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- Visual Studio For Mac Looks Different
- Visual Studio For Mac Os X
Developer Community for Visual Studio Product family. After version 7.6 All my Xamarin forms project won't reference.NET Portable Subset assemblies, breaking intellisene.
- Visual Studio for Mac is a fully featured native development environment designed for building cross-platform applications with Xamarin and.NET Core on macOS. The IDE enables productivity through a rich set of features and tools, combined with powerful customizations that allow developers to.
- In general terms Visual Studio for Mac is an integrated Macintosh development environment for C# and F# applications that run on iOS, Android, and Mac targets, with a variety of application forms.
Developer Community |System Requirements |Compatibility |Distributable Code |Documentation |Blogs |Servicing |
Download
Install the most recent Preview version of Visual Studio for Mac by changing the updater channel to Beta.
Note
This release is not 'go-live' and not intended for use on production computers or for creating production code.
To learn more about Visual Studio 2017 for Mac, see Mac System Requirementsand Mac Platform Targeting and Compatibility.
To learn more about other related downloads, see the Downloads page.
Feedback
We would love to hear from you! You can report a problem through the Report a Problem option in Visual Studio for Mac IDE.You can track your feedback in the Developer Community portal. For suggestions, let us know through UserVoice.
Release History
- February 6, 2019 – Visual Studio 2017 for Mac version 7.8 Preview 3
- January 23, 2019 – Visual Studio 2017 for Mac version 7.8 Preview 2
- December 18, 2018 – Visual Studio 2017 for Mac version 7.8 Preview 1
Release Highlights
This release focuses on improving the quality in Visual Studio for Mac through bug fixes, performance improvements, and reliability improvements.
Visual Studio 2017 for Mac version 7.8 Preview 3 (7.7.0.1607)
released February 6, 2019
Shell
- We fixed an issue where custom key bindings for Remove Unused and Sort (Usings) don't work.
.NET Core
- We fixed an issue where the create button doesn't create new project for .NET Core 3.0 preview 2.
- We fixed an issue where .NET Core 3.0 can be selected in the New Project dialog when it is not supported.
Web Tools
- We fixed an issue where Publish to Azure creates a profile with the wrong name.
Xamarin
- We fixed an issue when attempting to drag and drop controls to iOS storyboards from the Tool Box after searching for controls does not work.
Xamarin.Android
- We fixed an issue where the JDK notification was shown on the welcome page, even for non-Android projects.
- We fixed an issue where launching Visual Studio for Mac without any Java installed shows 2 system prompts to install Java.
Visual Studio 2017 for Mac version 7.8 Preview 2 (7.7.0.1547)
released January 23, 2019
Code Editor
- We fixed an issue where Using statement indenting is incorrect.
- We fixed an issue where Roslyn throws a fatal exception (System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException).
- We fixed an issue where formatting of parameters across multiple lines is incorrect.
- We fixed an issue where the constructor generator would cause Visual Studio for Mac to crash.
- We fixed an issue where smart semicolon placement causes incorrect semicolon placement.
Shell
- We fixed an issue where switching from the application and returning, does not focus on the editor correctly.
- We fixed an issue where the cursor in editor window is lost when switching applications.
- We fixed an issue where focusing out/into Visual Studio changes the default focused element on the UI.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac would fail to track file changes for files in certain folders.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac doesn't remember opened files.
- We fixed an issue where the Toolbar selector for build configuration is disabled.
NuGet
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac crashes after 'Could not add packages' error.
.NET Core
- We removed the VB.NET option from .NET Core projects.
ASP.NET Core
- We fixed an issue where the Folder profile would be created with 'Default' configuration instead of 'Release'.
Web Tools
- We fixed an issue where application arguments are not passed to the Azure Functions host.
- We added the following additional Azure Functions templates
- CosmosDB trigger
- EventHub trigger
- IoT Hub trigger
- SendGrid trigger
- ServiceBus Queue trigger
- ServiceBus Topic trigger
Xamarin
Xamarin.Android
- We fixed an issue where the Android resource update could occur at the same time as a build which could then cause build issues.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac would fail to upload APK to Acer Chromebook R11.
Debugger
- We fixed an issue where the debugger would fail when running on an external console on Mojave.
Test Tools
- We fixed an issue where xUnit Fact 'DisplayName' not shown in test explorer if the name has a period at the end.
- We fixed an issue where the text editor unit test integration ('Unit test 'name' could not be loaded') would fail.
F#
- We fixed an issue where open statements for F# must be manually added when pasting/writing code.
Visual Studio 2017 for Mac version 7.8 Preview 1 (7.7.0.1471)
released December 18, 2018
Code Editor
- We fixed an issue where typing can be slow in large files when accessibility is enabled.
- We fixed an issue where a fatal error can occur when trying to navigate inside the editor using VoiceOver.
- We fixed an issue where the caret location in quick fix margin is incorrect.
- We fixed a performance issue where indent correcting is taking up too much time on large files.
- We fixed an issue where Intellisense soft-selection is confusing.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac can't open .targets files.
- We fixed an issue where the display updates partially when commenting a collapsed method.
- We fixed an issue where C# syntax highlight doesn't work for some of the keywords.
- We fixed an issue where invoking some snippets from the toolbox in .cs files leads to poorly formatted code.
- We fixed an issue where pressing Down to choose the closing tag completion in XAML IntelliSense closes the completion window.
- We fixed an issue where the file 'redacted' could not be opened.
- We fixed an issue where sometimes pasting fails in XAML files.
- We fixed an issue where, when adding an attribute via Intellisense, it does not trim 'Attribute' from the name.
- We fixed an issue where code suggestion does the wrong thing when
(
is pressed after a stray arrow key.
Project System
- We fixed an issue where the copy & paste of a XAML file causes a disassociation between the .xaml and .xaml.cs files.
- We fixed an issue where files are being added to ItemGroup.Compile(Remove) and this related issue - Error type of namespace not found.
- We fixed an issue where an invalid C# file is created with a new library project.
- We fixed an issue where it is not possible to create a culture specific .resx file through the 'New File ..' menu in the Solutions Explorer context menu.
Shell
- We fixed an issue where adding a new folder to a project does not allow instant renaming.
- We fixed an issue where Start Debugging after Start without Debugging results in an exception for ASP.Net projects.
- We fixed a performance issue with build output search.
- The Run Item command on the Solution Explorer has been renamed to Run Project.
- We fixed an issue where the welcome page is shown when loading a solution from finder.
NuGet
- We updated the version of NuGet to 4.8.
- NuGet package diagnostic warnings are now shown in the Solution Explorer. Any diagnostics warnings will be rendered with a warning icon and the full text of the warning available as a tool tip.
- We fixed a set of issues with NuGet:
- problem while restoring NuGet packages which don't have stable version.
- The VS4Mac bundle nuget version is too old: 4.3.1.
- Referencing packages conditionally using variable does not work correctly.
- Xamarin.Forms app with multi target framework library referenced fail to build.
- Visual Studio Mac Csproj build not support Item contidion.
- Support conditional NuGet PackageReferences in multi-targeting projects.
- Show per-framework dependencies when multi-targeting.
- VS cannot build F# dotnet core solution.
- Nuget restore ignore build targets.
- NuGet restores the wrong version of Microsoft.AspNetCore.App.
Assembly Browser
- We fixed an issue where the Assembly Browser shows the wrong icon for properties.
- We fixed an issue where
System.DayOfWeek
enum (Wednesday
) does not appear to be assigned a value.
Web Tools
- We fixed an issue where it was not possible to publish to Azure API App instances.
Xamarin
- We updated the Xamarin Test Cloud agent NuGet version.
- We fixed an issue where the View Archives command would appear in .NET Core projects.
Designers
- We fixed an issue where the toolbox regressed Android designer usage.
Xamarin.iOS
- It is now possible to choose .pdf files for image assets that do not support vector images.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac erroneously indicates that a Xamarin.Mac property is unavailable.
- We fixed an issue where it is not possible to choose devices for named colors in the asset catalog.
- We fixed an issue where the iOS simulator is no longer brought to front when starting a debug session.
- We fixed an issue where Native References not working in iOS library projects and appear to be ignored.
- We fixed an issue where deleting a Native Reference does not delete the the file on disk.
- We fixed an issue where the Debugger doesn't connect to a keyboard extension on any device.
Xamarin.Android
- We fixed an issue where new Android apps have uppercase letters in the package name.
- We fixed an issue where 'Your project is not referencing the 'Mono.Android.Version=v8.1' framework' when AndroidUseLatestPlatformSDK is true.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac does not recognize
AndroidManifest
in specific build configurations.. - We fixed an issue where opening the Report A Problem dialog also displays 'Install JDK' dialog.
- We fixed an issue where the Google Play SDK warning is shown even when publishing Ad-Hoc.
Xamarin.Forms
- Intellisense in Xamarin.Forms XAML files for FontFamily is now available.
Xamarin.Mac
- We fixed an issue where .xib templates seem to need
customObjectInstantitationMethod='direct'
added. - We fixed an issue where it is not possible to change the target framework version for Xamarin.Mac full on re-opening project options.
- We fixed an issue where the project options for a Mac build (classic) shows incorrect UI.
Test Tools
- We fixed a performance issue where the 'Test Results' pane has bad performance when very large amounts of text are shown.
- We fixed an issue where the unit test integration in the editor does not properly trigger test cases.
- We fixed an issue that could cause xunit to fail to restore.
Accessibility
- We fixed a number of accessibility issues in this release, including several VoiceOver issues in the Debugger and in creating iOS developer certificates, and Keyboard issues in the Android SDK Manager.
Other
Visual Studio For Mac Download
- We fixed an issue where new F# projects shows IntelliSense errors.
- We fixed an issue where unchecking the Organize Using > Place System directives first setting does not save.
- We fixed an issue where Visual Studio for Mac is not remembering settings.
- We fixed an issue for F# projects where Visual Studio for Mac overwrites the project GUID to be lowercase instead of uppercase.
- We fixed an issue for F# projects where Visual Studio for Mac overwrites the project GUID to be lowercase instead of uppercase.
Visual Studio 2017 for Mac Preview Release Notes History
You can view prior Preview versions of Visual Studio 2017 for Mac release notes:
Visual Studio for Mac consists of a set of modules called Extension Packages. You can use Extension Packages to introduce new functionality to Visual Studio for Mac, such as support for an additional language or a new Project template.
Extension packages build from the extension points of other extension packages. Extension points are placeholders for areas that can be expanded upon, such as a menu or the list of IDE Commands. An extension package can build from an extension point by registering a node of structured data called an extension, such as a new menu item or a new Command. Each extension point accepts certain types of extensions, such as a Command, Pad, or FileTemplate. A module that contains extension points is called an add-in host, as it can be extended by other extension packages.
To customize Visual Studio for Mac, you can create an extension package that builds from extension points contained in add-in hosts within pre-existing libraries in Visual Studio for Mac, as illustrated by the following diagram:
In order for an extension package to build from Visual Studio for Mac, it must have extensions that build from pre-existing extension points within the Visual Studio for Mac IDE. When an extension package relies on an extension point defined in an add-in host, it is said to have a dependency on that extension package.
The benefit of this modular design is that Visual Studio for Mac is extensible -- there are many extension points that can be built upon with custom extension packages. Examples of current extension packages include support for C# and F#, debugger tools, and Project templates.
Note
If you have an Add-in Maker project that was created before Add-in Maker 1.2, you need to migrate your project as outlined in the steps here.
This section looks at the different files generated by the Add-in Maker and the data a command extension requires.
Attribute files
Extension packages store metadata about their name, version, dependencies, and other information in C# attributes. The Add-in Maker creates two files, AddinInfo.cs
and AssemblyInfo.cs
to store and organize this information. Extension packages must have a unique ID and namespace specified in their Addin
attribute:
Extension packages must also declare dependencies on the extension packages that own the extension points they plug into, which are automatically referenced at build time.
Furthermore, additional references can be added via the Add-in reference node in the solution pad for the project, as depicted by the following image:
They also have their corresponding assembly:AddinDependency
attributes added at build time. Once the metadata and dependency declarations are in place, you can focus on the essential building blocks of the extension package.
Extensions and extension points
An extension point is a placeholder that defines a data structure (a type), while an extension defines data that conforms to a structure specified by a specific extension point. Extension points specify what type of extension they can accept in their declaration. Extensions are declared using type names or extension paths. See the Extension Point reference for a more in-depth explanation on how to create the extension point that you need.
Visual Studio For Mac Tutorial
The extension/extension point architecture keeps the development of Visual Studio for Mac fast and modular.
Command Extensions
Command Extensions are extensions that point to methods that are called every time it is executed.
Command Extensions are defined by adding entries to the /MonoDevelop/Ide/Commands
extension point. We defined our extension in Manifest.addin.xml
with the following code:
The extension node contains a path attribute that specifies the extension point that it is plugging into, in this case /MonoDevelop/Ide/Commands/Edit
. Additionally, it acts as a parent node to the Command. The Command node has the following attributes:
id
- Specifies the identifier for this Command. Command Identifiers must be declared as enumeration members, and are used to connect Commands to CommandItems._label
- The text to be shown in menus._description
- The text to be shown as a tooltip for toolbar buttons.defaultHandler
- Specifies theCommandHandler
class that powers the Command
A CommandItem extension that plugs into the /MonoDevelop/Ide/MainMenu/Edit
extension point is demonstrated in the following code snippet:
A CommandItem places a Command specified in its id
attribute into a menu. This CommandItem is extending the /MonoDevelop/Ide/MainMenu/Edit
extension point, which makes the Command's label appear in the Edit Menu. Note that the ID in the CommandItem corresponds to the ID of the Command node, InsertDate
. If you remove the CommandItem, the Insert Date option would disappear from the Edit Menu.
Command Handlers
Visual Studio For Mac
The InsertDateHandler
is an extension of the CommandHandler
class. It overrides two methods, Update
and Run
. The Update
method is queried whenever a Command is shown in a menu or executed via key bindings. By changing the info object, you can disable the Command or make it invisible, populate array commands, and more. This Update
method disables the command if it can't find an active Document with a TextEditor to insert text into:
You only need to override the Update
method when you have special logic for enabling or hiding the Command. The Run
method executes whenever a user executes a Command, which in this case occurs when a user selects the Command from the Edit Menu. This method inserts the date and time at the caret in the text editor:
Declare the Command type as an enumeration member within DateInserterCommands
:
The Command and CommandItem are now tied together - the CommandItem calls the Command when the CommandItem is selected from the Edit Menu.
IDE APIs
For information on the scope of areas that are available for development, see the Extension Tree Reference and the API Overview. When building advanced extension packages, also refer to Developer Articles. Below is a partial list of areas for customization:
- Pads
- Key Binding Schemes
- Policies
- Code formatters
- Project file formats
- Preferences panels
- Options Panels
- Debugger Protocols
- Debugger visualizers
- Workspace layouts
- Solution pad tree nodes
- Source editor margins
- Unit test engines
- Code generators
- Code snippets
- Target frameworks
- Target runtime
- VCS back-ends
- Refactoring
- Execution handlers
- Syntax highlighting
Visual Studio For Mac Looks Different Than
Extending The New Editor
Visual Studio for Mac introduces a new native Cocoa text editor UI built on top of the same editor layers from Visual Studio on Windows.
Visual Studio For Mac Looks Different
One of the many benefits of sharing the editor between Visual Studio and Visual Studio for Mac is that code targeting the Visual Studio editor can be adapted to run on Visual Studio for Mac.
Note
The new editor supports only C# files at this time. Other languages and file formats will open in the legacy editor. The legacy editor does however implement some of the Visual Studio Editor APIs described below.
Visual Studio Editor Overview
Before touching on extension details specific to Visual Studio for Mac, it is helpful to understand more about the shared editor itself. Below are a few resources that may deepen this understanding:
With those resources in hand, the primary concepts that you need to be familiar with are an ITextBuffer
and an ITextView
:
Visual Studio For Mac Os X
An
ITextBuffer
is an in-memory representation of text that can be changed over time. TheCurrentSnapshot
property onITextBuffer
returns an immutable representation of the current contents of the buffer, an instance ofITextSnapshot
. When an edit is made on the buffer, the CurrentSnapshot property is updated to the latest version. Analyzers can inspect the text snapshot on any thread and its contents is guaranteed to never change.An
ITextView
is the UI representation of howITextBuffer
is rendered on screen in the editor control. It has a reference to its text buffer, as well asCaret
,Selection
, and other UI-related concepts.
For a given MonoDevelop.Ide.Gui.Document
, you can retrieve the associated underlying ITextBuffer
and ITextView
via Document.GetContent<ITextBuffer>()
and Document.GetContent<ITextView>()
respectively.
Additional Information
Note
We are currently working on improving the extensibility scenarios for Visual Studio for Mac. If you are creating extensions and need additional help or information, or would like to provide feedback, please fill in the Visual Studio for Mac Extension Authoring form.