How to Perform a Refresh Dependencies Outside of Visual Studio 2008

When working on a software development project, managing dependencies is crucial for ensuring everything builds and runs smoothly. One commonly faced challenge is refreshing dependencies in a setup project after changes have occurred. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to perform a Refresh Dependencies action in a setup project outside of Visual Studio 2008, specifically using command line tools and macros. This can be particularly useful for developers utilizing continuous integration systems like CruiseControl.NET where automatic builds are essential.

The Challenge

You may have encountered a situation where your setup project’s dependencies are not aligning correctly after making changes to your solution. A setup project in Visual Studio displays a “Detected Dependencies” node that, when right-clicked, allows you to refresh those dependencies. However, if you are building your projects automatically without opening Visual Studio, you might not have a straightforward way to perform this action.

Why It’s Important

Failing to refresh dependencies can lead to missed files in your setup output, which could disrupt the installation process or result in incomplete applications being deployed. To ensure a successful build and deployment, it’s essential to make sure that the setup project has the latest references and dependencies.

Solution Overview

While you cannot directly perform the refresh within Visual Studio 2008 consoles, there is a workaround using macros. Below, I’ll detail the steps to create a macro for refreshing dependencies and how to execute it from the command line.

Step 1: Create the Macro

You will need to create a macro that performs the refresh operation. Here’s a simple script that accomplishes this:

Option Strict Off
Option Explicit Off
Imports System
Imports EnvDTE
Imports EnvDTE80
Imports EnvDTE90
Imports System.Diagnostics

Public Module RefreshDependencies
    Sub TemporaryMacro()
        DTE.ActiveWindow.Object.GetItem("Project\Setup1\Setup1").Select(vsUISelectionType.vsUISelectionTypeSelect)
        DTE.ExecuteCommand("Build.RefreshDependencies")
    End Sub
End Module

Step 2: Save the Macro

• Open your Visual Studio 2008.
• Go to Tools -> Macros -> New Macro Project.
• Paste the above code into the newly created module and save it.

Step 3: Execute the Macro via Command Line

Once your macro is created, you can execute it through the command line using devenv.com like this:

devenv /command "Macros.MyMacros.RefreshDependencies C:\MyProjects\MyApp\"

Replace C:\MyProjects\MyApp\ with the path to your project. This command will trigger the macro you created, which in turn will refresh the dependencies of the setup project.

Final Thoughts

While this solution uses Visual Studio 2008 and can feel a bit limited, it’s a viable workaround for ensuring your setup projects have the most current dependencies, particularly when working with automated workflows such as those provided by CruiseControl.NET. A note for the future: if you encounter persistent issues or limitations with setup projects in Visual Studio, consider alternative methods such as using Post Build Events to streamline your workflow.

By incorporating this method into your build process, you help safeguard against the issues that can arise from dependency mismatches, enhancing the stability and reliability of your installations.

Feel free to leave a comment or share your own experiences with project builds and continuous integration below!