MVVM Light Hotfix for Windows Phone 7 developer tools beta

in Programming / MVVM Light Toolkit / Installing

This is a hotfix to correct the issues with the MVVM Light templates for Windows Phone 7.

Who is it for?

Use this hotfix if (and only if):

You have MVVM Light Toolkit V3 SP1 installed.
You are using the new developer tools beta for Windows Phone 7.

Why a hotfix?

The hotifx is needed because of changes in the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 assemblies (regrouping of classes in different namespaces and/or different assemblies) as well as some other changes (manifest structure, etc). The MVVM Light assemblies do not need any update however, and continue to work as expected with the new release.

How to install?

The installation process is as follows:

For Visual Studio 2010

In Visual Studio, check the location from which templates are loaded:
Tools / Options / Projects and Solutions

Copy the path without the ProjectTemplates folder from “User project templates location”.
For example, in the example above, copy D:\Visual Studio 2010\Templates
Save the zip file locally.
Unblock the file
Right click on the zip file and select Extract All.
Paste the copied path into the “Files will be extracted to this folder” field.

For Visual Studio 2010 Express

Save the zip file locally.
Unblock the file
Right click on the zip file and select Extract All.
Select your "My Documents" folder as the target for the extraction. On Windows 7, it is c:\users\[username]\Documents.

Press the Extract button. Confirm that you want to merge the folders (and maybe overwrite files, if you had a previous version installed).

For Expression Blend

Expression Blend is a little more annoying here, because a new, standalone version is shipping with the beta developer tools. As a consequence, you cannot use the templates in Expression Blend 4 RC/RTM anymore. Also, as of today, i didn't find a way to use custom project templates in Expression Blend for Windows Phone beta. I have a request pending with Microsoft regarding this.

Workaround: Create the new project in Visual Studio and then open in in Expression Blend for Windows Phone beta.

Cleaning up:

Delete the folder "My Documents\Expression\Blend 4\ItemTemplates\CSharp\Silverlight for Windows Phone"
Delete the folder "My Documents\Expression\Blend 4\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\WindowsPhone"

Happy coding!

Laurent