Visual Basic 2010 beta 2 convert to full version?

[12padams]

Hey I Have a project I am currently making in visual basic 2008 express edition. I then tried out visual basic 2010 express beta 2 and found a feature i need for my project in it...

If I convert my Visual basic 2008 project into a 2010 beta 2 project will i later be able to convert the beta 2 project into the full version of visual basic 2010?

[jmcilhinney]

There will be no conversion necessary. A 2010 project is a 2010 project. If you used any code features that have not made it from the beta to the RTM then you'll have to correct those issues manually, but the project itself will just work.

[gep13]

Hey,

One thing to bear in mind here is that once you have converted the project from 2008 to 2010, you can't then open it again in 2008. It is my understanding that the changes that are made to the project are not backward compatible.

Gary

[jmcilhinney]

Hey,

One thing to bear in mind here is that once you have converted the project from 2008 to 2010, you can't then open it again in 2008. It is my understanding that the changes that are made to the project are not backward compatible.

Gary

I have no specific knowledge of the conversion from 2008 to 2010 but, if it's like the conversion from 2005 to 2008, the only changes will be to the SLN and VBPROJ files, which can easily be re-edited by hand and "converted" back to the old version. Those files are plain text and the part that changes is simply the name of the application that created them. That was the case with the last upgrade at least. Things may be different this time around.

[gep13]

Hey,

This is what I thought as well, but at a recent User Group Conference I put the same question to Scott Guthrie, and he mentioned that once you upgrade a project to 2010, you then can't open it in 2008. I haven't tried it myself yet, I will once I get the download from MSDN today, so I can't say for certain, but I am taking Scott at his word.

Gary

[jmcilhinney]

Hey,

This is what I thought as well, but at a recent User Group Conference I put the same question to Scott Guthrie, and he mentioned that once you upgrade a project to 2010, you then can't open it in 2008. I haven't tried it myself yet, I will once I get the download from MSDN today, so I can't say for certain, but I am taking Scott at his word.

Gary

Maybe not, but you may be misinterpreting. The same was true when upgrading a 2005 project to 2008: you then couldn't open it in 2005... unless you manually edited the SLN and VBPROJ files. My guess is that it's the same from 2008 to 2010, but it is just an assumption. I guess we can find out for sure soon enough. Woohoo!

[gep13]

Hey,

I know what you are saying, i.e. you could have a 2005 SLN file and a 2008 SLN file, both targetting the same projects, which didn't change as part of the upgrade. However, I was quite specific in the question that I asked him. I don't remember the exact reason that was given, but it was to do with the fact that it is a completely different CLR for .Net 4.0, where as before for .Net 3.0 and .Net 3.5, it was simply additions to the existing CLR.

Like you say, we will find out soon enough. It has been the 12th here for a whole 8 hours and 19 minutes, where is my download I don't like having to wait until they wake up

Gary

[jmcilhinney]

It has been the 12th here for a whole 8 hours and 19 minutes, where is my download I don't like having to wait until they wake up

Try living in GMT+10

[gep13]

Ah, good point

You staying up late to kick off the download?

[chris128]

Sorry to keep dragging this thread further off topic but...

but it was to do with the fact that it is a completely different CLR for .Net 4.0, where as before for .Net 3.0 and .Net 3.5, it was simply additions to the existing CLR.

I thought 4.0 was again just additions to the existing CLR?

Like you say, we will find out soon enough. It has been the 12th here for a whole 8 hours and 19 minutes, where is my download

Why, is VS 2010 out today or something? I looked on the website the other day and it said some time in May was the release date

[gep13]

Not, .Net 4.0 is a completely new CLR.

Yip, VS2010 should be released today, from what I have read 10 AM PST.

Gary

[chris128]

Not, .Net 4.0 is a completely new CLR.

Yip, VS2010 should be released today, from what I have read 10 AM PST.

Gary

Oh right, I picked a good day to get back into programming then

[sytto]

Not, .Net 4.0 is a completely new CLR.

Yip, VS2010 should be released today, from what I have read 10 AM PST.

Gary

Thanks, I've been checking all morning, now i know why it just takes me to purchase.

I noticed they have Pro and no Standard anymore. If you are upgrading from standard 2008 (which i have) it's only $299. Not sure if anyone knows but doesn't hurt to ask, i recently formatted and decided to not put VS2008 back on and wait these few extra days for 2010, can i just enter my serial to get Pro for $299?

Not sure what others think but 2010 is the bomb, i can't believe I'm this pumped to get it.

[gep13]

Oh right, I picked a good day to get back into programming then

You certainly did...

If you haven't already done so, have a look here:

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archi...-4-series.aspx

Gary

[gep13]

Not sure what others think but 2010 is the bomb, i can't believe I'm this pumped to get it.

Yip, I am looking forward to getting to play properly with 2010.

Not sure about the pricing and licensing of them though, I will just be running mine from my MSDN subscription.

Gary

[chris128]

Cool thanks I'll take a look

[sytto]

I'm just going with the trial to start and i guess I'll have 3 months to get that answer.

Never got a MSDN sub, is it really worth the money for a hobbyist like myself?

Watching the launch here: The guy running a demo keeps crashing his app. lol
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudi...watch-it-live/

[gep13]

Hey,

For a hobbyist programmer, an MSDN Subscription is probably a bit excessive, especially since you can use the Express Edition. I get my subscription through my work.

Downloading VS 2010 as I type

Gary

[JuggaloBrotha]

I haven't been able to dl the official VS 2010 yet, but the Beta 1 and RC .Net 4.0 is all just an extension to the 3.5 Framework, I doubt that they've changed that since the 4.0 FW is only 48 MB (for it to be a complete stand alone FW with 2.0+ support that the IDE has it would have to be at least a 120MB download).

[NickThissen]

I'm downloading the Professional version as we (or I, actually) speak. Getting it from Dreamspark (free software for students). Didn't think it would be out on dreamspark for free so soon actually! I checked this afternoon and it wasn't yet, but apparently it is now

I'll watch out with opening VS2008 projects then, if I can't open them back in VS2008. What if I open a project in VS2010 and it's indeed true? The converter creates a backup automatically, doesn't it? Well I'm not taking any chances, so I should be able to tell you what happens in an hour or two. That's 5 minutes downloading and an hour or two minus 5 minutes installing

[JuggaloBrotha]

I'm downloading the Professional version as we (or I, actually) speak. Getting it from Dreamspark (free software for students). Didn't think it would be out on dreamspark for free so soon actually! I checked this afternoon and it wasn't yet, but apparently it is now

I'll watch out with opening VS2008 projects then, if I can't open them back in VS2008. What if I open a project in VS2010 and it's indeed true? The converter creates a backup automatically, doesn't it? Well I'm not taking any chances, so I should be able to tell you what happens in an hour or two. That's 5 minutes downloading and an hour or two minus 5 minutes installing

It'll give you the option to backup the original solution with it being selected by default just like the VS2003, 2005 and 2008 IDE's do, or at least it should, I believe the RC worked that way (never did try it with the Beta)

[NickThissen]

You're right, it did.

I've just opened a VS2008 project in VS2010, and now trying to open it back in VS2008, and I think I got it (without ever doing it before from 08->05).
I simply changed the first line in the SLN file (from format version 11.0 to 10.0), and I changed the 'ToolsVersion=4.0' to 'ToolsVersion=3.5' in one of the first few lines in the csproject (was a C# project), and I can successfully open + run it in VS2008 again.



Anyway, I'm sorry, this is completely off topic, but there is one thing that's bugging me a little about VS2010. I like it a lot more than beta 2, that's for sure, but this is bugging me.

In a C# project (probably VB too but too lazy to test right now) in VS2008, the autocomplete / intellisense list seemed a little 'smarter' than in VS2010.

Example: In a form, I type

this.A

In VS2008, the first available (matching) option ("AcceptButton") is selected, and I can press Enter to accept it.
In VS2010, the option is only 'highlighted' (with a border around it), but not really selected, and I have to complete the entire word, or press the up or down arrow, to select it and only then can I use Enter to complete it. Makes it pretty useless, no?

I'm not actually sure if this is default VS2008 behavior, since I have ReSharper installed, but I told ReSharper in the options to use the Visual Studio Intellisense, and not its own, so it should work as by default...


Also, I am still missing a feature that VB has had in VS2008 already (possibly also before that, don't know). If you are entering arguments in a method call that has a number of overloads, VB automatically picks the first one that matches the arguments you have already typed.
For example, the first constructor of the LinearGradientBrush takes two Points, and then two Colors. But there is also an overload with a Rectangle and two colors. If, in VB, I enter a Rectangle as the first argument,

Dim b = New LinearGradientBrush(New Rectangle(1,2,3,4),

then the Intellisense popup changes to the other overload, which starts with a Rectangle, so I can see what it expects next.

In C# however, in both 2008 and 2010, it doesn't pick up the fact that I'm trying to use a different overload, and it still shows me the 'wrong' overload:

I clearly entered a Rectangle, yet intellisense still thinks I entered a Point...

Does this have to do with C# not having a background compiler? I thought it did have one since SP1? I really hoped they would have 'fixed' this in 2010, since it's been around since at least VS2008 for VB...

Or am I completely missing something... Some setting perhaps?

[JuggaloBrotha]

Anyway, I'm sorry, this is completely off topic, but there is one thing that's bugging me a little about VS2010. I like it a lot more than beta 2, that's for sure, but this is bugging me.

In a C# project (probably VB too but too lazy to test right now) in VS2008, the autocomplete / intellisense list seemed a little 'smarter' than in VS2010.

Example: In a form, I type

this.A

In VS2008, the first available (matching) option ("AcceptButton") is selected, and I can press Enter to accept it.
In VS2010, the option is only 'highlighted' (with a border around it), but not really selected, and I have to complete the entire word, or press the up or down arrow, to select it and only then can I use Enter to complete it. Makes it pretty useless, no?

I'm not actually sure if this is default VS2008 behavior, since I have ReSharper installed, but I told ReSharper in the options to use the Visual Studio Intellisense, and not its own, so it should work as by default...


Also, I am still missing a feature that VB has had in VS2008 already (possibly also before that, don't know). If you are entering arguments in a method call that has a number of overloads, VB automatically picks the first one that matches the arguments you have already typed.
For example, the first constructor of the LinearGradientBrush takes two Points, and then two Colors. But there is also an overload with a Rectangle and two colors. If, in VB, I enter a Rectangle as the first argument,

Dim b = New LinearGradientBrush(New Rectangle(1,2,3,4),

then the Intellisense popup changes to the other overload, which starts with a Rectangle, so I can see what it expects next.

In C# however, in both 2008 and 2010, it doesn't pick up the fact that I'm trying to use a different overload, and it still shows me the 'wrong' overload:

I clearly entered a Rectangle, yet intellisense still thinks I entered a Point...

Does this have to do with C# not having a background compiler? I thought it did have one since SP1? I really hoped they would have 'fixed' this in 2010, since it's been around since at least VS2008 for VB...

Or am I completely missing something... Some setting perhaps?

I've noticed a lot of those little bugs since VS2003 and some of them (even in VS 2010 RC) still haven't been fixed...

As for the intellisense not selecting something by default, I can get used to that, one of the things that really, really, really bothered me going from VS2005 to VS2008 was the intellisense being too bothersome, some of the additional things were nice but others just plain annoy me (still does)

For example, if I have a Boolean variable and I was to manually set it why does intellisense give me options like "AccessibleRole" and whatnot? Or events for that matter, it's a boolean, intellisense should only provide True, False and any other boolean variables within scope, not the entire list it provides for everything. Kind of annoying when I type MyBooleanVar = t *presses enter because 'True' should be the only match that begins with t* and I end up with something completely different and it has a red underline because it's something completely unrelated.

[EntityX]

Can someone summarize the differeces between Visual Basic 2010 Express and Visual Basic 2010 whatever is just above that, Pro I guess? Someone said there is no Standard so you either get Express or Pro?

[jmcilhinney]

Can someone summarize the differeces between Visual Basic 2010 Express and Visual Basic 2010 whatever is just above that, Pro I guess? Someone said there is no Standard so you either get Express or Pro?

http://www.microsoft.com/express/Dow...0-Visual-Basic

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products

[gep13]

.Net 4.0 is all just an extension to the 3.5 Framework

See, that is not my understanding at all. Where did you pull that from. .Net 4.0, as far as I am aware, if a completely new CLR, so it is not an extension of .Net 3.5 at all.

Gary

[gep13]

I've just opened a VS2008 project in VS2010, and now trying to open it back in VS2008, and I think I got it (without ever doing it before from 08->05).
I simply changed the first line in the SLN file (from format version 11.0 to 10.0), and I changed the 'ToolsVersion=4.0' to 'ToolsVersion=3.5' in one of the first few lines in the csproject (was a C# project), and I can successfully open + run it in VS2008 again.

Good to know, thanks!!

Gary

[jmcilhinney]

See, that is not my understanding at all. Where did you pull that from. .Net 4.0, as far as I am aware, if a completely new CLR, so it is not an extension of .Net 3.5 at all.

Gary

Looks like Gary's correct. Check out slides 4, 5 and 8 here:

http://www.slideshare.net/ranganh/vs2010-net40

I've been looking for that type of diagram for a while because I had heard that 4.0 was all new and that it wasn't, so I wasn't sure.

[chris128]

Anyway, I'm sorry, this is completely off topic, but there is one thing that's bugging me a little about VS2010. I like it a lot more than beta 2, that's for sure, but this is bugging me.

In a C# project (probably VB too but too lazy to test right now) in VS2008, the autocomplete / intellisense list seemed a little 'smarter' than in VS2010.

Example: In a form, I type

this.A

In VS2008, the first available (matching) option ("AcceptButton") is selected, and I can press Enter to accept it.
In VS2010, the option is only 'highlighted' (with a border around it), but not really selected, and I have to complete the entire word, or press the up or down arrow, to select it and only then can I use Enter to complete it. Makes it pretty useless, no?

Press Tab instead of Enter

[NickThissen]

Actually, it seems to work just like in VS2008 again now :S That's strange, I didn't change anything except enabling the 'underline errors' option (which apparently is off by default for C# in VS2010, so it doesn't show you any errors...)

It works fine now, but I'm sure it wasn't yesterday!

[chris128]

Y
Also, I am still missing a feature that VB has had in VS2008 already (possibly also before that, don't know). If you are entering arguments in a method call that has a number of overloads, VB automatically picks the first one that matches the arguments you have already typed.
For example, the first constructor of the LinearGradientBrush takes two Points, and then two Colors. But there is also an overload with a Rectangle and two colors. If, in VB, I enter a Rectangle as the first argument,

Dim b = New LinearGradientBrush(New Rectangle(1,2,3,4),

then the Intellisense popup changes to the other overload, which starts with a Rectangle, so I can see what it expects next.

In C# however, in both 2008 and 2010, it doesn't pick up the fact that I'm trying to use a different overload, and it still shows me the 'wrong' overload:

I clearly entered a Rectangle, yet intellisense still thinks I entered a Point...

Must be either some setting you've got or just C#, cos I just tried that exact same scenario in VB 2010 Express and it worked as expected, selecting the correct overload once I had entered a Rectangle

[NickThissen]

Must be either some setting you've got or just C#, cos I just tried that exact same scenario in VB 2010 Express and it worked as expected, selecting the correct overload once I had entered a Rectangle

Yes, as I said it worked correctly in VB in VS2008 already, and possibly before that, but not in C#, neither in VS2008 nor VS2010.

[chris128]

ah I see, it must be because C# users are far too advanced to need help like that

[JuggaloBrotha]

So from the diagrams the CLR is still the .Net 2.0 SP2 CLR and the actual 4.0 FW is install not on top of the 3.5 FW but rather next to the 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 stacked Frameworks... There's still a 3.5 FW requirement for the 4.0 FW Linq from the looks of things.

Chris, everyone know that every C# coder writes compilable code the first time, every time... no need for compile errors to be underlines, they simply don't exist

[sytto]

Hey,

For a hobbyist programmer, an MSDN Subscription is probably a bit excessive, especially since you can use the Express Edition. I get my subscription through my work.

Downloading VS 2010 as I type

Gary

Thanks G.

Yes I'm a hobbyist mainly, but never minded spending the $200 to have it all so to speak, $300 now? I'll have to think about it a bit, noticed i only have 30 day eval and not 3 months like previous studio releases.

Dunno, 2010 is a pretty sweet package.

[theonetrueace]

Thanks G.

Yes I'm a hobbyist mainly, but never minded spending the $200 to have it all so to speak, $300 now? I'll have to think about it a bit, noticed i only have 30 day eval and not 3 months like previous studio releases.

Dunno, 2010 is a pretty sweet package.

theres always the alternatives....if you can sleep at night doing it....

[gep13]

theres always the alternatives....if you can sleep at night doing it....

What exactly do you mean?

If I understand you correctly, I think I am right in saying that this isn't something that a lot of people on this forum would advocate, and certainly not something that this forum as a whole would support!!

Gary

[chris128]

The alternative - start a business and Microsoft will give you Visual Studio and a ton of other software for free lol http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/..._a_Glance.aspx

[theonetrueace]

What exactly do you mean?

If I understand you correctly, I think I am right in saying that this isn't something that a lot of people on this forum would advocate, and certainly not something that this forum as a whole would support!!

Gary

knew that before I said it, but options are options...

nice suggestion chris...will have to look into that...

[kleinma]

theres always the alternatives....if you can sleep at night doing it....

Yes but no one on this forum would ever suggest something like that since we are a forum of programmers, and writing code for money is how we make a living. So no one, not even theonetrueace would ever make a suggestion of software piracy. I am sure he meant there are alternatives like going to a launch event or participae VS2010 promo that might net you a free copy. You could also become an MVP, in which case you would also get a copy.