The next release of Visual Studio .NET is finally available from
Microsoft. Codenamed Everett, Visual Studio .NET 2003 ships with the
.NET Framework 1.1. The .NET Framework 1.1 extends 1.0 with new additions to
the base class library, improvements to existing features, and
integration of two mobile application development frameworks that previously
required separate downloads.
Everett was formerly only available to selected beta testers under NDA
agreements. With the Final Beta, Microsoft has lifted the confidential clause
that applies to all beta testers of Everett. In this article, I will take a
quick look at some of the most visible changes in Visual Studio .NET 2003.
Recognizing the importance of mobility, Microsoft had previously released the
Mobile Internet Toolkit (MMIT). MMIT extends upon ASP.NET server-side
technology to give developers the ability to develop applications that target
different types of mobile devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. The greatest benefit
MMIT brings is the familiar application development environment that most
ASP.NET programmers are familiar with. During runtime, MMIT will automatically
detect the device running the application and choose the best presentation
format suitable for that particular device. This approach frees the developer
to focus on the application logic and not worry unduly about presentation
issues.
In .NET 1.1, MMIT has been renamed as ASP.NET Mobile Controls to
reinforce the concept that MMIT is a collection of ASP.NET controls that are
designed for mobile applications.
Because the ASP.NET Mobile Controls are integrated into .NET 1.1, you can now
simply install Visual Studio .NET 2003 and create a new ASP.NET Mobile Web
Application.
As new mobile devices are released into the market, Microsoft provides the
ASP.NET Mobile Controls Device Updates.
The ASP.NET Mobile Controls Device Updates modify the entries in
the Machine.config file so that behaviors of new devices can be kept up to date.
Visual Studio .NET 2003 offers a welcome relief to all those developers who
have been longing to get their hands on Smart Device Extension (SDE), but who
were not enrolled in the beta program. The SDE was previously an add-on to
Visual Studio .NET, allowing developers to develop standalone mobile
applications for the Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 (and Pocket PC 2000).
The .NET 1.1 ships with a subset of the .NET Framework, known as the .NET
Compact Framework (.NET CF). The .NET compact Framework allows developers to
capitalize on their knowledge of the .NET Framework to develop mobile
applications that run on the Pocket PC and the latest Windows CE .NET
operating systems.
Prior to the current Final Beta, developers were not able to get a copy of the
SDE for testing unless they signed up as a beta tester (which is not open to
all). As a result, developers who were developing mobile applications using
Embedded Visual Tools had no means to assess their upgrade options. Now, with
the Final Beta, developers can have a more concrete idea of when the final
.NET CF will be released and what additional benefits it can bring to them.
In Visual Studio .NET 2003, the SDE is integrated into Visual Studio .NET and
comes with two built-in emulators:
A slight change in SDE is that the Final Beta contains a new device control
known as the Input Panel. In beta one of the SDE (in Visual Studio
.NET), you need to explicitly add in a MainMenu control to your
application in order to invoke the on-screen input panel, or else it will not be
shown. In the Final Beta, you simply drag and drop an Input Panel control to
your form and the Input Panel will be shown, facilitating input:
I have been playing with the SDE beta in Visual Studio .NET 2003 for a while
now. While stability has improved, occasionally I still have some really trying
times debugging my applications. Hopefully, this Final Beta will be more stable.
Besides the two data providers shipped with .NET 1.0 (SQL Server and OLE DB),
.NET 1.1 also includes two additional data providers (both of which were only
available via Web download):
To use the Oracle Managed Provider, you need to add a reference to the
assembly System.Data.OracleClient.dll:
System.Data.OracleClient.dll
Both data providers are exposed via the System.Data.Odbc and System.Data.OracleClient
namespaces respectively.
System.Data.Odbc
System.Data.OracleClient
I guess the most immediate concern to developers is: "Will my application
built in .NET 1.0 continue to work in 1.1?" The quick answer is yes.
Applications built in .NET 1.0 will continue to run on machines loaded with
.NET 1.1. Conversely, applications built in .NET 1.1 can be made to run on .NET
1.0, though this is not recommended. Now, for the long answer, see the following
URL for a detailed explanation of ensuring that your application remains
forward- and backward-compatible:.
If you try to open a solution (or project) created using Visual Studio .NET
with Visual Studio .NET 2003, it will flag off the following message:
Once the solution is upgraded to the format used in Visual Studio .NET 2003,
you won't be able to open it with Visual Studio .NET anymore. Similarly, projects
created with Visual Studio .NET 2003 are not readable by Visual Studio .NET.
Besides the main features described above, .NET 1.1 also includes the
following additions:
The changes made to .NET 1.1 are too much to be described in one article. Look
out for more upcoming articles in ONDotnet.