Shimmy Visual Studio Extension Framework
Shimmy makes it easier to extend Visual Studio by providing a, MEF-powered, extensibility framework. It's now easy to add functionality to Visual Studio without relying on macros, or needing to recompile and redeploy separate AddIn projects.
Out of the box
Out of the box, Shimmy includes a sample extension. All plugins are disabled by default; they can be enabled by visiting the Options page in Visual Studio and selecting Shimmy.
Sample Plugins
- dotLess file processor - automatically converts .less files to .css when saved
- T4 template executor - automatically execute T4 templates when files that match a regular expression are saved
- More to come... (ideas welcome)
Why Shimmy?
- Easily extensible - just drop a dll into the Plugins directory - that's it.
- Simple API - all of the VS AddIn plumbing (and some of the "gotchas") have been abstracted away; you can concentrate on functionality
- Centralized plugins - you can specify any number of locations for Shimmy to retrieve plugins (even network shares)
- This means you can ensure your entire team has the same functionality, or follows a set of standards
- Supports partially-connected sources (like network shares) - creates a local cache
Is Shimmy For Me?
- Do you like to automate tasks in visual studio?
- Do you hate working with VB macros and their limited functionality?
- Do you want to ensure all members of your team have the same capabilities?
- Do you like things that are generally pretty cool?
If you answered 'Yes' to any of these, then Shimmy is for you.
Quick Start
- Download and install the latest release (Shimmy 1.0.4)
- Go to the installation directory and open the Sample Project
- Build the project
- Copy the DLL to %APPDATA%\Shimmy\Plugins
- Reload the AddIn or restart Visual Studio