Creating a New Plug-in From an Existing Plug-in (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)
1/6/2010
After you have decided upon a design to use for your plug-in based on the Microsoft Remote Tools Framework, you can choose to write it using one of two different methods.
For information about using the Remote Tools Framework Plug-in Project Wizard to create a plug-in, see Creating a New Plug-in Using the Project Wizard.
If you choose to manually create a plug-in project by using an existing project as a template, you gain a greater degree of control over the configuration from the beginning of the project. This can also be helpful if you have an existing plug-in that you want to copy for further modification purposes while keeping the original version intact.
This procedure assumes that you have an existing plug-in project that is close to what you want to create in terms of functionality.
Note
Make sure that you perform all the steps required. If you do not change the GUID to distinguish between the original plug-in and the copy, this can result in the detection and display of only one plug-in. Also, if the plug-in object name is changed without making sure that the corresponding value on the Desktop tab of the .cebundleinfo file is also changed, the plug-in will appear connected without actually receiving any data.
Procedure
Configuring the name and paths for your plug-in
Navigate to the directory location of the existing plug-in project, and then create a copy of the directory, including all sub-directories.
In Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, open the Visual Studio Solution (.sln) file that you have just copied.
In Solution Explorer, select the desktop-side component for your plug-in, and then, from the context menu, select Properties.
In the Properties window, on the Application page, change the Assembly name to make it unique.
This ensures that the .NET Framework loads your DLL correctly.
If you want to rename the .cetool file for the plug-in that you are copying, perform the following actions.
- Navigate to the Build Events page, and in the Post-build event field, change the name of the .cebundleinfo file that is provided to the .cetool file name that you want to use.
For example, if you want the new tool name to be MyCeToolFilename.cetool, specify MyCeToolFilename.cebundleinfo. - Navigate to the Debug page, and then in the Command line arguments field, enter the new name for the .cetool file. Make sure that you do this for both the Debug and Retail configurations.
- Save the changes that you have made.
- Navigate to the Build Events page, and in the Post-build event field, change the name of the .cebundleinfo file that is provided to the .cetool file name that you want to use.
In Solution Explorer, select the .cebundleinfo file, and then, from the context menu, select Rename. Enter the same file name that you specified in the previous steps.
After you have renamed the .cebundleinfo file for your plug-in, open it.
The Bundle Information Editor appears. For more information, see Bundle Input Editor.
In the Bundle Information Editor, on the Desktop tab, in the Plug-in object name field, enter the assembly name that you selected for your plug-in.
To change the GUID for your plug-in, on the Plug-in tab, select Change Guid.
Save your changes.
You are now ready to begin development of your plug-in. For more information, see General Plug-in Design Requirements.