• Are you searching for a solution to this error encountered whilst building a Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 LightSwitch project?
• Does it contain ‘HTML Client’ Mobile Web client sub-project?

Error trace goes like this:

The “LSResourceGeneratorsTask” task failed unexpectedly.
System.IO.FileNotFoundException:
Unable to find root project file at this location: {0}
File name: ‘D:\Fusion\SharePoint\SurveyApplication\SurveyApplication’
at Microsoft.LightSwitch.BuildTasks.Common…GetRootProjectFile(…

Answer

In my case all that I did was take a backup copy of the “SurveyApplication.ls3proj” file. When there are two or more “ls3proj” files in the parent project folder, it causes the build to fail.

So move or delete any additional “ls3proj” files that you have lying around.

Lots and lots of this going on at the moment, especially since the Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 release that includes the LightSwitch Mobile HTML client functionality.

LightSwitch Next Version Two Gossip Tidbits

#1 Live from VSLive 14th May 2013 – Q and A with Microsoft’s Jay Schmelzer, director of program management for Visual Studio at Microsoft.

Q: So do you expect more hands to go up next time you ask a Visual Studio Live! crowd about their awareness of LightSwitch?

JS: “I definitely do. I think we’ve got a number of things coming out that we aren’t ready to talk about yet, but probably in the BUILD time [June 2013], that will get some folks more excited and really understand where we are going with this. I’m hoping next year we come back and I see at least 50 percent of the hands in the air. I think the question for next year will actually be how many people are using it, and we will see probably 50 percent of this kind of audience saying they are using it for something.”  [50% of VS users using LightSwitch by 2014!]

#2 LightSwitch Forum 20^th May 2013 - Beth Massi: We also know that it’s painful for team development and so we are working on making that much easier in the next release — stay tuned for more info.

So there is more to come and we will be hearing about it real soon…

Multi-Client Sample – Vote for it in UserVoice!

Recipe: 1 x Silverlight client, 3 x HTML clients in 1 x LightSwitch project.

Q: Does it work?

A: Yes in designer, build and runtime.

Q: Can I have multiple Silverlight clients?

A: Yes, though not fully working. The designer throws errors because of the implementation of the singular client properties and navigation structure associated with the Silverlight client. But with caution it builds and runs with multiple Silverlight clients too.

OK, I want to download a code sample as I am not convinced…

Then head over to the Visual Studio Gallery as we have uploaded a sample for ‘experimental’ purpose:

Experiment with Multiple HTML Clients in LightSwitch

“This sample demonstrates how to bypass the problem of the LightSwitch V3 designer only allowing a maximum of two clients in a project: 1 x SilverLight, 1 x HTML. The LightSwitch V3 designer works with multiple HTML clients in one project though it is not officially supported. It is one of the UserVoice requests for the next version. This sample shows how to experiment with multiple HTML clients now to add an extra option to investigating modular LightSwitch development.”

Conclusion

One small step on the road to modular development of large projects using Visual Studio LightSwitch.

For more information just go see the LightSwitch HTML client articles and posts here:

• Beth Massi Blog – sharing the goodness – [open in new window]
• Visual Studio LightSwitch Team Blog – [open in new windows]
• Deep Linking … – DotNetLore – [open in new window]
• Forum: Modular development … – [open in window]
• Forum: What can you do with LS … – [open in new window]

When you create a LightSwitch project using the desktop application template you can upgrade the project (to LightSwitch V3) and then add a new HTML client whilst specifying a custom name for it. That works.

However, if you create a project from the HTML template, the client name is always ‘HTMLClient’. The designer will not allow you to rename it or remove the client (it does for the Silverlight client).

Before manually editing the JSPROJ file please do take a backup.

To rename a HTML client:

Close Visual Studio or just unload the LightSwitch project.

• Then locate and edit the XML in the client project’s JSPROJ file.
• Change: <ClientProjectName>CoreHtmlClient</ClientProjectName>
• Change: <LightSwitchDisplayName>CoreHtmlClient</LightSwitchDisplayName>

The new client sub-project name will appear in the designer, the project will build and the new name will appear in the HTML client URL.

Leading LightSwitch – Hello, Colors

myapp.AddEditProduct.Color_render = function (element, contentItem) {
 setTimeout(function () {
var colorPicker = $("<input class="id-element ui-input-text ui-body-a ui-corner-all 
ui-shadow-inset ui-mini"" +
    " id="cpFocus" type="text" maxlength="255"" +
    " value="" + contentItem.value + "" data-mini="true" />");
colorPicker.appendTo($(element));
 colorPicker.colorpicker({ showOn: 'focus' })
 .on('change.color', function (evt, color) {
 contentItem.value = color;
 });
 contentItem.dataBind("value", function () {
 colorPicker.colorpicker("val", contentItem.value);
 });
 }, 0);
 };

Another new pack of 8 Lightswitch Themes has been released!

Simple, elegant and unique  themes inspired by shades of green are compatible with all Standard Shells. These 8 Themes add a professional, business flavour to your Lightswitch application.

The theme pack contains the following 8 themes

• Emerald Dark
• Emerald Dark Lite
• Apricot
• Watermelon
• Avocado
• Shamrock
• Light Green
• Grape

For more screen shots please go to the Xpert360 Theme Pack Gallery.

It is the third Theme Pack to be released by Xpert360 and can be downloaded here.

The themes in the pack target the LightSwitch Silverlight Client v2+ that comes with Visual Studio 2012. They have been tested against the LightSwitch Cosmopolitan Shell and the LightSwitch Standard Shell.

We have an internal application to import, edit and generate LightSwitch themes to make the work a lot easier and faster. The Cosmopolitan theme contains references to more than 500 colors! The Theme Generator application is itself written in LightSwitch.

The theme pack can be obtained from the XPert360 Product page. This is the gallery posting – Xpert360 Lightning - Emerald Theme Pack[V2,V3,SL]

The data extension provides a way for both beginners and more advanced developers to add out of the box email functionality to their Silverlight and HTML5 LightSwitch applications.

The data extension uses a standard LightSwitch connection string making it easy to deploy to IIS and Azure without any manual intervention.  The default exchange configuration lends itself to be used for web Support Forms,  application contact screens, and due to its compatibility with the HTML5 client can be used on mobile devices and tablets.

iPhone View of HTML5 Client

In addition to all standard email fields , features of the Emailer include;

• Send on Behalf Of (delegates)
• Override Default Sender (per email)
• Add Attachment (sample code available)
• AutoDiscover Office365 Server URL
• Deployable Connection Settings
• Support for Exchange 2007 SP2 to Exchange 2013 (Office365)

Same HTML5 Client in standard Browser

For more information visit the Xpert360 Youtube Channel for Demo screencasts, and follow this blog to download sample applications.

Free to Try,  or buy a version of the Data Extension from the Visual Studio Gallery or Xpert360.com.

• Further details: XPERT360 LIGHTNING SERIES
• Getting started: QUICK START GUIDE
• Visual Studio Gallery: View and Download

Another new pack of 8 Lightswitch Themes has been released!

Simple, elegant and unique Office inspired themes which are compatible with all Standard Shells. These 8 Themes add a professional, business flavour to your Lightswitch application.

The theme pack contains the following 8 themes

• Office Blue
• Office Silver
• Light Blue
• Light Blue (Lite)
• Office Black
• Visual Studio 2012
• Dark Blue
• Dark Blue (Lite)

For more screen shots please go to the Xpert360 Theme Pack Gallery.

It is the second Theme Pack to be released by Xpert360 and can be downloaded here.

The themes in the pack target the LightSwitch Silverlight Client v2+ that comes with Visual Studio 2012. They have been tested against the LightSwitch Cosmopolitan Shell and the LightSwitch Standard Shell.

We have an internal application to import, edit and generate LightSwitch themes to make the work a lot easier and faster. The Cosmopolitan theme contains references to more than 500 colors! The Theme Generator application is itself written in LightSwitch.

The theme pack can be obtained from the Xpert360 Product Page. This is the gallery posting – Xpert360 Lightning - Office Theme Pack[V2,V3,SL]

To celebrate the release of the  Xpert360 Chocolate theme pack Xpert360 have released this free theme based around mint choc chip and shades of green and chocolate with an added chocolate image. It is the third free chocolate theme and the fifth in a collection of free holiday and festive themes to be released by Xpert360 and can be downloaded from here.

Mint Choc Chip Theme

Mint Choc Chip Validation error

Mint Choc Chip Calendar

The theme targets the LightSwitch Silverlight Client v2+ that comes with Visual Studio 2012. It has been tested against the LightSwitch Cosmopolitan Shell and the LightSwitch Standard Shell.

We have an internal application to import, edit and generate LightSwitch themes to make the work a lot easier and faster. The Cosmopolitan theme contains references to more than 500 colors! The Theme Generator application is itself written in LightSwitch. The theme is free and can be obtained from the Visual Studio Extensions gallery. This is the gallery posting – Xpert360Lightning -Mint Choc Chip Theme[V2,V3,SL] We hope you like it!

A pack of 8 Lightswitch Themes has been released!

Simple, elegant and unique Shades of Chocolate and compatible with all Standard Shells. These 8 Themes  add a professional, business flavour to your application.

The theme pack contains the following 8 themes

• Easter Egg
• Dark Chocolate
• Chocolate Orange
• Mint Chocolate
• Milk Chocolate
• Chilli Chocolate
• Chocolate Lite
• Dark Chocolate Lite

Easter Egg Theme

Dark Chocolate Theme

Chocolate Orange Theme

Mint chocolate theme

Milk Chocolate Theme

Chilli Chocolate Theme

Chocolate Lite Theme

Dark Chocolate Lite theme

For more screen shots please go to the Xpert360 Theme Pack Gallery.

It is the first Theme Pack to be released by Xpert360 and can be downloaded from here.

The themes in the pack target the LightSwitch Silverlight Client v2+ that comes with Visual Studio 2012. They have been tested against the LightSwitch Cosmopolitan Shell and the LightSwitch Standard Shell.

We have an internal application to import, edit and generate LightSwitch themes to make the work a lot easier and faster. The Cosmopolitan theme contains references to more than 500 colors! The Theme Generator application is itself written in LightSwitch.

The theme pack can be obtained from the Xpert360 Product Page. This is the gallery posting – Xpert360Lightning – Chocolate Theme Pack[V2,V3,SL]

This theme is based around  spring time flowers with vibrant shades of spring. It is the fifth in a collection of free holiday and festive themes to be released by Xpert360 and can be downloaded from here.

Spring Flowers Theme

Validation error

The theme targets the LightSwitch Silverlight Client v2+ that comes with Visual Studio 2012. It has been tested against the LightSwitch Cosmopolitan Shell and the LightSwitch Standard Shell.

We have an internal application to import, edit and generate LightSwitch themes to make the work a lot easier and faster. The Cosmopolitan theme contains references to more than 500 colors! The Theme Generator application is itself written in LightSwitch. The theme is free and can be obtained from the Visual Studio Extensions gallery. This is the gallery posting – Xpert360Lightning – Spring Flowers Theme [V2,V3,SL] We hope you like it!