VSIX Package Properties for LightSwitch Extensions

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When you create an extension in Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011, properties in the source.extension.vsixmanifest file determine values that appear in the LightSwitch application designer and the Extension Manager. The following list identifies what package properties you can set and where the resulting values appear.

VSIX Package Properties

  1. ID – Does not appear in the user interface (UI) but must be unique. You cannot install two extensions that have the same ID in the same instance of Visual Studio. The default value is the solution name.

  2. Product Name – Appears as the Name in the Extension Details section of the Extensions tab in the application designer. Also appears as the extension name in Extension Manager. The default value is the solution name.

  3. Author – Appears as the Created by value in both the Extension Details section of the Extensions tab and Extension Manager. The default value is the Company Name that was specified when Visual Studio was installed.

  4. Version – Appears as the Version value in Extension Manager. The default value is 1.0.

  5. Description – Appears in the Description in the Extension Details section of the Extensions tab. Also appears as descriptive text in Extension Manager. The default value is the solution name plus “description”, for example “MyExtension description”.

  6. Locale – Does not appear in the UI. The default value is the locale of the installed version of Visual Studio.

  7. Supported VS Editions – Does not appear in the UI. The default values are Visual Studio 2010, and in Additional Visual Studio Products, VSLS.

    Important

    Do not change the values of the Supported VS Editions property. LightSwitch will recognize extensions only if the default values are present without modification.

  8. License Terms – Appears in the Visual Studio Extension Installer dialog box during installation. The dialog box also includes the text By clicking “Install”, you agree with the above license terms (if any). You can supply a text file that contains your terms of use or licensing agreement. The default value is empty.

  9. Icon – Appears in Extension Manager next to the extension name. Supported formats include icon (ICO), bitmap (BMP), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Joint Photographics Experts Group (JPEG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) images. If you do not specify an image, a default icon appears.

  10. Preview Image – Appears in the right pane of Extension Manager. Supported formats include bitmap (BMP), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Joint Photographics Experts Group (JPEG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) images. For best results, use an image that is 200 by 200 pixels. If you do not specify an image, the same default image that is used for the Icon property is used.

  11. More Info URL – Appears as a More Information hyperlink in the right pane of Extension Manager. If you do not specify a URL, the hyperlink is disabled.

  12. Getting Started Guide - Appears as a Getting Started hyperlink in the right pane of Extension Manager. If you do not specify a URL, the hyperlink is disabled.

  13. Supported Framework Runtime – Does not appear in the UI.

    Important

    LightSwitch requires version 4.0. If you change this value, the extension may not install.

  14. References – Not supported in LightSwitch.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Set VSIX Package Properties

How to: Distribute a LightSwitch Extension

Reference

VSIX Manifest Designer