Creating a Visual Studio extension shim for automark
2013-10-12
automark is a tool for generating a markdown summary of a coding task from recent coding history. It designed work with another tool, autogit, which records fine-grain code changes in the IDE.
Something a little different about this blog post is that this doesn't aim to be a perfect how-to document, but instead, show incremental progress and mistakes along the way.
Coding Summary, Friday, October 11, 2013
I will be showing one example usage of automark, by showing you a blog post generated from a recent coding task. The goal of the task was to create a light-weight shim for Visual Studio to run and launch automark, which currently works as a command line tool, from the IDE itself.
Setting up VSX package
ProvideAutoLoad is necessary for getting Visual Studio package to load automatically.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
// This attribute registers a tool window exposed by this package.
[ProvideToolWindow(typeof(MyToolWindow))]
[Guid(GuidList.guidautomarkVisualStudioPkgString)]
+ [ProvideAutoLoad(VSConstants.UICONTEXT.SolutionExists_string)]
public sealed class automarkVisualStudioPackage : Package
{
/// <summary>
Code for showing a message box is automatically generated -- extract this out as a method, can use later for debugging and error reporting.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
/// </summary>
private void MenuItemCallback(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
+ private void ShowMessage(string title, string message)
+ {
// Show a Message Box to prove we were here
IVsUIShell uiShell = (IVsUIShell)GetService(typeof(SVsUIShell));
Guid clsid = Guid.Empty;
Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(uiShell.ShowMessageBox(
0,
ref clsid,
- "automark",
- string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "Inside {0}.MenuItemCallback()", this.ToString()),
+ title,
+ message,
string.Empty,
Executing command line program and reading its output
Get template code for running an executable for command prompt.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
/// </summary>
private void MenuItemCallback(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
-
+ System.Diagnostics.Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
+ System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
+ startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
+ startInfo.FileName = "automark.exe";
+ startInfo.Arguments = "C:/DEV/github/automark/Source/Extensions/automark.VisualStudio/.HistoryData/LocalHistory";
+ process.StartInfo = startInfo;
+ process.Start();
}
Thought relative path for running automark.exe, would work, but need to give it full path.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
+using System.Reflection;
namespace ninlabs.automark.VisualStudio
{
/// </summary>
private void MenuItemCallback(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
+ string path = (new System.Uri(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase)).AbsolutePath;
+ string directory = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(path);
+ string executable = System.IO.Path.Combine(directory, "automark.exe");
System.Diagnostics.Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
- startInfo.FileName = "automark.exe";
+ startInfo.FileName = executable;
startInfo.Arguments = "C:/DEV/github/automark/Source/Extensions/automark.VisualStudio/.HistoryData/LocalHistory";
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
Let's get the process output.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
System.Diagnostics.Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
+ startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.FileName = executable;
startInfo.Arguments = "C:/DEV/github/automark/Source/Extensions/automark.VisualStudio/.HistoryData/LocalHistory";
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
+ while (!process.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
+ {
+ string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
+ }
}
Get the error output too for prosperity sake.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
+ startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.FileName = executable;
startInfo.Arguments = "C:/DEV/github/automark/Source/Extensions/automark.VisualStudio/.HistoryData/LocalHistory";
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
{
string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
}
+ while (!process.StandardError.EndOfStream)
+ {
+ string line = process.StandardError.ReadLine();
+ }
}
Getting current solution
I've been hard coding a test value to the command line tool. Need to get the solution path, so I can locate it's local history provided by autogit. You can get this by listening to solution events.
But, I accidentally implemented IVsSolution, not IVsSolutionEvents, which let's you listen to solution open events, etc.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
[ProvideToolWindow(typeof(MyToolWindow))]
[Guid(GuidList.guidautomarkVisualStudioPkgString)]
[ProvideAutoLoad(VSConstants.UICONTEXT.SolutionExists_string)]
- public sealed class automarkVisualStudioPackage : Package, IVsSolution
+ public sealed class automarkVisualStudioPackage : Package, IVsSolutionEvents
+
{
/// <summary>
}
- public int AddVirtualProject(IVsHierarchy pHierarchy, uint grfAddVPFlags)
- {
- return VSConstants.S_OK;
- }
To implement IVsSolutionEvents, you need to return VSConstants.S_OK if everything goes ok.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
public int OnAfterLoadProject(IVsHierarchy pStubHierarchy, IVsHierarchy pRealHierarchy)
{
- throw new NotImplementedException();
+ return VSConstants.S_OK;
}
public int OnAfterOpenProject(IVsHierarchy pHierarchy, int fAdded)
{
- throw new NotImplementedException();
+ return VSConstants.S_OK;
}
Add solution cookie and subscribe to solution events.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
[Guid(GuidList.guidautomarkVisualStudioPkgString)]
[ProvideAutoLoad(VSConstants.UICONTEXT.SolutionExists_string)]
public sealed class automarkVisualStudioPackage : Package, IVsSolutionEvents
-
{
+ private uint m_solutionCookie = 0;
+
/// <summary>
/// Default constructor of the package.
MenuCommand menuToolWin = new MenuCommand(ShowToolWindow, toolwndCommandID);
mcs.AddCommand( menuToolWin );
}
+ IVsSolution solution = (IVsSolution)GetService(typeof(SVsSolution));
+ ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(solution.AdviseSolutionEvents(this, out m_solutionCookie));
Copied some code to handle solution path.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
public sealed class automarkVisualStudioPackage : Package, IVsSolutionEvents
{
private uint m_solutionCookie = 0;
+ EnvDTE.DTE m_dte;
/// <summary>
/// Default constructor of the package.
public int OnAfterOpenSolution(object pUnkReserved, int fNewSolution)
{
+ InitializeWithDTEAndSolutionReady();
return VSConstants.S_OK;
}
+ private void InitializeWithDTEAndSolutionReady()
+ {
+ m_dte = (EnvDTE.DTE)this.GetService(typeof(EnvDTE.DTE));
+ if (m_dte == null)
+ ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(1);
+ var solutionBase = "";
+ var solutionName = "";
+ if (m_dte.Solution != null)
+ {
+ solutionBase = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(m_dte.Solution.FullName);
+ solutionName = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(m_dte.Solution.FullName);
+ }
+ //string dbName = string.Format("Ganji.History-{0}.sdf", solutionName);
+ var basePath = PreparePath();
+ var repositoryPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(basePath, "LocalHistory");
+ var solutionPath = solutionBase;
+ m_saveListener = new SaveListener();
+ m_saveListener.Register(m_dte, repositoryPath, solutionPath);
+ }
Tweak to only keep part for finding out local history path.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
public sealed class automarkVisualStudioPackage : Package, IVsSolutionEvents
{
private uint m_solutionCookie = 0;
- EnvDTE.DTE m_dte;
+ private EnvDTE.DTE m_dte;
+ private string m_localHistoryPath = "";
/// <summary>
solutionBase = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(m_dte.Solution.FullName);
solutionName = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(m_dte.Solution.FullName);
}
- //string dbName = string.Format("Ganji.History-{0}.sdf", solutionName);
+ m_localHistoryPath = FindLocalHistoryPath();
+ }
- var basePath = PreparePath();
- var repositoryPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(basePath, "LocalHistory");
- var solutionPath = solutionBase;
+ private string FindLocalHistoryPath()
+ {
+ var basePath = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments);
+ if (m_dte.Solution != null)
+ {
+ basePath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(m_dte.Solution.FullName);
+ }
+ basePath = System.IO.Path.Combine(basePath, ".HistoryData");
+ var contextPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(basePath, "LocalHistory");
Get rid of hard-coded path!
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
startInfo.FileName = executable;
- startInfo.Arguments = "C:/DEV/github/automark/Source/Extensions/automark.VisualStudio/.HistoryData/LocalHistory";
+ startInfo.Arguments = m_localHistoryPath;
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
Write output to file and open in external editor/browser
- c# - Start browser from Windows service - Stack Overflow
- Open HTML file in C# application - Stack Overflow
Write out the results of command to file, then open file.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
+using System.Text;
namespace ninlabs.automark.VisualStudio
{
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
+ StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
while (!process.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
{
string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
+ builder.Append(line);
}
+ System.IO.File.WriteAllText("automark-{0:yyyy-MM-dd}.md", builder.ToString());
+ System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(pathToHtmlFile);
while (!process.StandardError.EndOfStream)
{
Generate a temp file with a unique file name.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
builder.Append(line);
}
- System.IO.File.WriteAllText("automark-{0:yyyy-MM-dd}.md", builder.ToString());
- System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(pathToHtmlFile);
+
+ string tempMD =string.Format("automark-{0:yyyy-MM-dd-tt}.md", DateTime.Now);
+ System.IO.File.WriteAllText(tempMD, builder.ToString());
+ System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(tempMD);
If you want to redirect output, it turns out you need to turn off UseShellExecute.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
+ startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.FileName = executable;
startInfo.Arguments = m_localHistoryPath;
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
Something isn't working, let's display the error message from command program.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
+ StringBuilder buildForError = new StringBuilder();
+ while (!process.StandardError.EndOfStream)
+ {
+ string line = process.StandardError.ReadLine();
+ buildForError.Append(line);
+ }
+ var error = buildForError.ToString();
+ if (error.Trim().Length > 0)
+ {
+ ShowMessage("automark", error);
+ }
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
while (!process.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
{
string tempMD =string.Format("automark-{0:yyyy-MM-dd-tt}.md", DateTime.Now);
System.IO.File.WriteAllText(tempMD, builder.ToString());
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(tempMD);
- while (!process.StandardError.EndOfStream)
- {
- string line = process.StandardError.ReadLine();
- }
}
Oops. The path had spaces in it, which was being interpreted as multiple command line arguments.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.FileName = executable;
- startInfo.Arguments = m_localHistoryPath;
+ startInfo.Arguments = '"' + m_localHistoryPath + '"';
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
Ok. But now the execution is hanging! Turns out you should read StandardOutput before StandardError otherwise, it will just hang forever.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
+ StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
+ while (!process.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
+ {
+ string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
+ builder.Append(line);
+ }
- StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
- while (!process.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
- {
- string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
- builder.Append(line);
- }
Finally, output! But ReadLine was eating up the newline character, need to add it back.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
while (!process.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
{
string line = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
- builder.Append(line);
+ builder.AppendLine(line);
}
StringBuilder buildForError = new StringBuilder();
while (!process.StandardError.EndOfStream)
{
string line = process.StandardError.ReadLine();
- buildForError.Append(line);
+ buildForError.AppendLine(line);
}
tt actually only outputs PM or AM. Need to add hour and minute too.
automark.VisualStudio/automark.VisualStudioPackage.cs
- string tempMD =string.Format("automark-{0:yyyy-MM-dd-tt}.md", DateTime.Now);
+ string tempMD =string.Format("automark-{0:yyyy-MM-dd-hh-mm-tt}.md", DateTime.Now);
System.IO.File.WriteAllText(tempMD, builder.ToString());
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(tempMD);
Conclusion
You just watched how this file got generated from a Visual Studio extension that ran the result of a command line tool for extracting diffs from a local git repository and from Chrome visits to Stack Overflow, and turn it into markdown, suitable for publishing a blog post!
You can give automark a shot yourself!