VisualStudio Orcas and older.NET Framework versions

[n33470]

Hi all,

Our dev team is trying to evaluate VisualStudio Orcas. We support
apps built on the .NET Framework 1.1 using VS2003, and .NET Framework
2.0 apps using VS2005. Is it possible in VisualStudio Orcas, to open
a solution and compile/debug/run code targetting older versions of the
..NET Framework?

Here's the real question...if you have to support older apps, as well
as new development on the next .NET Framework (version 3.5 "orcas"),
will you need to have all three versions of VisualStudio installed?
Can VisualStudio Orcas be "commanded" somehow to compile/debug/run code
using specific versions of the framework?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

--steve

 

[Keith Patrick]

Orcas can do so for 2.0, since .Net 3.0 is really just the Longhorn pillars
sitting on top of the 2.0 framework (when marketing departments go bad...but
not as bad as ActiveEverything and Everything.Net). However, because of
how the IDE is tied to the framework, it won't do 1.1. MS has a tool called
MSBEE that allows you to compile 1.1 apps with MSBuild, but whereas you'll
see tons of crap saying "Code for 1.1 with VS2005!!", it's BS, as MSBEE
won't work in the IDE (without some messing around with the targets, but
even doing that, you won't have 1.1 help and intellisense). You've
basically got to build it from the command line (and going that route,
writing/debugging an app sounds about as tedious as handing someone a box of
punchcards) I think MS' "answer" is to install both 2003 and 2005
side-by-side, and that's all I'll say about that lest I degrade into a rant
on how flaky and obtrusive MS apps have become in the last few years (good
designs/poor or rushed implementations)

 

[RobinS]

Wow. Someone else who remembers punchcards. Amazing. ;-)

Robin S.

 

[Michael Nemtsev]

Hello n33470,

They claim mutiplatform as output.
Not sure about existed project. I recomend to read "Pseudo Multi-targetting"
specification there http://download.microsoft.com/downl...840c-66d865f27692/psuedo-multi-targetting.xps

---
WBR,
Michael Nemtsev [C# MVP] :: blog: http://spaces.live.com/laflour

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we
miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it" (c) Michelangelo

n> Our dev team is trying to evaluate VisualStudio Orcas. We support
n> apps built on the .NET Framework 1.1 using VS2003, and .NET Framework
n> 2.0 apps using VS2005. Is it possible in VisualStudio Orcas, to open
n> a solution and compile/debug/run code targetting older versions of
n> the .NET Framework?
n>

 

[n33470]

Michael,

Thanks for the tip on the doc about multi-targetting, this is exactly
what I was looking for. It appears that you can choose the framework
target of your project within the Orcas IDE. However, it is not
possible to target the 1.1 framework. You can change a project from
targetting among the 3 supported frameworks, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5.

This is very encouraging.

--steve