Microsoft

Application Center Test

Categories:	Profiling - Debugging
Description:	part of Visual Studio .NET Enterprise editions
Added:	2003-05-20
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet]

ASP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant

Home Page

Categories:	ASP.NET Code conversion - Language migration
Latest version:	Beta
Description:	Designed to help you convert ASP pages and applications to ASP.NET. It does not make the conversion process completely automatic, but it will speed up your project by automating some of the steps required for migration.
Added:	2003-12-05
Updated:	2004-01-13
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

ASP.NET AJAX

Home Page

Categories:	ASP.NET
Latest version:	1.0 RC
Description:	Package of Web development technologies that integrates a set of client script libraries with the server-based development platform of ASP.NET 2.0. ASP.NET AJAX enables you to develop Web applications that can update data on a Web page by making direct calls to a Web server — without needing to round trip the page — following in this the AJAX technique. With ASP.NET AJAX, you can take advantage of ASP.NET and server-side code while doing much of the work in the browser. Features include: - Client script libraries that provide a solution for creating client-based Web applications. The client script libraries support object-oriented development, cross-browser compatibility, asynchronous calls to Web services, and behaviors and components for creating the UI. - Web server controls that provide a declarative way to emit markup and client script for AJAX features. - Web services, such as ASP.NET profiles, that can add server-side features to an Atlas application. Previous name: Atlas
Added:	2005-09-19
Updated:	2006-12-15
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable]

ASP.NET RSS Toolkit

Home Page

Categories:	ASP.NET Internet and communications
Latest version:	2.0
Description:	The RSS toolkit includes support for consuming as well as publishing RSS feeds in ASP.NET applications. It includes support for creating and consuming RSS, RDF, ATOM and OPML feeds in your applications. Features include: - RSS Data Source control to consume feeds in ASP.NET applications: Works with ASP.NET data bound controls; Implements schema to generate columns at design time; Supports auto-generation of columns at runtime (via ICustomTypeDescriptor implementation) - Caching of downloaded feeds both in-memory and on-disk (persisted across process restarts) - Generation of strongly typed classes for RSS feeds (including strongly typed channel, items, image, handler) based on a RSS URL (the toolkit recognizes RSS and RDF feeds) or a file containing RSS definition. Allows programmatically download and create RSS channels using strongly-typed classes. - Support for generation of RSS feeds in ASP.NET application including: RSS HTTP handler (strongly typed HTTP handlers are generated automatically by the build providers) to generate the feed; RSS HyperLink control (that can point to RSS HTTP handler) to create RSS links; Optional secure encoding of user name into query string to allow generation of personalized feeds - Set of classes for programmatic consumption and generation of RSS feed in a late-bound way, without using strongly types generated classes
Added:	2007-03-11
Updated:	2007-06-19
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

BuildIt

Home Page

Categories:	Builds
Description:	Team development build tool designed to jump-start the build process used for development of .NET distributed applications.
Added:	2003-05-20
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

CLR Profiler for the .NET Framework

Home Page

Categories:	Profiling - Debugging
Latest version:	2.0
Description:	Allows developers to see the allocation profile of their manage applications. The CLR Profiler includes a number of views of the allocation profile, including a histogram of allocated types, allocation and call graphs, a time line showing GCs of various generations and the resulting state of the managed heap after those collections, and a call tree showing per-method allocations and assembly loads. Aslo available for .NET 1.1: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=86CE6052-D7F4-4AEB-9B7A-94635BEEBDDA&displaylang=en
Added:	2003-10-31
Updated:	2005-12-13
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

CLR SPY

Home Page

Categories:	Code analysis - Standards verifiers
Added:	2003-05-20
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet]

Composite Application Guidance for WPF

Home Page

Categories:	SVG - XAML - WPF - Silverlight
Latest version:	Release Candidate 1
Description:	Guidance that can help you split the development of your WPF client application across multiple development teams, each responsible for the development of a piece of the application, and help you compose those pieces together into a client application. The Composite Application Guidance for WPF includes a reference implementation, reusable library code (called the Composite Application Library), documentation, quick start tutorials and hands-on labs. Codename: Prism.
Added:	2008-06-30
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Composite UI Application Block

Home Page

Categories:	Rich client UI
Latest version:	December 2005 RTW
Description:	Reusable, source code–based component based on the .NET Framework 2.0 that provides practices to build smart client user interfaces based on design patterns such as the Composite pattern, in which simple user interface parts can be combined to create complex solutions, but at the same time allowing these parts to be independently developed, tested, and deployed. This application block is designed to support the development of smart client line-of-business applications such as the ones found in the following scenarios: - Online transaction processing (OLTP) front-ends, in areas such as stock distribution centers or data entry applications - Rich client portals to back-end services, such as portals to government services or bank teller applications - UI intensive information-worker standalone applications, such as those used by call center staff, IT support desks, or stock traders It facilitates the design and implementation of your client applications in three areas: - It allows your application to be based on the concept of modules or plug-ins. - It allows developers with shell expertise to build components that hide user interface complexity from the business logic development. - It facilitates development using patterns for loose coupling between modules.
Added:	2006-02-16
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

DirectX SDK

Home Page

Categories:	Graphics
Latest version:	9.0
Description:	Group of technologies designed for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3-D animation, and surround sound, on Windows-based computers. DirectX 9.0 brings the first release of the Managed API for developing DirectX-based programs and games.
Added:	2003-12-18
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Enterprise Library

Home Page

Categories:	Caching Persistence - Data-tier Security Tracing - Logging - Monitoring
Latest version:	4.0 May 2008
Description:	Library of application blocks designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges. Application blocks are a type of guidance, provided as source code that can be used "as is," extended, or modified by developers to use on enterprise development projects. Application blocks help address the common problems that developers face from one project to the next. They are designed to encapsulate the Microsoft recommended best practices for .NET-based applications. They also address scenarios not directly supported by the underlying class libraries. Contains the following general purpose application blocks: - Caching Application Block: incorporate a local cache in applications. - Cryptography Application Block: incorporate hashing and symmetric encryption in applications. - Data Access Application Block: incorporate standard database functionality in applications. - Exception Handling Application Block: developers and policy makers can create a consistent strategy for processing exceptions that occur throughout the architectural layers of enterprise applications. - Logging Application Block: include standard logging functionality in applications. - Security Application Block: incorporate authorization and security caching functionality in applications. - Validation Application Block: allows you to centrally define validation rules using configuration or attributes, and validate data from anywhere in your application, including integration with Windows Forms, ASP.NET and WCF. - Policy Injection Application Block: provides an approach for separating cross-cutting concerns from business logic using declarative policies that are attached at runtime to methods on your objects. Also includes: - The Application Block Software Factory: simplifies the process of building application blocks and providers through guidance automation. - Visual Studio-integrated configuration editor: edit Enterprise Library configuration files directly within Visual Studio. Enterprise Library also includes a set of core functions, including configuration, instrumentation, and object builder services. These functions are used by all other application blocks.
Added:	2005-02-10
Updated:	2008-05-22
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Enterprise Localization Toolkit

Home Page

Categories:	Localization
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	Covers localization of a Web site's page layout and presentation using resource files by extending the .NET Framework foundation and provides code implementing resource string management via a database, localization of complex data types and automatic building of resource files. The Enterprise Localization Toolkit provides a way to plugin localization into an ASP.NET application with a web-based management application allowing to add new translations or add additional localization information to controls.
Added:	2003-05-20
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

F#

Home Page

Categories:	Languages
Latest version:	1.9.6.2 (September 2008 Community Technology Preview)
Description:	Language combining the strong typing, scripting and productivity of ML with the libraries, cross-language working and tools of .NET. F# gives you a combination of: - interactive scripting like Python - the foundations for an interactive data visualization environment like MATLAB - the strong type inference and safety of ML - a cross-compiling compatible core shared with the popular OCaml language - a performance profile like that of C# - access to the entire range of .NET libraries and database tools Features include: - Intellisense interactive XML documentation help - 64-bit support. F# compiler, F# Interactive and F# for Visual Studio now run correctly on x64 and ia64 machines. - Matrix library - Compositional, customizable structured printing. An approach to user-definable structured display of terms.
Added:	2003-05-21
Updated:	2008-09-16
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable]

FxCop

Home Page

Categories:	Code analysis - Standards verifiers
Latest version:	1.36
Description:	Code analysis tool that checks .NET assemblies for conformance to the Microsoft .NET Framework Design Guidelines. FxCop uses MSIL parsing, and callgraph analysis to inspect assemblies for more than 200 defects in the following areas: library design, globalization, naming conventions, performance, interoperability and portability, security and usage. Features include: - GUI and command line versions - SDK to create your own rules - Supports analyzing .NET 1.x, .NET 2.0 and .NET 3.x components - Provides support for .NET 3.5 SP1
Added:	2003-05-20
Updated:	2008-08-21
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Guidance Automation Toolkit

Home Page

Categories:	IDEs - IDE add-ins
Latest version:	February 2008
Description:	Using the GAT, you can make reusable code and pattern assets directly available in Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. The GAT is designed to simplify integrating reusable code into applications allowing architects to automate development activities that developers would usually have to perform manually; often by following a series of instructions. By using the toolkit, architects can also ensure that repetitive and often error-prone activities are performed in a consistent manner, streamlining and accelerating the development process. The toolkit can be used with assets developed in-house or by third parties; such as the assets created by the Microsoft patterns & practices team. These assets can be exposed to developers within Visual Studio, and in some cases, configured by using configuration files, templates, and wizards. In order to use GAT, you must first install the Guidance Automation Extensions (GAX), which expands Visual Studio by allowing guidance packages to run.
Added:	2008-02-17
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Guidance Explorer

Home Page

Categories:	Code analysis - Standards verifiers Miscellaneous
Latest version:	20080124
Description:	Tool that enables discovery, composition and consumption of development guidance. Guidance Explorer installs with a connection to the Microsoft Patterns & Practices guidance library including performance and security topics for .NET, ASP.NET, and ADO.NET applications. The guidance library contains a variety of guidance types including checklists and guidelines covering design, implementation and deployment topics. Usage scenarios: - Find relevant patterns & practices guidance - Build customized checklists for your development scenarios - Build customized guidelines for your development scenarios - You can build custom sets of guidance and share with your team as recommended practice. Includes: - Guidance Explorer: smart client that allows browsing local or remote libraries from a Windows Forms client application. - Guidance Explorer Web Edition: allows a user to browse guidance from the online store. Unlike the smart client it is a read-only view on guidance. - Online Guidance Store: provides a mechanism for publishing to, and sharing from, a guidance library on the web. It is a web service interface backed by a SQL Server 2005 database. - Guidance Explorer Authoring Toolkit: stripped down version of Guidance Explorer that does not come with a guidance library and includes just the basic guidance types.
Added:	2007-01-12
Updated:	2008-02-17
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Help Integration Wizard

Home Page

Categories:	Documentation - Code commenting
Latest version:	Beta
Description:	Integrates help with Visual Studio. Microsoft provides the tools necessary to create the compiled help (HxS) files that make up a help collection. The Help Integration Wizard can assemble those HxS files into a help collection and create a Windows Installer project for the help collection's distribution. A help collection that is integrated with Visual Studio .NET gives developers ready access to documentation through the IDE's Contents, Index, Search, and Dynamic Help windows.
Added:	2004-04-28
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

InteropForms Toolkit

Home Page

Categories:	Interoperability
Latest version:	2.0
Description:	Allows developers to incorporate VB.NET Windows Forms into their VB6 applications. This toolkit helps you bring the power of .NET to your existing VB6 applications, by allowing them to display .NET WinForms from within the same application. Instead of upgrading the entire code base, these applications can now be extended one form at a time. The goal is a phased upgrade, with production releases at the end of each iteration containing both VB6 and VB.NET forms running in the same VB6 process.
Added:	2006-10-09
Updated:	2007-05-04
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable]

IronPython

Home Page

Categories:	Languages
Latest version:	2.0 Alpha 6
Description:	Implementation of the Python language targeting the .NET and Mono platforms. Features include: - Integrated with the Common Language Runtime: IronPython code can use CLR libraries and Python classes can extend CLR classes. - Fully dynamic: IronPython supports an interactive interpreter and transparent on-the-fly compilation of source files just like standard Python. - Optionally static: IronPython also supports static compilation of Python code to produce static executables (.exe's) that can be run directly or static libraries (.dll's) that can be called from other CLR languages including C#, VB, managed C++ and more.
Added:	2004-07-30
Updated:	2007-11-21
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided] [Built for Mono]

Java Language Conversion Assistant

Home Page

Categories:	Code conversion - Language migration
Latest version:	3.0
Description:	Tool that automatically converts existing Java-language code into C# for developers who want to move existing applications to the .NET Framework. JLCA (Java Language Conversion Assistant) is integrated with Visual Studio .NET. Supports converting J2EE 1.3 and JDK 1.3 libraries as well as EJB, JAAS, JCE, JMS, JNDI, and RMI. This includes Java Server Pages and Enterprise Java Beans.
Added:	2003-05-20
Updated:	2003-12-05
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

LibCheck

Home Page

Categories:	Miscellaneous
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	Allows you to compare two versions of an assembly, and determine the differences. LibCheck reports the differences as a combination of "removed" and "added" APIs. The tool is limited to looking only at APIs (i.e., it can't check for behavioral changes), and only compares public differences, or changes which are deemed to be "breaking". The tool can be used to determine what has changed between one version of your assembly and another, and can help ensure that you won't introduce any breaking changes to clients of your assembly.
Added:	2005-03-22
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Managed Extensibility Framework

Home Page

Categories:	Frameworks
Latest version:	Preview 2
Description:	Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) is a library that enables the creation of extensible applications. MEF offers discovery and composition capabilities that you can leverage to load application extensions.
Added:	2008-09-16
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Managed Stack Explorer

Home Page

Categories:	Tracing - Logging - Monitoring
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	Managed Stack Explorer (MSE) is a tool that provides a way to monitor .NET 2.0 managed processes and their stacks. The ability to view a program’s stack and how it changes over time is an important method in determining reasons for possible errors. MSE provides an interface to allow you to monitor multiple processes at once and build periodic stack log files. MSE works by attaching to a process when a stack trace is requested, then detaching the moment the stack trace has been retrieved.
Added:	2006-02-16
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

MSAGL

Home Page

Categories:	Graphics
Latest version:	2007
Description:	Graph layout engine and viewing tool. MSAGL (Microsoft Automatic Graph Layout) is built on the principle of the Sugiyama scheme; it produces so called layered, or hierarchical layouts. This kind of a layout naturally applies to graphs with some flow of information. The graph could represent a control flow graph of a program, a state machine, a class hierarchy, etc. Previous name: GLEE
Added:	2007-04-02
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable]

MSBee

Home Page

Categories:	Builds
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	MSBee means MSBuild Everett Environment, Everett beeing the codename for .NET 1.1. MSBee is an extension for MSBuild that allows developers to build managed applications in Visual Studio 2005 that target .NET 1.1.
Added:	2006-02-13
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable]

OlyMars

Home Page

Categories:	Persistence - Data-tier
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	SQL Server Centric .NET Code Generator
Added:	2003-05-20
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Pex

Home Page

Categories:	Testing
Latest version:	0.5
Description:	Automated exploratory testing tool. Pex (Program EXploration) is an assistant to the programmer that automatically produces a traditional unit test suite with high code coverage from a parameterized unit test. In addition, it suggests to the programmer how to fix the bugs. Pex generates unit tests from hand-written parameterized unit tests through automated exploratory testing based on dynamic symbolic execution. Unit Tests: parameterless methods that test a single unit of code. Parameterized unit tests: same as above, but with parameters. Automated exploratory testing: a tool-supported process of running, learning and testing code at the same time. Dynamic symbolic execution: a combination of static analysis and runtime monitoring to compute test inputs. Pex comes with a Visual Studio add-in, and also works from the command line.
Added:	2008-05-26
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable]

PHP to ASP.NET Migration Assistant

Home Page

Categories:	ASP.NET Code conversion - Language migration
Latest version:	Beta
Description:	Designed to help you convert PHP pages and applications to ASP.NET. It does not make the conversion process completely automatic, but it will speed up your project by automating some of the steps required for migration.
Added:	2003-12-05
Updated:	2004-01-13
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable]

PrintForm Component

Home Page

Categories:	Reporting
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	Allows you to print a Windows Form as a simple report.
Added:	2006-10-09
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Resource Refactoring Tool

Home Page

Categories:	Miscellaneous
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	Provides developers a way to extract hard coded strings from the code to resource files. Features include: - Works with C# and VB.NET - Supports all project types that ships with Visual Studio 2005 including web sites and web application projects - A preview window shows changes - Finds other instances of the text being replaced in the project automatically - Lists existing resources by their similarity level to the text being replaced - Automatically replaces hard coded string with a reference to resource entry
Added:	2008-03-03
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Robotics Studio

Home Page

Categories:	Miscellaneous
Latest version:	1.5
Description:	Windows-based environment to create robotics applications across a variety of hardware. The Microsoft Robotics Studio delivers three areas of software: - A services-oriented extensible runtime architecture that can span a variety of hardware and devices. The programming interface can be used to address robots using 8-bit or 16-bit processors as well as 32-bit systems with multi-core processors and devices from simple touch sensors to laser distance finding devices. The runtime uses a .NET-based concurrency libraryfor asynchronous application development. - A set of tools that make programming and debugging robot applications scenarios easier. These include a visual simulation environment that uses the Ageia Technologies PhysX engine. - A set of technology libraries services samples to help developers get started with writing robot applications. Third parties can extend the functionality of the platform by providing additional libraries and services. Both remote (PC-based) and autonomous (robot-based) execution scenarios can be developed using a selection of programming languages, including C# VB.NET, JScript, IronPython, and third-party languages that conform to its services-based architecture.
Added:	2006-06-24
Updated:	2007-07-23
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Sandcastle

Home Page

Categories:	Documentation - Code commenting
Latest version:	September 2007 CTP (2.3.07930.06)
Description:	Produces MSDN-style reference documentation for managed class libraries. Sandcastle reflects over source assemblies and optionally integrates XML documentation comments. Features include: - Works with or without authored comments - Supports generics and .NET 2.0 - Auto-generated index and TOC entries - Auto-generated syntax declaration sections - Auto-generated inheritance tables - Code colorization - Supports localization - Compiler interface or Visual Studio add-in - CHMBuilder for CHM generation - Windows PowerShell script
Added:	2006-07-31
Updated:	2007-10-04
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable] [BuiltForCompactFramework]

SDC Build Tools

Home Page

Categories:	Builds
Latest version:	2.0.051004.000
Description:	Solution Build and Deployment Process was designed to reduce the cost of developing a solution by improving development team efficiency during the build process. Starting with machine requirements, the process guided development team members through daily build procedures, deployment practices, testing, the build environment, tools, and configuration utilities. Tools are provided to perform regular builds or .NET solutions and to configure websites, virtual directories, create users, configure BizTalk etc. Also includes: support for Whidbey and a visual editor for MSBuild files.
Added:	2003-11-11
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Silverlight SDK

Home Page

Categories:	ASP.NET SVG - XAML - WPF - Silverlight
Latest version:	2 Beta 2
Description:	Software Development Kit (SDK) for creating applications that use Silverlight 2. This SDK provides documentation, libraries and tools for developing Silverlight applications.
Added:	2007-04-30
Updated:	2008-09-30
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008 SP1

Home Page

Categories:	SVG - XAML - WPF - Silverlight
Latest version:	RC0 (9.0.30730.33)
Description:	Add-on for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 for developing Silverlight 2 applications. It provides a Silverlight project system for developing Silverlight applications using C# or Visual Basic. Features include: - VB and C# project templates - IntelliSense and code generators for XAML - XAML design preview - Debugging of Silverlight applications - Remote debugging of Silverlight applications for Mac - Web reference support - WCF Templates - Team Build and command line build support - Integration with Expression Blend - Support for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and Visual Web Developer 2008 Express with SP1
Added:	2008-04-23
Updated:	2008-09-30
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable]

Smart Client Offline Application Block

Home Page

Categories:	Internet and communications
Latest version:	1.0
Description:	This block is intended to serve as an architectural model for developers who want to add offline capabilities to their smart client applications. The block demonstrates how to: - Detect the presence or absence of network connectivity. - Cache the required data so that the application can continue to function even when the network connection is not available. - Synchronize the client application state and/or data with the server when the network connection becomes available.
Added:	2004-03-02
Attributes:	[BuiltForDotNet] [Library] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Smart Client Software Factory

Home Page

Categories:	Rich client UI
Latest version:	April 2008
Description:	The Smart Client Software Factory (SCSF) helps architects and developers create composite smart client applications based on the Composite UI Application Block. A composite smart client application is made up of a number of discrete, independent, yet functional pieces. These pieces are integrated together within a host environment (such as a Windows Form application) to form a fully coherent smart client solution. The factory provides tools (Visual Studio 2008 extensions), examples, how-tos and documentation on building these winforms applications. Only previous versions support Visual Studio 2005.
Added:	2007-06-18
Updated:	2008-05-02
Attributes:	[BuilfForDotNet2] [AddIn] [FreeVersionAvailable] [SourceCodeProvided]

Spec#

Home Page