VSIX Deployment of a DSL
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
You can install a domain-specific language on your own computer or on other computers. Visual Studio must already be installed on the target computer.
Installing and Uninstalling a DSL by using the VSX
When your DSL is installed by this method, the user can open a DSL file from within Visual Studio, but the file cannot be opened from Windows Explorer.
To install a DSL by using the VSIX
In your computer, find the .vsix file that was built by your DSL Package project.
In Solution Explorer, right-click the DslPackage project, and then click Open Folder in Windows Explorer.
Locate the file bin\*\YourProject.DslPackage.vsix
Copy the .vsix file to the target computer on which you want to install the DSL. This can be your own computer or another one.
The target computer must have one of the editions of Visual Studio that supports DSLs at run time. For more information, see Supported Visual Studio Editions for Visualization & Modeling SDK.
The target computer must have one of the editions of Visual Studio specified in DslPackage\source.extensions.manifest.
On the target computer, double-click the .vsix file.
Visual Studio Extension Installer opens and installs the extension.
Start or restart Visual Studio.
To test the DSL, use Visual Studio to create a new file that has the extension that you defined for your DSL.
To uninstall a DSL that was installed by using VSX
On the Tools menu, click Extension Manager.
Expand Installed Extensions.
Select the extension in which the DSL is defined, and then click Uninstall.
Rarely, a faulty extension fails to load and creates a report in the error window, but does not appear in Extension Manager. In that case, you can remove the extension by deleting the file from:
LocalAppData \Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\Extensions