Visual Studio integration

[gregid]

I like the way it automatically compiles on save in visual studio, but there are few drawbacks to current implementation.
1. Since after every save it compiles the files in Visual Studio, VS will ask you what to do with the externally updated files. If you had all files saved there is no conflict and it simply asks you if you want to reload. If you happen to save only one file and still have few files with unsaved changes - you are in conflict as whichever option you choose you have some problem in the end (Discard, Ignore, etc.). My current recommendation is to edit only one file at the time.
2. (Not tested yet with NT8- assuming from previous experience) If you happen to use linked folders (eg. for DropBox) VS will not be notified of the changes made externally - so this may not work at all - did NT staff test how it works on linked folders (before I attempt).
3. "Exclude From Compilation" - this changes the filename by adding @@ prefix. @@ files are then excluded from the compilation. Unfortunately the file name in the VS project is not changed, so trying to open it you get file not found error.

This is what I've noticed so far - I pretty much like the integration and hope it will be ironed out - it is getting really close!

[Raditz]

More

1 - If I have already VS open, NT8 ask me to close all of them, can this be relaxed? will be nice to be able to keep open other projects.

2 - I have VS 2012 and VS 2015 NT8 pick 2012 I tried this

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6880431/change-visual-studio-version-in-run-commandstart-run-devenv

and confirmed that when run devenv I get 2015 but NT8 still pick 2012, any idea?

[NinjaTrader_Brett]

Hey guys thanks for the feedback.

For gregID's post:

1. I will check into this see what can be changed.
2. We use .net filewatcher service for the Visual Studio integration. It is not tested and would need to be tested however we likely would not change our filewatcher approach unless there is significant issue.
3. Sounds like straight bug will get it reported and fixed. Thank You.

For Raditz's post:

1. This is currently a limitation since we cannot identify the correct process to connect to if there are multiple visual studios open.
2. We pick the highest visual studio version that we support and we only have support 2010, 2012, 2013. We have not added 2015 yet. We likely would add once its been released. (We haven't even used 2015 ourselves yet)

[koganam]

Hey guys thanks for the feedback.

For gregID's post:

1. I will check into this see what can be changed.
2. We use .net filewatcher service for the Visual Studio integration. It is not tested and would need to be tested however we likely would not change our filewatcher approach unless there is significant issue.
3. Sounds like straight bug will get it reported and fixed. Thank You.

For Raditz's post:

1. This is currently a limitation since we cannot identify the correct process to connect to if there are multiple visual studios open.
2. We pick the highest visual studio version that we support and we only have support 2010, 2012, 2013. We have not added 2015 yet. We likely would add once its been released. (We haven't even used 2015 ourselves yet)

I would not expect you to use VS2015 in production. It is still only a RC, not shipping code.

[whitmark]

I've done some limited NT7 testing using the new VS 2015 CTP 6 and the enhanced debugging and profiling tools are worth taking a closer look at for use with NT8.

[ds1111]

I think I'm going to install Visual Studio 2015 for debugging NT 7 (only debugging, I will compile under NT7).

Someone that followed this path, please let me know if it should work fine... I'm building a new development notebook, and I didn't want to go with VS Express 10 since now all full versions are free.

[whitmark]

It's worked fine for me for months now.

[gregid]

After updating to both B6 and Visual Studio 2012 Update 5 at the same time (so hard to identify the exact culprit) Visual Studio Integration doesn't work properly:
1. I need to save the changes twice in Visual Studio for NT8 to compile the files (one Ctrl+S to save changes, another Ctrl+S to compile)
2. Newly created Indicators are not saved in (VS) NinjaTrader.Custom project. Every time I am asked to reload VS project I need to add newly created files manually. Indicators were created from NinjaScript Editor.

[whitmark]

Creating New NinjaScript Files in Visual Studio

Using NT8 B6 and VS 2015, I only need to do cntl-S once to save/compile. Creating new indicators (and likely any script file) in VS does not seem to work as expected so this should be done in the NinjaScript Editor for now until we get additional guidance from NT Support. Once the new script files are saved in the NinjaScript Editor they are available to edit in VS after receiving a prompt and selecting "Reload All".

In fact, the NT8 What's New section in Help it states,"The NinjaScript® Editor now supports direct Visual Studio Integration which means you can open, edit, and debug your NinjaScript® files directly in Visual Studio. This allows the NinjaScript® editor to detect changes made outside of itself and automatically reload these changes in order to compile without having to restart or reload the scripts. This functionally applies to any other text editor of your choice, giving the ability to directly edit files outside of NinjaTrader 8 should you desire"

So technically, creating a new NinjaScript file in VS may not be supported yet although you can open, edit, and debug existing files. Also, it's nice to know that other programming editors (like Ultra Edit) can be used given NT8 relies on FileSystemWatcher to trigger a recompile after the file is saved.

[gregid]

Every file I created and added was generated by NinjaScript editor (none in the VS). As to reload - the behavior I experience is very unpredictable - after I generated one more indicator - only the new one is being omitted from VS project after Reload...

[music_p13]

I am experiencing same issue with new strategy where it gets omitted after being saved in VS

[gregid]

I am experiencing same issue with new strategy where it gets omitted after being saved in VS

Which version of the VS are you using? I experience these problems in VS 2012 Update 5 but haven't tried in other versions.

[music_p13]

I was using 2013 and 2015

[NinjaTrader_DaveI]

Hello All,

There are a few of us in the office who have experienced this, as well, but we have yet to pin down a scenario that is consistently reproducible. Since it appears that this is now affecting the community, I am going to get the ball rolling on a bug report to begin to investigate this issue. However, it would be extremely helpful if anyone can pin down a step-by-step scenario that would allow our developers to consistently reproduce the behavior.

[NinjaTrader_DaveI]

I've reported this issue with Tracking ID # NTEIGHT-9057. However, as I mentioned, none of our development team is able to reproduce this issue on their machines, so if anyone stumbles across the magic formula which will consistently reproduce the issue, please post it in this thread so that we can slay this one.