A Dullard's Guide

Visual Web Developer in Visual Studio 2010 has support in box for Silverlight 3 development and includes the Silverlight 3 developer runtime and Silverlight 3 SDK build 3.0.40818.

Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend 3 included SDK build 3.0.40624.

Silverlight 3 SDK build 3.0.40818 cannot be installed on machine where build 3.0.40624 is already installed. If you install Visual Studio 2010 on a machine that already has build 3.0.40624 installed, Visual Studio 2010 will indicate that the Silverlight 3 SDK failed to install, however you will still be able to do Silverlight development on Visual Studio 2010 with build 3.0.40624.

Silverlight 3 SDK build 3.0.40818 contains the following updates:

• Remove dependency on .NET 3.5 and allow build when only .NET 4 is installed
• Support for use of non-unicode characters in xap name
• Improvements to refactoring and intellisense

To get build 3.0.40818of the Silverlight 3 SDK, uninstall Silverlight 3 SDK build 3.0.40624 from Add/Remove Programs and then install Silverlight 3 SDK build 3.0.40818 from: http://go2.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=157102.

One of the prerequisites for Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Studio is the installation of the Visual Web Developer feature in Visual Studio 2008 SP1.  This is separate from the free Visual Web Developer Express. If VWD is not already installed with your instance of Visual Studio, you can add the feature in Visual Studio's Maintenance Mode.

Open Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel. Right click on Visual Studio 2008 and choose Remove/Change.

This will bring up Maintenance Mode.  On the second screen, Choose Add or Remove Features.

Check the box next to Visual Web Developer (also, make sure you Visual C# and/or Visual Basic also installed) and click the Update button.

Once the installation is complete, you can install Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Studio 2008

1.6 million people registered for tickets to the service in which Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III will be participating honoring the King of Pop.  But for those of you who won't be in Los Angeles to attend the Michael Jackson memorial, you can watch the service live in streaming HD using Silverlight at : http://inmusic.ca/news_and_features/Michael_Jackson

[Edited to included updated Silverlight 3 Tools] 

When the Silverlight Tools fail to install, a log file is generated with error codes and messages.  You can open this log file from the last screen of the installer.  Or, you can find this log file in your %TEMP% directory under the name  Silverlight Tools RTW_[installation date and time].html or Silverlight 3.0 Tools_[installation date and time].html

 
Silverlight Tools Installer

Web Platform Installer

Open this log file and look at the end to find the exit code and messaging about why the installer failed.  It may say something like “Final Result: Installation failed with error code: (0x80072EE5).” or “Final Result: Installation failed with error code: (0x1), Incorrect function.”

When upgrading a project from Silverlight 2 to Silverlight 3 Beta, the asp:Silverlight and object tags in the solution's website are not modified.  The minRuntimeVersion attribute of the object tag and the MinimumVerison attribute of asp:Silverlight control must be upated to 3.0.40307.0

<param name="minRuntimeVersion" value="3.0.40307.0" ...

<asp:Silverlight MinimumVersion="3.0.40307.0"  ...

In addition, if you use an object tag, make sure to update the link to install the newest runtime to: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=141205

Silverlight 2 projects can't be created with the Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Studio 2008.  When Visual Studio 2010 is released, you will be able to build both Silverlight 2 and Silverlight 3 with the same IDE.  But for the immediate future, you will need Silverlight 3 Tools to build Silverlight 3 projects and Silverlight 2 Tools to build Silverlight 2 projects.

If you already have Silverlight 2 Tools installed, you can easily upgrade to Silverlight 3 Tools by running the Silverlight 3 installer.  To downgrade from Silverlight 3 to Silverlight 2 tools, you will need to uninstall "Microsoft Silverlight" and "Microsoft Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008" from Add/Remove programs before re-installing Silverlight 2 Tools.

If you plan to switch frequently between Silverlight 2 and Silverlight 3, the utility below should make the process a little faster.

Setup

1. Download Silverlight_Tools_Util.zip, and unzip
2. Download the Silverlight 2 Tools and save Silverlight_Tools.exe in the Silverlight_Tools_Util folder
3. Download the Silverlight 3 Tools and save Silverlight3_Tools.exe in the Silverlight_Tools_Util folder
4. If you haven’t previously, run Silverlight_Tools.exe to install the Silverlight 2 Tools and SDK
5. If you haven’t previously, run Silverlight3_Tools.exe to install the Silverlight 3 Tools and SDK
6. Run Setup_SLTools_Util.bat to generate switching scripts

To install Silverlight 2 Tools for Visual Studio

1. Close Visual Studio
2. Run VS_3-to-2.bat

To install Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Studio

1. Close Visual Studio
2. Run VS_2-to-3.bat

To install Silverlight 2 Tools for Visual Web Developer Express

1. Close Visual Web Developer Express
2. Run VWDx_3-to-2.bat

To install Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Web Developer Express

1. Close Visual Web Developer Express
2. Run VWDx_2-to-3.bat

To downgrade a project from Silverlight 3 to Silverlight 2

1. Open the .csproj or vbproj file in a text editor
2. Change
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\Silverlight\v3.0\Microsoft.Silverlight.CSharp.targets" Condition="" />
   To
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\Silverlight\v2.0\Microsoft.Silverlight.CSharp.targets" Condition="" />

A Windows Defender and Microsoft Forefront Client Security signature file (1.53.256.0) was released at 8:45 PM (PST) on March 9, 2009 to address a Win32/PossibleHostFileHijack issue.  This update modified the hosts file to prevent malicious redirection of websites.  As a result, the entry for localhost may have been removed from the hosts file.  When this entry is missing and a site is launched in the ASP.NET Web Development Server via Visual Studio, Internet Explorer displays “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage”.

To resolve this issue, open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts and add an entry for localhost:

127.0.0.1       localhost

A new signature file (1.53.288.0) was released at 8:57 PM on March 9, 2009 that does not affect the localhost entry.

The reported issues with installation of Silverlight Tools has been relatively low.  But, there have been a handful of issues reported on the Silverlight.net forums, mostly involving Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2008 (which is required before installing Silverlight Tools).  Some users have had trouble with the installation of SP1.  For those people, I highly recommend hitting up the brilliant folks on the MSDN forum.  They are far more experienced in the bigger Visual Studio installation experience.

The most common problem directly related to Silverlight Tools, though, is users who have encountered the message "Build 9.0.30729.XX of Visual Studio 2008 SP1 or Visual Web Developer 2008 SP1 must be installed before installation can continue." 

First off, why does the build number matter?  Part of the Silverlight Tools installation includes a patch for Visual Studio required to add functionality such as the XAML designer.  This patch is specific to a build of the product - it works with SP1, not SP1 Beta, not RTM.  Attempting to install this patch on the wrong build will either 1) best case - not provide the functionality you were looking for or 2) worst case - mess up your installation of VS causing problems later down the line.

But, when some users look at their build information, it says they ARE running build 9.0.30729.  The quick answer is that most likely the SP1 installation was only partially successful and you need to uninstall and re-install SP1.  The more detailed and helpful answer is that you should read Jimmy Lewis's blog on Silverlight Tools Speed Bumps which has all sorts of helpful information, suggestions, and workarounds.  Thanks, Jimmy!

You've seen the checkbox on nearly all products from Microsoft.  "I would like to improve the installation experience by sending anonymous feedback." "I want to help make Microsoft software and services even better."  Checking the box is for opting-in to the Microsoft Customer Experience Program.

A lot of people skip this step.  Maybe they didn't notice the box.  Maybe they are like my sister and believe that the information isn't really anonymous and Microsoft is collecting all kinds of private information about them (but of course if that were true, you know the feds or the EU would be all over that).  

Don't skip this step!  Check the box! 

Why?  What's in it for you?  Checking this box sends information about how a person uses the product and what problems he or she might have encountered.  The information sent does not include any personally identifiable information.  So, for instance, I can see someone installing Silverlight Tools had a problem installing on an Spanish operating system, but I don't know that it's Bob that's having the problem (or what other software Bob is running on his computer). 

We've used this information to help find and fix some bugs in the installation process for Silverlight Tools, so keep checking that box and we'll keep making the products better.

The release candidate for Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio is currently available for the English version of Visual Studio only.  Users of non-English Visual Studio can still use this Silverlight Tools release candidate if they install the English version of Visual Web Developer Express with SP1 which is a FREE download.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/

Note, that installing Silverlight Tools RC0 on a machine with VWD Express SP1 ENU and VS 2008 SP1 non-ENU will allow Silverlight 2 development on VWD Express SP1 ENU only.  Neither Silverlight 2 Beta 2 nor Silverlight 2 RC development will be possible on VS2008 SP1 non-ENU until the final version of Silverlight Tools is released for the language specific Visual Studio version installed.

• Silverlight Tools RC0 for Visual Studio 2008 SP1
• Silverlight Tools RC0 for Visual Web Developer Express with SP1
• Silverlight 2 RC0 Developer Runtime
• Silverlight 2 RC0 Software Development Kit

This release gives Silverlight developers an opportunity to upgrade their Silverlight applications from Silverlight 2 Beta 2 to the final version of Silverlight 2 (RTW - release to web) which is due out later this fall.

For more information on updates in the Silverlight 2 runtime, check out ScottGu's blog.

In addition to being compatible with the post-beta version of the runtime, there are some other improvements that developers can look forward to.

Silverlight Tools now supports Visual Web Developer Express 2008 with SP1.  This means that all the tools you need to do Silverlight 2 development are FREE! 

Installation of Silverlight Tools now merges the offline help documents into Visual Studio.  This means no matter where you are doing development, if you have a question on a component of Silverlight Tools, press F1 to launch the Document Explorer to learn more.  Or, if you are just interested in reading more about Silverlight, from the Help menu in Visual Studio, choose Contents, and expand the Silverlight 2 SDK section.

And, the updated version of Silverlight tools also includes improvements to the compression of XAP files.

Tips for Developers

For more tips about updating your Silverlight applications form Beta 2 to the final version, check out Mike Snow's blog.  Also, take a look at the ReadMe page for Silverlight developers that has some known issue that you might encounter.

Expression Blend

For Blend users out there, check out the release candidate of Expression Blend 2 SP. 

A few notes about installing Blend with Silverlight Tools...

The beta and preview versions of Expression Blend (ie, March 2.5 preview or June 2.5 preview) are not compatible with Silverlight Tools RC0 as they contain an older version of the Silverlight SDK.  The Blend 2.5 March Preview and Blend 2.5 June preview build Silverlight 2 Beta 2 applications, not Silverlight 2 RTW applications.  Blend 2 SP, however, will build Silverlight 2 RTW applications.

If you do install Blend 2 SP and then decide to uninstall it, you will need to re-install the Silverlight 2 SDK by re-running the tools installation.

However, for those times you are doing development offline - maybe on a plane, maybe in a location without wifi - if you have the SDK installed, you can register this help collection with Visual Studio for offline access. 

1. Open Visual Studio (you will have to open VS as an administrator in Vista).

2. In the Help menu, choose Index. 

This will open Microsoft Document Explorer.

3. On the left, in the "Filtered by:" drop-down, choose  "(unfiltered)" and  in the "Look for field", type "Collection Manager."   In the results area, below the Collection Manager heading, double click Help.

4. Below the Collections available for inclusion, check Microsoft Silverlight 2 SDK Documentation and click the "Update VSCC" button.

5. Close all instances of Visual Studio to begin the help files merge.   It will take few minutes to update the collection and merge in the Silverlight help files.

6. Re-open Visual Studio. If the merge is still inprocess, a dialog will appear.

7.  Reopen the Document Explorer by selecting Index from the Help menu.

8. Click the Contents Tab and look for Microsoft Silverlight 2 SDK on the left.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object

 or

Package Load Failure

CAUSE
Visual Studio failed to load the dlls required by Silverlight Tools.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, from a command prompt, run "devenv /resetskippkgs"
(i.e. "Folder Path\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" /resetskippkgs)

If you previously had Silverlight Tools Beta 2 installed, after installing SP1, if you open or create a Silverlight project, a dialog will open stating:  Microsoft Silverlight Tools is unable to open the project due to a missing patch for Visual Studio. Please download the latest update from: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=120032.

An updated patch that works with Visual Studio SP1 is included in the Silverlight Tools install at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=120032.  Once installed, Visual Studio will once again be able to open and create Silverlight projects.

UPDATED: Some users have experienced issues with downloading a cached version of the tools installer.  The download should be signed on 8/1/2008 and should install KB955214.  I am currently working with our download center to resolve the caching issue.  In the meantime, the correct version of the installer is available here (as with any .exe you download from the Internet, verify that it was digitally signed by a trusted source before installing).  If you continue to see this dialog after the update, please contact me. 

Note For Non-English Users of Silverlight Tools

An updated version of Silverlight Tools available in 8 additional laguages will be published shortly following the English release.  Before installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1, please visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=120032 to confirm that an update for Silverlight Tools is available in your language.

What's Different About This Silverlight Tools Installer?

This installer has been updated to include a new patch that works specifically with the final version of SP1.  Previously, the installer had worked with SP1 Beta.  SP1 Beta is no longer supported by Silverlight Tools. 

Silverlight Tools Beta 2 currently supports Visual Studio 2008 (Standard or higher) RTM and Visual Studio 2008 (Standard or higher) SP1.  The final version of Silverlight Tools will support Visual Studio 2008 SP1 - Express, Standard, Professional, and Team System. 

What Other Issues Might I Encounter with VS 2008 SP1 and Silverlight Tools?

SP1 will not install if you currently have Silverlight Tools Beta 1 installed (instead of Silverlight Tools Beta 2).  For help or more information on removing Silverlight Tools Beta 1, visit: http://blogs.msdn.com/webdevtools/archive/2008/05/12/error-installing-visual-studio-2008-sp1-beta-and-silverlight-tools-beta-1.aspx 

Neither SP1 nor Silverlight Tools will install if previous installations (especially VS 2008 SP1 Beta and Silverlight Tools Beta 1) have resulted in incompatible DLLs.  For more information on this, visit: http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/SP1InstallInfo/ 

The updated installer for Silverlight Tools will not install on Visual Studio SP1 Beta or RC.  You must upgrade to the final version of Visual Studio 2008 SP1 before updating Silverlight Tools.  Visual Studio SP1 can be downloaded at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122094.

Silverlight Tools is available in 9 languages (English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Chinese - simplified, and Chinese-traditional).  The language version you select for Silverlight Tools must match the language of your Visual Studio installation.  All language versions for Silverlight Tools can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=120319.