Xaml Helpmeet News
Beta Version ReleasedThe latest version of Xaml Helpmeet is the first beta version 0.5, and is available now in the downloads section. Alternatively you can download and install it from within Visual Studio 2012 using the "Extensions and Updates" option under "Tools," and downloading from the
Visual Studio Gallery. I will have an update about this update written and uploaded here shortly.
Valentine Day VersionThe third version of the Alpha releases was published February 14 with several fixes for obvious errors. All known bugs have been fixed or mitigated. The remaining bugs are the sneaky variety, so I am depending on you to let me know when you see a problem.
Second Alpha Version ReleasedI released the second Alpha version today (Feb. 11, 2013) that fixes a few of the more glaring issues in the first. If you have installed the previous version, uninstall it before installing the new release. And again, when you find a bug, please let us know about it so we can get it fixed in the next release.
Xaml Helpmeet 0.2.4790Project DescriptionXaml Helpmeet (XHM) is an extension to Visual Studio 2012 designed to help developers create and edit xaml documents. I derived the code by translating
XAML Power Toys 2010 by Karl Shifflett, originally written in VB, into C#. I did this by hand in order to learn how to write Visual Studio extensions, but also that I might have something I could maintain and upgrade easily going forward. Mr. Shifflett graciously granted permission for this project, asking only that the name given to my version not be derived from the original name. By giving this branch a new and distinct name, Mr. Shifflett will be able to continue support for his product without his being confused with this.
The first version of
Xaml Helpmeet will mostly look and function the same as its predecessor. If you have used it previously, you will see little difference between the two, except that the former has been released only for Visual Studio 2008 and 2010. XHM is designed for VS 2012. At this point the main differences (other than the coding language) are limited changing in some of the logic of the program. Some of the classes have been refactored significantly to reduce some redundant code, and a change has been made in the packaging, using a VSIX package instead of a Windows Installer package.
In future versions I plan to redesign some of the processes to make it a little easier to use. For example where possible I want to turn some processes into wizards in order to allow users to back up to a previous point in a process rather than force users to start a process over to correct a mistake. It would also be nice to provide automatic selection of xaml text, where now it is necessary to select a section of xaml for some of the processes.
The first alpha version makes a good start toward releasing a relatively bug free version of the package, but we need your help. There are surely bugs in the software that I will fail to find on my own. We need alpha testers willing to install the package and put it through the paces. And then be sure to report your findings. The issue tracker is the best place to report problems. The discussions forum is the best way to get help. Please give it a whirl and let us know what you find.