New Plugin "MSDN BCL Help"

So I just released another new plugin.

CR_MsdnBclHelp available from the Community Plugin Site

This one provides a single action "MSDN BCL Help" which causes your browser to launch a url pointing at the help page for the Type that your caret is situated on.

For example: When your caret is positioned on the word string within the phrase “Dim X as String”

I have bound this to the 'F1'  key combo in my copy of CodeRush.

To do this… visit the options screen via “DevExpress\Options” and locate IDE\Shortcuts

Create new “Keyboard shortcut” via the Toolbar button at the top and fill out “F1” (Or Alt+F1) as the key, and “MSDN BCL Help” as the command name.

Click Ok and wonder at how pressing F1 now launches the correct MSDN page for any Type your caret is situated on :)

For the ultimate “Lowband” (read quick) experience I highly recommend you follow the steps outlined on Craig Andera's wonderful post regarding the low bandwidth version of MSDN.

The primary download site for this DXCore plugin is http://www.rorybecker.me.uk/DevExpress/Plugins/Community/CR_MsdnBclHelp/

[Note: If you link here, please link to the folder not the file, as future versions will be named according to their version and old versions may be moved elsewhere.]

[Update: Recently (in build 322)this plugin has been enhanced to take direct advantage of MSDN’s low bandwidth facility. A new parameter has been added to allow you to specify ‘loband’ or ‘robot’ or any of a number of other options (detailed in Scott Hanselman's recent post. Simply pass the desired keyword in the parameter box as shown in the image below and click ok to take direct advantage of this new facility]

Never has it been so easy to use Visual studio and MSDN together.

SOLVED - Multi-Target .Net 2.0 or Extension Methods

Update:Corrected "System.ComponentModel.CompilerServices" to "System.Runtime.CompilerServices"

Ok so it looks like "I was wrong". (well it's not like that hasn't happened before :))

NOTE: This information was found in an article called Basic Instincts in the November Edition of MSDN Magazine in a subsection entitled "Extension Methods in .NET Framework 2.0 Apps"

It's true that a .Net 2.0 targeted application cannot reference System.Core (The DLL that contains the Extension Attribute) but it turns out that you don't need to do this anyway.

Instead, you can create your own.

Yup with the following code.....
-------------------------------------------------------------
Namespace System.Runtime.CompilerServices
    Public Class ExtensionAttribute
        Inherits Attribute
    End Class
End Namespace
-------------------------------------------------------------
...in addition to the required import where necessary...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
-------------------------------------------------------------
...you too can fake out the IDE and have it compile your own String.ShowAsMessage Sub thus:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Public Module Ext
    <Extension()> _
    Public Sub ShowAsMessage(ByVal SomeString As String)
        MessageBox.Show(SomeString)
    End Sub
End Module
-------------------------------------------------------------
... and now you can do strange stuff like....
-------------------------------------------------------------
Call "Fred".ShowAsMessage()
-------------------------------------------------------------

The article further notes...

...this technique will not work for ASP.NET applications targeting the .NET Framework 2.0 because they have a runtime dependency on the 2.0 command-line compiler. When those apps are deployed to Web servers that only have the .NET Framework 2.0 installed, they will not work because the 2.0 VBC.EXE command-line compiler does not understand extension methods.

So I guess we just have to be careful.

VS2008 - Available to MSDN now!?

Well Daniel Moth thinks it is in his post here.

I can't see it though :(

Must mean it won't be long though :D