Itâs (almost) official: Visual Studio is coming to the Mac. In a now-deleted blog post, Microsoft noted it will release its homegrown IDE in beta this month.
Though Microsoft seems to have hit âpublishâ on the post a bit early (happens to all of us now and then, right?), a cached copy has been discovered. The text suggests Microsoft is making some clever moves for developers who want to write iOS and Mac apps using C# code and Microsoftâs own cloud services.
The meat of Microsoftâs message is this:
At this morningâs Connect(); 2016 keynote, Nat Friedman and James Montemagno introduced Visual Studio for Mac, the newest member of the Visual Studio family.Visual Studio for Mac is a developer environment optimized for building mobile and cloud apps with Xamarin and.NET.It is a one-stop shop for.NET development on the Mac, including Android, iOS, and.NET Core technologies. In November 2016, we introduced Visual Studio for Mac, the newest member of the Visual Studio family. Visual Studio for Mac is a developer environment optimized for building mobile and cloud apps with Xamarin. Download Visual Studio Code to experience a redefined code editor, optimized for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications. Download Visual Studio Code - Mac, Linux, Windows This site uses cookies for analytics, personalized content and ads.
The primary workloads supported by Visual Studio for Mac are native iOS, Android and Mac development via Xamarin, and server development via .NET Core with Azure integration.
Itâs all powered by the C# language you know and love, with the latest C# 7 productivity enhancements. You get the performance of compiled code, the productivity of a modern type-safe language, access to the unique features of each platform, and a rich ecosystem of libraries and tools. You can use your existing experience across the mobile and cloud domains, sharing code between client and server. And with all your projects in one solution, you can take advantage of solution-wide cross-project refactoring and code navigation.
Visual Studio for Macâs functional preview also supports F#. Visually, it appears to be Xamarin Studio rebranded as Visual Studio, so those already using that IDE will be familiar with it. It taps into Microsoftâs native API library, but stops short of letting developers write apps for the Universal Windows Platform (for now, at least).
Like Xamarin Studio, it has an interface builder, the aforementioned F# support, universal search, intelligent refactoring, version control, contextual insights for type, code navigation for finding particular snippets of code and syntax highlighting.
If anything, Visual Studio for Mac is a nice middle ground for app developers. Itâs not an all-in environment along the lines of Xcode and Android Studio, but still has enough going on that it will turn some heads â especially those who are interested in tapping into Microsoftâs Azure cloud services.
Visual Studio for Mac is also a sign of Microsoftâs time. Itâs no longer focusing on getting people tied into a platform, and is increasingly trying to out-maneuver Google (and stay ahead of Apple) in the race for services, especially those relying on cloud infrastructure.
But it also points to the next big war in which developers will be asked to chose sides: the cloud. Android Studio, Xcode and Visual Studio represent three disparate cloud environments (respectively, Google Cloud Platform, iCloud and Azure). Now that weâre all on common ground, a real push for the hearts and minds of developers can begin.
Visual Studio for Mac will launch tomorrow at Microsoftâs Connect Conference.
Recently, we shared an overview of the new extensibility capabilities available for developers as part of the new Office 2016. In addition to the improvements discussed there, including connecting the applications you build to the data and services available in Office 365 and creating add-ins that connect to third-party services, we continue to support developers working in VBA by adding new objects and members to the VBA object model across nearly all the Office applications.
One thing to note, our engineering focus is Office web add-ins â web add-ins work across devices and platforms, and developers enjoy a modern web development experience. Support for web add-ins is already available in Office 2013 and 2016 for Windows, Office for iPad, and Outlook for Mac today, and theyâll come to the rest of Office clients over time.
Roadmap ⢠Periodically update of the Total Uninstaller to ensure the data used for uninstallation is up to date with the most recent Visual Studio releases. Visual studio.
Office 2016 for WindowsNew VBA object model features
Apple mac recording studio. Several Office desktop applications have new features that are exposed in the VBA object model. Here are some of the highlights:
Office 2016 for Mac
Since the launch of Office 2016 for Mac in July, Mac OS X users around the world have been able to take advantage of the highly anticipated new features and improvements since the 2011 release. At the same time, some of our users also have sent us feedback requesting further improvements to our VBA support, particularly around VBA add-ins.
In response to this feedback, weâll further improve Office 2016 for Macâs support for VBA add-ins. Specifically, weâll be adding Office ribbon customization via Ribbon XML, and making other improvements to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Mac to match their Windows desktop versions.
Ribbon customization via Ribbon XML
We are excited to announce that with the latest Office for Mac update, youâll be able to fully customize the ribbon across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the Mac using familiar Ribbon XML.
Hereâs how the Mac Word ribbon looks with a custom tab.
If youâve been customizing the ribbon on Office for Windows, youâll find the Mac experience to be very similar. However, there are certain important differences to know about, as described in the table below.
Comparison of ribbon customization functionality in Office 2016 for Mac and Windows
* Most familiar Office Fluent Control Identifiers are compatible with Office for Mac. Some may not be available. ** May support this in future. *** Office 2016 for Mac doesnât support third-party COM-Add-ins. No current plans to support these in the future. Ribbon customization via Ribbon XML is now available, however, it remains in preview and is disabled by default for this update. Follow the steps below to enable or disable it across Word, Excel and PowerPoint using the Terminal on Mac.
To enable Ribbon XML:
To disable Ribbon XML:
In early 2016, ribbon customization via Ribbon XML will be enabled by default for all customers.
FAQHow do I edit Ribbon XML?
You can edit Ribbon XML by using familiar Custom UI Editor Tool, which remains available only on Windows.
Will these updates be pushed as part of the auto-update process?
Yes. These updates will be pushed to all customers using Microsoft Auto Updater.
Is the structure of the XML file the same as that for Office for Windows?
Yes, Office 2016 for Mac ribbon reads customizations from CustomUI.xml and CustomUI14.xml.
Will the Office 2016 for Mac ribbon load the XML from both files, CustomUI.xml and CustomUI14.xml?
Yes, and just like the behavior in Office for Windows, CustomUI14.xml will be given preference over CustomUI.xml.
Will the Office 2016 for Mac ribbon accept PNG files that are loaded into the documentâs custom UI as control images?
Yes.
Visual Basic Editor
You spoke, we heard!
As we continue to improve the overall Visual Basic story on Office 2016 for Mac, weâve added the following features to Visual Basic Editor:
New Commands
You might not be aware that we recently added two new commands to the Visual Basic object model for Mac: GrantAccessToMultipleFiles and AppleScriptTask.
We also added a new conditional, âMAC_OFFICE_VERSIONâ. (See New Commands Documentation later in this article.)
As Office 2016 for Mac is sandboxed, users are prompted to grant access every time a file access request is made. GrantAccessToMultipleFiles is a command that takes an array of file pointers and helps minimize the number of these prompts.
Sandboxing also severely breaks the previously existing MacScript command that allows the use of inline AppleScript in Visual Basic. This is where AppleScriptTask can help. Users can store an AppleScript file at a specified location on the disk and use AppleScriptTask within VB to invoke it. The location of these scripts is specified by the operating system and cannot be altered.
The MAC_OFFICE_VERSION conditional lets macros determine what version of Mac Office the user is running. This comes handy in cases where certain commands (like the two above) are available only on a given version, and invoking them on another version may result in errors.
Since Office 2016 for Mac Beta, weâve been keeping close watch on issues relating to these new commands and have been making fixes. With this update, weâre releasing some important fixes that will considerably improve the overall performance of these commands. In particular, weâve fixed various timeout issues related to AppleScriptTask.
New Commands Documentation
AppleScriptTask
The AppleScriptTask command executes an AppleScript script. This is similar to the MacScript command except that it runs an AppleScript file located outside the sandboxed app.
For example:
Where:
Note The bundle IDs for Mac Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are:
The following is an example of a handler.
GrantAccessToMultipleFiles
Unlike VB macros in Office for Mac 2011, VB macros in Office 2016 for Mac donât have access to external files by default. The Office 2016 for Mac apps are sandboxed and so they lack the required permissions to access external files.
Existing macro file commands are changed to prompt the user for file access if the app doesnât already have access to it. This means that macros that access external files cannot run unattended; theyâll need user interaction to approve file access the first time each file is referenced. You can use the GrantAccessToMultipleFiles command to minimize the number of prompts and make the experience better (see below).
GrantAccessToMultipleFiles
This command lets you input an array of file paths and prompt the user for permission to access them.
Example: Fontlab studio 5 free download for mac.
MAC_OFFICE_VERSION
Visual Studio 2016 Professional
In Office 2016 for Mac, this new conditional tests which VB version the user is running. The following example shows how to use it in your code.
Note The â#If Macâ conditional remains unchanged from Office for Mac 2011.
Plan Ahead
Starting in Office 2016 for Mac, custom menus that were supported in Office for Mac 2011 are not supported anymore. Weâre officially deprecating support for custom menus and CommandBar controls. A few legacy CommandBar controls may continue to appear on the Add-ins tab, however, we advise that you donât write new code that uses either of the two. Starting today, if you have a VB add-in that requires a UI, itâs best to use Ribbon XML to write that UI.
Overview of UI Extensibility points and corresponding support in Office 2016 for Mac
Overall, as weâve mentioned before, we recommend that customers develop macros or VB add-ins in Office for Windows and use Office for Mac to debug, if needed. Weâll continue to ensure compatibility of existing macros and make improvements to the IDE.
Documentation & GitHub
Our developer help for VBA has also undergone some changes. The first thing to highlight is that weâve moved our content to an âevergreenâ model. That means that starting with Office 2013, our help topics are no longer specific to a single version of Office, but instead are combined topics that span all the versions of Office to which they apply. You can still view topics from Office 2010 by clicking Other Versions right below the topic title.
In addition to the evergreen model, weâve published the VBA documentation on GitHub. By doing so, it allows a much faster process to improve our documentation and a way for you in the community to engage and contribute to the content. At the top of each VBA topic in MSDN, youâll see a contributors notice like this:
Dreamspark
Simply click the suggest and submit changes link in the Contribute to this content section and youâll be taken to the same article on GitHub where you can propose changes. After you submit your changes, our team is notified immediately and will respond to your change request. Youâll receive notifications about your change request and status; our team may also notify you if we need more information about your change request.
Visual Studio 2017 For Mac Docs
For more details on how to submit changes, bugs, or issues, or to contribute to the content itself through GitHub, see this article.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |