Missing Database support in Visual Studio 2008 C++/CLI

[rk]

According to
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=292118

"Visual Studio 2008 does not support adding new data sources (database
or webservice) to Visual C++ projects anymore. Due to VC's changes in
focus and strategy in Orcas and going forward and our resources
availability to maintain Data Designer integration, we decided to reduce
our support for this feature."

This is a serious issue.

Dear MVPs: How can I get in touch with the right people at Microsoft
Visual Studio C++ Team to insist on fixing this problem in the next
service pack.

Thanks
Richard

 

[David Lowndes]

According to

http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=292118

"Visual Studio 2008 does not support adding new data sources (database
or webservice) to Visual C++ projects anymore. Due to VC's changes in
focus and strategy in Orcas and going forward and our resources
availability to maintain Data Designer integration, we decided to reduce
our support for this feature."

This is a serious issue.

Dear MVPs: How can I get in touch with the right people at Microsoft
Visual Studio C++ Team to insist on fixing this problem in the next
service pack.

You can ask, but that's about all.

If there's no equivalent replacement facility in the VS2010 beta, bug
it again and try to get others who miss it to vote on it.

Dave

 

[David Wilkinson]

According to
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=292118


"Visual Studio 2008 does not support adding new data sources (database
or webservice) to Visual C++ projects anymore. Due to VC's changes in
focus and strategy in Orcas and going forward and our resources
availability to maintain Data Designer integration, we decided to reduce
our support for this feature."

This is a serious issue.

Dear MVPs: How can I get in touch with the right people at Microsoft
Visual Studio C++ Team to insist on fixing this problem in the next
service pack.

Richard:

I hate to say it, but the solution is to write your .NET GUI code in C#. You can
write non-GUI parts of your application in C++/CLI if you wish.

Interestingly enough, I discovered this issue when I was going through Ivor
Hortons' "Beginning Visual C++ 2005". Because I had the beta version of VS2008,
I was working the examples using that. Everything was fine until I reached the
final chapter on "Accessing Data Sources in a Windows Forms Application", which
I had to do in VS2005.

I often wondered what Ivor Horton would do with the last chapter in the VS2008
version of his book, and recently I found out. Answer: nothing, except to insert
a note that, due to a "bug" in VS2008, this example does not work, and that
hopefully this bug will be resolved by a Service Pack.

Not so, Ivor.

 

[rk]

Richard:

I hate to say it, but the solution is to write your .NET GUI code in C#.
You can write non-GUI parts of your application in C++/CLI if you wish.

Interestingly enough, I discovered this issue when I was going through
Ivor Hortons' "Beginning Visual C++ 2005". Because I had the beta
version of VS2008, I was working the examples using that. Everything was
fine until I reached the final chapter on "Accessing Data Sources in a
Windows Forms Application", which I had to do in VS2005.

I often wondered what Ivor Horton would do with the last chapter in the
VS2008 version of his book, and recently I found out. Answer: nothing,
except to insert a note that, due to a "bug" in VS2008, this example
does not work, and that hopefully this bug will be resolved by a Service
Pack.

Not so, Ivor.

Hi David,

I know that C# GUIs are a workaround. However, that is not what I want.

I read the statement

"Due to VC's changes in focus and strategy in Orcas ... and our
resources availability to maintain Data Designer integration, we decided
to reduce our support for this feature."
(http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=292118)

that the main reason for this problem are limited resources, and there
are no serious technical reasons not to fix it.

Since Herb Sutter always states that C++/CLI is a first class .NET
language, I would expect that Microsoft fixes this bug.

I already reported this bug in several MS forums more than a year ago,
however nothing happend. Therefore I wrote my post in the hope that
other C++/CLI users and in particular MVPs make some pressure on
Microsoft to fix it.

Please support

https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=416279

Thanks
Richard

 

[David Wilkinson]

I know that C# GUIs are a workaround. However, that is not what I want.

I read the statement

"Due to VC's changes in focus and strategy in Orcas ... and our
resources availability to maintain Data Designer integration, we decided
to reduce our support for this feature."
(http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=292118)


that the main reason for this problem are limited resources, and there
are no serious technical reasons not to fix it.

Since Herb Sutter always states that C++/CLI is a first class .NET
language, I would expect that Microsoft fixes this bug.

I already reported this bug in several MS forums more than a year ago,
however nothing happend. Therefore I wrote my post in the hope that
other C++/CLI users and in particular MVPs make some pressure on
Microsoft to fix it.

Please support

https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=416279

Richard:

This is not a "bug". It worked in VS2005, and this feature was deliberately
removed in VS2008.

Though C++/CLI is still great for wrapping native C++ code, Microsoft has
decided that it will not be a first class .NET language for GUI development.

As a native coder, I personally support this decision, if the VC team really
does not have the resources to fully support both managed and unmanaged GUI
development. For many years, native MFC coding was neglected, despite the fact
that that is what the majority of VC customers were using, and wanted. To this
day, we have native GUI tools that are in many ways inferior to what we had with
VC56 in 1998. The C++ compiler itself, of course, is vastly improved.