Visual Studio Shell (Integrated)

Article
04/21/2015

The Visual Studio integrated shell includes the integrated development environment (IDE), debugger, and source control integration. No programming language is included. However, the integrated shell does provide a framework that allows you to add programming languages.

To work with an integrated shell project, you must have installed the Visual Studio SDK from Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 SDK. To create an integrated shell application, start with a Visual Studio Shell Integrated project. This project contains everything that you need to develop and test your own integrated shell application.

If you install the integrated shell on the same computer as a full version of Visual Studio, your application will be integrated directly into Visual Studio. If that computer does not have the Visual Studio SDK installed, you should also install the integrated shell redistributable package, which you can download from Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Shell (Integrated) Redistributable Package.

Features in the Integrated Shell

Feature Area	Feature
Language Support	None
IDE	Settings Create settings Import and export settings Reset settings Toolbox integration Task List integration Help integration Options dialog box Fonts and colors management Output window Command window Window management Commands, menus, and key bindings Domain-specific language (DSL) runtime
Project System and Project Types	Solutions and solution folders Solution configuration manager Item management Single-project and multi-project solutions Application Designer (simplified project properties) Add Web Reference Add Service Reference Single-project Web site project types Web application projects
Build	Custom build steps in IDE Pre-compilation for intellectual property (IP) protection Code signing MSBuild
Editor	Code browsing tools (unified find, source definition, inheritance) Code navigation IntelliSense SmartTags Refactoring Pretty listing IntelliSense filtering Code Definition window
Designer	Windows Presentation Foundation Designer Windows Forms Designer Web Designer and HTML Editor
Data	Server Explorer (Simplified: data only). See Note 1. Data Sources window Full set of data controls XML Editor Data bind to local data source (.MDF or .MDB) Data bind to object Data bind to Web service Data bind to local database server Data bind to remote database server DDL tools for remote data Server Explorer extensibility (Visual Studio SDK samples)
Debugger	Local debugging. See Note 2. Managed debugging Local debugging Attach to local process Attach to remote process Anonymous delegate Application domains ASPX Debugging Attributes Break during Func-eval Breakpoints Breakpoint constraints Callstack Command window Cross-thread debugging Data Tips Data visualizer Debugger support for managed debugging assistants (MDAs) Debugger support for type forwarder DTEEvents support for OTB JMC Stepper Debugger AppID test (DBGCLR) Debugger profile Debugger tools and options Debugging iterator Design-time expression evaluation C# Expression Evaluator Disassembly Edit and Continue Expression evaluator windows (Watch, Locals, Autos) Exception Helper Exceptions Execution Generics Getting right source HPC/Cluster debugging Integrated multi-language debugging InterOp debugging Just-in-time debugging Local debugging Managed debugging Manual control (Processes window) Memory MiniDump support Modules Multi-process debugging Native debugging New debug engine support Optimized code debugging Output windows filtering Process hosting for managed debugging Processes Quickwatch Registers Registers in stack Remote debugging Return values Script debugging Source service support Security Side-by-side SQL Symbol server Trace points Thread Visualizations Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) debugger
64-bit Support	64-bit debugging for both managed and native code, all languages x64 native support
Source Code Control (SCC)	Basic SCC integration. See Note 3. Tools and options verification
Extensibility	Consume add-ins Consume VSPackages and MEF components

Notes

1. Data Tools

The integrated shell includes database development tools such as data extensibility support and the simplified Solution Explorer. However, SQL Server Express, SQL Reporting, and Crystal Reports are not included in the integrated shell.

2. Debugging Support

The integrated shell includes the same debugging engine that is included in the Pro version of Visual Studio. The debugging engine includes the common debugger for managed code, and also related features, such as Run, Attach, Set Breakpoint, Edit and Continue, and others. However, the debugging engine does not support SQL Server database debugging.

Although support for native debugging is included in the basic debugger package, you cannot extend it to support additional languages.

3. Source Code Control Integration

The integrated shell provides APIs for implementing source-code control (SCC) and for providing the MSSCCI-based common source control integration components.

Although SCC integration is not a regular feature of the Pro edition of Visual Studio, SCC integration is provided in the integrated shell.

4. Build Support

The integrated shell provides build support. You can find information about builds in Visual Studio Build Support and MSBuild Reference.

Features Not Included in the Integrated Shell

The following is a list of features that are not included in the integrated shell:

Class Designer
Pre-Emptive DotFuscator
Language features
VSHost
No Visual Studio languages or their associated project templates or project item templates, are included in the integrated shell. No language-specific implementations of other features are included, for example Visual Basic code snippets.

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