Cider August CTP Release Notes

Welcome to the August Community Technology Preview of Cider, the Visual Designer for the Windows Presentation Foundation. This release is an incremental improvement over the June CTP The focus for this CTP is to release an updated toolset that is fully compatible with the new .Net Framework 3.0 ""RC1"" Release.

As in previous ""CTPs"", this release of Cider supports basic "form" creation and "XAML Preview". Since we didn’t cut a July CTP, there are also lots of new features to enrich customers’ experience with WPF and Cider. These features are covered later in this doc.

Please give us your feedback!

Let us know what you like and what you don't like. What are the things that are missing today that stop you from using Cider? What are your "must have" features? Stop by and give us feedback on the MSDN forum for Cider

What's New in the August CTP

* Compatible with the ".Net Framework 3.0 RC1" Release.
* ""SplitView"" - Work with XAML View and the Designer View open simultaneously in either a horizontally or vertically split window!
* Licensing
* XAML Load improvements.
* Your WPF app can use resources such as images and XML files from ""URLs"", UNC share, relative path, or pack ""URIs""
* Support for loading resources from external resource dictionaries (""MergedDictionaries"")
* More robust handling of static and dynamic resource references
* Note: There are still some limitations you should expect to see with our XAML Load support.
* Selection improvements - multi-select and manipulate controls on the design surface.
* Reparenting - Dragging controls between containers updates the control parent to the new container.
* Architectural improvements and Quality enhancements for bugs reported since the last CTP.

Other Features in the August CTP

* Support for commands like Delete, Cut/Copy/Paste, and Undo/Redo.
* Grid Layout Experience. This includes better layout support and better feedback on control creation and manipulation within the Grid.
* Support for 64bit Operating Systems.

Features Missing from the August CTP

Because of our focus on improving overall product quality in the May CTP, we made the decision to remove some functionality from that CTP. The following features are still missing from the August CTP as well. This is functionality that existed in our previous ""CTPs"". Many of these features will be added back in future CTP releases when we’re confident that they meet the level of quality our customers expect. The features you’ll most notice missing from this CTP are:
* Document Outline support.
* Zoom support.
* Snap Lines.
* Support for interacting in the Designer with container controls other than Grid. i.e., you cannot manipulate controls inside ""StackPanel"", ""DockPanel"", or ""Canvas"" on the Designer. You can however update properties for these controls via XAML or the Property Browser.

Known Issues in the August CTP

* Our XAML Parser is not complete, so there are still some XAML Load Limitations that we have in this CTP.
* The August CTP does not work with Express editions of Visual Studio 2005. We are considering this for later ""CTPs"".

Uninstalling the June CTP

Before you install the August CTP please make sure you uninstall the June CTP or any previous Cider ""CTPs"".

Installing the August CTP

The Cider August CTP requires the August CTP or ""RC1"" releases of other components. And, of course, you'll need Visual Studio 2005
* .Net Framework 3.0 RC1
* Visual Studio Code Name 'Orcas' for .Net Framework 3.0 RC1 (which includes Cider)

Uninstalling the August CTP

Well, if you're "done" with Cider, or you've found a bug that is blocking your work, you have several options.

If you just don't want the designer to come up when you double-click a XAML file, you can right-click on the XAML file in the Solution Explorer, select "Open With…", then select the XML Editor and check the "Set as default" option. This will cause the XAML file to always open in the XML editor.

If there's some huge problem that you cannot work around and you cannot change the XAML file association, you can uninstall the entire Visual Studio Code Name "Orcas" CTP. Go to "Add/Remove Programs" and uninstall something that looks like the "Visual Studio Code Name 'Orcas' Community Technology Preview - Development Tools for "".Net Framework 3.0""."

Both of these options will leave intact the original functionality of Visual Studio 2005.