VS2010 Extensions - where to begin?

Hey,

I have developed a T4 Text Template code generation for my database projects, where I use a .tt file that generates all the database code for me so I don't have to write it each time.
The files are generated from an XML file which at the moment I am writing manually. The XML file contains:
- The location of the database
- The tables to generate classes for
- Which fields those tables have

I don't like writing XML files manually though, so I made a quick little application (in WPF, that's important I guess) that allows me to add tables and their fields with a visual kind of interface (a bit like the Class Diagrams in VS) which then generates the XML file for me.

I am now looking to turn this into a VS2010 extension or add-on. The idea is quite simple: all I need is to be able to add some kind of file to my project, which when opened opens a tab in the editor that shows my xml-writing application. I can then add the tables and their fields right in VS and it would generate the XML file for me. The .tt code generation files would then take that XML file and write the database code for me (already done).

The problem is: I have no clue how to start with this. I have looked how to make extensions in the past but never really got far. I found a few samples made by MS (I think) but none are really applicable to my situation. I think one customizes the Intellisense popup, another adds a regex editor on top of the normal code editor, etc. What I want is a new kind of file editor.

In case you still don't understand, here's a (photoshop) mockup:
http://i52.tinypic.com/2s1liyv.jpg

So the app I made should be converted to an extension so that I can 'open' it as a new kind of editor right inside VS. This is why I made the app in WPF in the first place, since the VS editor is all WPF I'm pretty sure extensions need to be WPF as well.


Anyone know where to begin with this? I can't even figure out how to call this so I cannot find any information on it except for some generic information on VS addons...

I'm thinking the extension would be very simple; I don't need to access any code in the project or anything. All I need is the location of the file I am currently editing (the 'xmlgen' file I guess) so that I can let my extension generate the XML file in the same folder (that is where the .tt files look for it). The rest is all contained in my app and already works; I just need to be able to 'embed' the app into a new kind of editor in VS...

Thanks!

I did find this, it explains how to make VS open a certain file extension with a certain editor:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/zainnab/arch...ipenv0038.aspx
What I'm looking for though is how to add a new editor, besides the available editors in the dropdown...

/subscribed :D

Yeah... I had some more time to look and found this, from which I found a walkthrough on MSDN about creating a custom editor. Apparently once you install the SDK you get a template that is a ready-made example of a custom editor. Unfortunately it is nowhere near simple, it is extremely complex. Best of all, it doesn't even work. I didn't change anything, just run it, try to open my custom file type in the custom editor, and it gets into an infinite recursion loop... Yeah, great example! I'm about ready to give up...

Then I found this example for an inline XPS viewer (seems reasonably like what I need), and that doesn't work either... When I run it, it opens a new 'test environment' IDE (as expected), but when I try to open XPS files in that it just opens them in the windows XPS viewer. So yeah, another useless example :/

(I have a feeling nobody knows how to help me so I'm just going to let you know how my search is going)

I found the following example which seems to do nearly exactly what I want (opens a Wpf UserControl in the IDE as a document which writes XML as the code-behind), and it actually works:
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/xmlwpfdesigner

I think I can get at least a basic something working with this.

Some very interesting reading in those links. Going to have to dissect this stuff.