debugging visual studio extension, different version

Question

I am building an extension (Editor Classifier) using VS2012, and I can verify that it works with VS2013 by setting the install target to include the correct versions.

However as it is today, I need to install and verify features. This is ok for most cases, except when I would like to debug the extension.

Now, if I were debugging an extension on VS2012, using VS2012, then launching the Experimental Instance works well.

But if in a VS2012 project, if I set the startup program to be devenv.exe of VS2013, with rootSuffix /exp then although the VS2013 experimental instance is launched, it does not register the extension under development.

Any tips to configure Visual studio debugging across versions would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

It's not simple case of switching 3 letters when trying to make your VS2012 extension work with VS2013 :-).

You will need to do quite few things:

• update referenced dlls
• update the manifest
• let the VS also do his magic when upgrading the project.

http://geekswithblogs.net/TarunArora/archive/2013/06/27/upgrading-vsix-extensions-from-vs2012-to-vs2013.aspx

You might also need to use ProvideAutoload on your package: Visual Studio Package Initialize method does not call when debugging