StringBuilder _errorBuffer = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder _outputBuffer = new StringBuilder();
protected override byte[] GenerateCode(string inputFileName, string inputFileContent)
{
string rootName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(inputFileName);
string inputPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(inputFileName);
string toolFolder = Path.GetDirectoryName(typeof(MinimalTool).Assembly.Location);
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo( toolFolder + @”protoc.exe”);
psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
psi.WorkingDirectory = toolFolder;
psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
StringBuilder arguments = new StringBuilder();
arguments.AppendFormat(@” –proto_path=””{0};{1}”””, toolFolder, inputPath);
arguments.AppendFormat(@” –descriptor_set_out=””{0}{1}.pb”””, toolFolder, rootName);
arguments.AppendFormat(@” “”{0}googleprotobuf{1}”””, toolFolder, “descriptor.proto”);
arguments.AppendFormat(@” “”{0}{1}”””, toolFolder, “csharp_options.proto”);
arguments.AppendFormat(@” “”{0}”””, inputFileName);
psi.Arguments = arguments.ToString();
int result;
using (Process proc = Process.Start(psi))
{
proc.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
proc.ErrorDataReceived += ProcErrorDataReceived;
proc.BeginErrorReadLine();
proc.WaitForExit();
result = proc.ExitCode;
proc.ErrorDataReceived -= ProcErrorDataReceived;
}
if (result != 0)
{
StringBuilder results = new StringBuilder();
results.Append(“There was a problem with the protoc compiler.”);
results.AppendLine();
results.Append(psi.FileName);
results.AppendLine();
results.Append(arguments.ToString());
results.AppendLine();
results.Append(_errorBuffer.ToString());
return Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(results.ToString());
}
// Reset the string builder
_errorBuffer = new StringBuilder();
// We now have our “prebuild selector”
psi = new ProcessStartInfo(toolFolder + @”protogen.exe”);
psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
psi.WorkingDirectory = toolFolder;
psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
arguments = new StringBuilder();
string pbFileName = string.Format(@”{0}{1}.pb”, toolFolder, rootName);

 

arguments.AppendFormat(” ” + pbFileName);
psi.Arguments = arguments.ToString();
using (Process proc = Process.Start(psi))
{
proc.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
proc.ErrorDataReceived += ProcErrorDataReceived;
proc.OutputDataReceived += ProcOutputDataReceived;
proc.BeginOutputReadLine();
proc.BeginErrorReadLine();
proc.WaitForExit();
proc.ErrorDataReceived -= ProcErrorDataReceived;
proc.OutputDataReceived -= ProcOutputDataReceived;
result = proc.ExitCode;
}
if (result != 0)
{
StringBuilder results = new StringBuilder();
results.AppendFormat(“There was a problem with the protogen compiler {0}”, result);
results.AppendLine();
results.Append(psi.FileName);
results.AppendLine();
results.Append(arguments.ToString());
results.AppendLine();
results.AppendLine(“Error:”);
results.Append(_errorBuffer.ToString());
results.AppendLine();
results.AppendLine(“Output:”);
results.Append(_outputBuffer.ToString());
return Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(results.ToString());
}
// I now need to find the name of the generated file
string sourceContent = File.ReadAllText(inputFileName);
string outputNamePrefix = null;
// I need to know the name of the generated cs file.
// Now I know the rules:
// 1. It can be specified in option
//     (google.protobuf.csharp_file_options).umbrella_classname = “PositionBuffer”;
// 2. If not specified there then:
//    take the file name, remove the extension
//    Convert to PascalCase, removing punctuation. Numbers and punctuation trigger new words.

Regex re = new Regex(“umbrella_classname[ ]*=[ ]*”(.*)”[ ]*;”);

if (re.IsMatch(sourceContent))
{
// We have pulled the umbrella_classname definition from the source.
outputNamePrefix = re.Match(sourceContent).Groups[1].Value;
}
else
{
outputNamePrefix = UnderscoresToPascalOrCamelCase(rootName, true);
}

if (outputNamePrefix == null)
{
return Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(“Unable to determine the umbrella_classname”);
}
string outputFileName = toolFolder + “\” + outputNamePrefix + “Description.cs”;
if (!File.Exists(outputFileName))
{
// Try again
outputFileName = toolFolder + “\” + outputNamePrefix + “.cs”;
if (!File.Exists(outputFileName))
{
return Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(“Unable to find file ” + outputFileName);
}
}
Byte[] resultBuffer = File.ReadAllBytes(outputFileName);
// This is the tidy up – only do this when the compile works.
File.Delete(pbFileName);
File.Delete(outputFileName);
return resultBuffer;
}
// This was taken from the FileDescriptor
private static string UnderscoresToPascalOrCamelCase(string input, bool pascal)
{
StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
bool capitaliseNext = pascal;
for (int i = 0; i < input.Length; i++)
{
char c = input[i];
if (‘a’ <= c && c <= ‘z’)
{
if (capitaliseNext)
{
result.Append(char.ToUpper(c, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
}
else
{
result.Append(c);
}
capitaliseNext = false;
}
else if (‘A’ <= c && c <= ‘Z’)
{
if (i == 0 && !pascal)
{
// Force first letter to lower-case unless explicitly told to capitalize it.
result.Append(char.ToLower(c, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
}
else
{
// Capital letters after the first are left as-is.
result.Append(c);
}
capitaliseNext = false;
}
else if (‘0’ <= c && c <= ‘9’)
{
result.Append(c);
capitaliseNext = true;
}
else
{
capitaliseNext = true;
}
}
return result.ToString();
}
void ProcOutputDataReceived(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
_outputBuffer.AppendLine(e.Data);
}
void ProcErrorDataReceived(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
_errorBuffer.AppendLine(e.Data);
}
public override string GetDefaultExtension()
{
return “.cs”;
}
#region Registration
private static Guid CSharpCategory =
new Guid(“{FAE04EC1-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}”);
private const string KeyFormat
= @”SOFTWAREMicrosoftVisualStudio{0}Generators{1}{2}”;
protected static void Register(Version vsVersion, Guid categoryGuid)
{
string subKey = String.Format(KeyFormat,
vsVersion, categoryGuid.ToString(“B”), CustomToolName);
using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.CreateSubKey(subKey))
{
key.SetValue(“”, CustomToolDescription);
key.SetValue(“CLSID”, CustomToolGuid.ToString(“B”));
key.SetValue(“GeneratesDesignTimeSource”, 1);
}
subKey = String.Format(KeyFormat,
vsVersion, categoryGuid.ToString(“B”), SourceFileExtension);
//This automates the association of the custom key with this tool.
using (RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.CreateSubKey(subKey))
{
key.SetValue(“”, CustomToolName);
}
}
protected static void Unregister(Version vsVersion, Guid categoryGuid)
{
string subKey = String.Format(KeyFormat,
vsVersion, categoryGuid.ToString(“B”), CustomToolName);
Registry.LocalMachine.DeleteSubKey(subKey, false);
subKey = String.Format(KeyFormat,
vsVersion, categoryGuid.ToString(“B”), SourceFileExtension);
Registry.LocalMachine.DeleteSubKey(subKey, false);
}
[ComRegisterFunction]
public static void RegisterClass(Type t)
{
// Register for both VS.NET 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010  (C#)
Register(new Version(8, 0), CSharpCategory);
Register(new Version(9, 0), CSharpCategory);
Register(new Version(10, 0), CSharpCategory);
}
[ComUnregisterFunction]
public static void UnregisterClass(Type t)
{ // Unregister for both VS.NET 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010 (C#)
Unregister(new Version(8, 0), CSharpCategory);
Unregister(new Version(9, 0), CSharpCategory);
Unregister(new Version(10, 0), CSharpCategory);
}
#endregion
}
}

 

VS2005 and version control

~ chriseyre2000 ~ Leave a comment

VS2005 oddity.

When configuring VS2005 solutions under version control you should not check in the binary suo file.
This however is the file that contains the memory of which is the default project.
The only way around this I have found was to move the project that you want to be the default to the top (well the first non directory) of the sln file (In the Project bit). You also need to move the project up the postSolution section to the top of the list.

There does not appear to be any way to control this in the IDE that is not recorded in the suo file.

This is not documented anywhere I can find.

It appears that the default project is the first project added to the solution. 

Visual Studio Template : Beyond the basics

~ chriseyre2000 ~ Leave a comment

The Microsoft documentation in msdn is both complete and lacking.

There is enough detail available to resolve most problems. However the examples are so poor that it can be hard to find out about why you would use them.

For example:

$year$ = this is expanded into the year. This is very useful for compyright headers.

They are also incomplete.

Templates in VS 2005 allow developers to easily replace or add to the items that are available when you select new item.

Templates are zip files containing:

  • .vstemplate
  • one or more custom files.

By customising these you can save a lot of cut-and-paste time and effort.

This page of Template parameters is not complete.

$safeitemrootname$ = This appears to be the name that the user enters into the dialog.

If you combine this with multi-item templates as defined here. This allows you to use the supplied name as a root of a class. For example you could have a template that takes a name such as Entity.cs that creates the following files:

  • EntityModel.cs
  • IEntityModel.cs
  • IEntityView.cs
  • IEntityController.cs
  • EntityController.cs

$fileinputname$ = This also work in the template

$XmlConvert_itemname$ = what does this do? I think this is a wizard populated item.

It appears that the WizardExtension appears to work in item templates too despite the documentation.

I will investigate this and will post about it.