Beta 12.3 of C#/XAML for HTML5 released (much faster compilation!)

[JS-Support @Userware]

Dear CSHTML5 users,

We are pleased to inform you that the Beta 12.3 of C#/XAML for HTML5 - the extension for Visual Studio that lets you build cross-platform HTML5 apps in standard C# and XAML - is available for download!



DOWNLOAD: (Updated on Oct 25, 2017: "Release 4" fixes VS 2017 update)

CSharpXamlForHtml5_v1_0_public_beta12_3_RELEASE_4.zip

(25.58 MiB) Downloaded 1194 times

Learn More about C#/XAML for HTML5.

Known issue: WCF is broken in SL Migration Edition projects. It will be fixed in Beta 12.4 within a couple of days.

Note: This build contains important changes (a new WCF stack) that may temporarily break the compilation of your app. At any time you can revert to a previous version by uninstalling the product from the Control Panel, and re-installing the previous version.


Here is what's new (since Beta 12.2):

• Much faster compilation!!! Only assemblies that are changed are now recompiled.
  
  You can prevent an assembly from being recompiled to JavaScript by simply uncheking it from the "Configuration Manager" window of Visual Studio:
  

  

  2017.10.24 - Configuration Manager avoid recompilation1_smaller.png (31.32 KiB) Viewed 25514 times

  
  
  
• The Simulator now uses the same WCF stack as the browser, so if your app works in the Simulator, it will now also work in the browser. (Except for cross-domain errors: to see them, open the browser Console window)
  
  
• Fixed design-time error "Type 'RelativeSource' is used like a markup extension but does not derive from MarkupExtension"
  
  
• Fixed the fact that the XAML preview did not preview bindings (now only bindings with converters are not previewed)
  
  
• Improved the new WCF Stack introduced in Beta 12.2 that is based on the DataContractSerializer rather than the XmlSerializer.
  
  With the new WCF stack, you can now remove the [XmlSerializerFormat] attribute that is located in the service class (on the server-side) (and don't forget to "update the service reference" in the CSHTML5 app) and benefit from faster application loading, faster WCF, smaller WCF-related output code, and improved compatibility.
  
  In this version we also fixed the issues related to Nullable types, and we re-introduced support for the [XmlSerializerFormat] attribute, just for backward compatibility (though we no longer recommend to use that attribute).
  
  Known issues of the new WCF stack:
  
  • Support for types inheritance and "KnownTypes" is limited: at the moment, if you deserialize a property of type "object" or "ClassA" that contains a "ClassB" that inherits from ClassA, the deserializer will not know which class to instantiate. We are working to fix this issue.
  (please report other issues by posting on this topic or by contacting support@cshtml5.com)

Here is a small sample WCF project to test the new WCF stack:

TestCshtml5WCF_for_CSHTML5_Beta12_2.zip

(65.96 KiB) Downloaded 1173 times

We are also working on many other features and we will release them as soon as they are ready.


You may also be interested to read:

• What's new in Beta 12.2 (15 new features and new WCF Stack)
• What's new in Beta 12.1 (DataContractSerializer)
• What's new in Beta 12.0

Notes about installation:

• Before installing this update, it is recommended that you close all the open instances of Visual Studio.
• If for some reason you need to revert to the previous Beta, simply uninstall this one (from the Control Panel) and reinstall the previous Beta.

We hope you will enjoy this build! If you find any issues, please post them on the forums or send an email to support@cshtml5.com

Thank you.
Regards,
JS-Support

[TaterJuice]

Yay! Thank you!

EDIT:
The initial install went fine, but when the VS 2017 installer came up, it gave an error 'This extension is already installed to all applicable products'

EDIT 2:
I reran the installer and selected repair, then launched Visual Studio.
It is compiling faster. That's great!

[JS-Support @Userware]

@TaterJuice: Thanks! We just updated the download (now "Beta 12.3 release 2") to fix the VS 2017 update issue.

Glad to know that it is compiling faster!

[TaterJuice]

Thanks for the quick reply, but the new installer fails on the VS 2017 install. See below...

10/25/2017 2:36:03 AM - Install Error : System.InvalidOperationException: The value of property 'Version' is not consistent amongst all manifests.
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.PackageInstaller.ValidateManifestConsistency(VsixPackage catalogPackage, VsixPackage embeddedPackage, InstallableExtensionImpl extension, ILogger logger)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.PackageInstaller.Validate(ZipPackage packageContainer)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.DefaultPackageInstaller.Validate(ZipPackage packageContainer)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.PerformSetupEngineInstall(InstallableExtensionImpl extension, Boolean installPerMachine, Boolean isPackComponent, IDictionary`2 extensionsInstalledSoFar, List`1 extensionsUninstalledSoFar, IInstalledExtensionList modifiedInstalledExtensionsList, IProgress`1 progress, InstallFlags installFlags, AsyncOperation asyncOp, Version targetedVsVersion, IInstalledExtension& newExtension)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.InstallInternal(InstallableExtensionImpl extension, InstallFlags installFlags, IDictionary`2 extensionsInstalledSoFar, List`1 extensionsUninstalledSoFar, IInstalledExtensionList modifiedInstalledExtensionsList, AsyncOperation asyncOp, IProgress`1 progress, Version targetedVsVersion)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.BeginInstall(IInstallableExtension installableExtension, InstallFlags installFlags, AsyncOperation asyncOp, Version targetedVsVersion)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.ExtensionManager.ExtensionEngineImpl.InstallWorker(IInstallableExtension extension, InstallFlags installFlags, AsyncOperation asyncOp)

[TaterJuice]

Same error with release #3

[JS-Support @Userware]

Thanks. We just updated the download link with Release 4 which should work fine.

[TaterJuice]

Release 4 installed with no issues.

Thank you!

[JS-Support @Userware]

@TaterJuice: Great. Thanks!

[JS-Support @Userware]

UPDATE:

Known issue: WCF is broken in SL Migration Edition projects using this Beta 12.3. It will be fixed in Beta 12.4 within a couple of days. Sorry for the inconvenience.