Hi,
Just manually migrated a winforms project to v2016.2. I've switched from versioned (prevously v2013.1) to version free, and I've added the various references to the project using the supplied Nuget packages, deployed to our local, private, Nuget server. Everything builds okay and seems to run fine. However I'm having problems with the designers. There are a number of issues:
I've cleared the Licences.licx files, but am still getting the same problems. I'm guessing I need to register the version free assemblies in the GAC, but I'm not sure which set to use - there are signed and unsigned versions (currently in zip files under the installation directory). Also I guess I need to replace my toolbox section with a version free section? Assuming that's the case, can you tell me what I need to do to go forward?
Kevin
Hello Kevin,
To enhance the design-time experience, we provide custom designers in a separate assembly. This assembly must be installed in the GAC (or referenced by the project) to be loaded. If it is not loaded, the controls appear in the component tray.
Due to current limitations in NuGet, there is no way to install an assembly directly to the GAC. Also, we don’t reference the design assembly as part of the nuget package install as distributing the design assembly to end users is considered a breach of our licensing agreement. NuGet will only work if you aren't going to utilize the design-time (build servers, programmatic UI creation, etc). If you want the design-time, you need to install the product (not the NuGet package) to get the designer assembly.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,Sahaja KokkalagaddaAssociate Software Developer
Thank you Sahaja, though I'm not sure the answer relates to my problem! I had already installed the full product, but that does not in itself appear to make any difference. As I stated in my question I assumed that I would need to install the version free assemblies to the GAC, but I was unsure whether I should install the signed or unsigned version. After poking about a bit in my current install I saw that signed CLR4 assemblies were not currently installed (except as a zip file) so it seemed likely I should use the unsigned versions. Doing that resolved the problem with tools appearing in the component tray. I then needed to add the version free components to my toolbox, to address the third issue I mentioned.
Either I'm missing something, or I think your installation of the version free components needs to be improved. If I've selected to install the Nuget packages (as I did) then I think the installation should also unzip and place the version free assemblies in the GAC (I'm not talking about nuget doing this, I'm talking about the product setup doing it). It should also add a version free toolbar to visual studio (in fact, better still, give the user the option of installing either versioned or version free toolbars, or both if required). As it stands I've had to do this all manually, and the result is not perfect (my toolbar list the tools in a random order, and I'm not looking forward to manually sorting it)
Finally, I'm a bit confused by your reference to design time assemblies. I have added the needed infragistics packages to my solution at design time. We are using a build server, and I'm expecting the build server to pull those packages when it builds the application. We will then be making the application available to our users. I'm honestly not sure whether your are saying this is a licensing breach or not, and it it is then I'm not at all sure what else I'm supposed to be doing!!