In the Box – MVVM Training

Updated 12 Nov 2010

What is In the Box?

In the Box is a high quality, multi-media training that is consumed within Visual Studio 2010. Content is navigated and delivered using a next generation computer based training (CBT) experience, the Visual Studio 2010 Feature Extension.

In the Box, is a brand name for a series of CBT Feature Extensions I’ll release that are listed in the Visual Studio 2010 Add New Project dialog; see below image. This release is MVVM Training, the next will be Prism Training.

In the Box features:

• Visual Studio 2010 Feature Extension
• Content delivered as text, code, images, diagrams, video, or hyperlinks to the Internet
• Hierarchical navigation tool window for content navigation
• Content is viewed inside Visual Studio 2010 tool windows
• No additional downloads or dependencies; all content is in the box (except online videos)
• Installed and updated from the Visual Studio Gallery
• Managed (disabled or uninstalled) using Visual Studio Extensions Manager (see bottom of this page)
• Authored using Microsoft Word and the Instant Feature Builder

What is in this release of In the Box?

Please watch this video as it will answer most of your questions.

This installment of In the Box contains in-depth MVVM Training that includes an eleven assembly example solution with projects targeting developers at different levels of experience.

Who is the target audience?

• If you have never used MVVM before, this training is for you.
• If you have been using MVVM for a while and want to learn more, this training is for you.
• If you are an expert, you will enjoy the MVVM Technical Description and MVVM Scenarios content.

What are the requirements to install In the Box?

Visual Studio 2010 Professional, Premium, or Ultimate.

Expression Blend 4 WPF SDK – Free download (see below comment on SDK) (Note: This is installed with Blend also.)

For those developers using Visual Studio 2010 Express or Visual Studio 2008, you can use the links in the below download section to download a .mht version of the content along with the sample solution source. The .mht file can be viewed in your browser by double clicking the file in Windows Explorer.

Please note: I have not tested this solution with the Express version.

Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Users

In order to run Feature Builder on either XP or Server 2003 you must create an environment variable named LocalAppData (set by default on Windows Vista and Windows 7).

How to Add LOCALAPPDATA variable in Windows XP:

• Right-click on the My Computer icon and choose Properties
• Click Advanced
• Click Environment Variables
• Under User variables section, click New
• In the Variable name: field, type LOCALAPPDATA
• In the Variable value: field, type %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data

How do I install In the Box?

Click on this Visual Studio Gallery Link and install from there.

After I install it, how do I get started?

Open Visual Studio 2010; File, New Project, Visual C#, In the Box, MVVMTraining.

Videos

In the Box – MVVM Training Introduction video

You can view the above video using the web browser plug in, or you can download and watch an HD version of the video. To download the HD version of the video, locate the, “About this video” section (lower right side of web page) and join Vimeo; it’s free and very quick to join.

Downloads

In the Box – MVVM Training on the Visual Studio Gallery

Visual Studio Express and Visual Studio 2008 Developers download the written content and sample application from my:

SkyDrive click here to download.

Note the link is to a folder; you will want to download both .zip files in the folder.

Expression Blend 4 SDK Requirement

I received a report from a developer having a problem with two references to the Expression Blend 4 SDK in two of the included projects.

I thought for awhile about including just these two DLLs, but thought that would be a disservice, only providing two DLLs. I have opted to add the Expression Blend 4 SDK as a requirement because a high percentage of developers already have the SDK installed by Blend or by downloading it.

Have a great day,

Just a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.