Using UI Toolkit window libraries in Visual Studio

Synergy DBL Integration for Visual Studio provides a “Script” project type for compiling window script source files into UI Toolkit window libraries in Visual Studio.

The Script compiler in SDI is purpose-built to handle Visual Studio– and MSBuild-based build scenarios. Although it is different from (and faster than) the Script compiler that ships with Synergy/DE, it is designed to produce compatible libraries. See Window Scripts for more information about window script files.

Creating a Script project

A Script project enables you to generate a Toolkit window library from a window script source file in Visual Studio. See Script page of Visual Studio project properties for information about options you can set.

To create a Visual Studio project that generates a window library from a script file,

Use the Script project template to create a Visual Studio project (select “Script” in the New Project dialog in Visual Studio).

Use the context menus in the Solution Explorer window to add your Script source files to the project that you created. (Select the Script project node in Solution Explorer, select Add, and then select New Item....)

(Optional) Use the context menus in the Solution Explorer window to add a reference to an existing Repository project. (Select the Script project node in Solution Explorer, select Add, and then select Reference.)

Build the project to get an output library.

Once you’ve built your Visual Studio project into a library, you can compile individual scripts by right-clicking on a Script file item and selecting “Compile Script” from the context menu.

To control the build ordering of Script source files (because some scripts supersede others), you can set the “Priority” property of source files in the Properties window. Higher numbers are built later, and files with matching priorities are compiled together in batches.

Customizing a Script project

To customize the project’s output location, name, and compatibility settings,

Go to the Script page of the Visual Studio project properties. (Select the Script project node in Solution Explorer, and then select Project > Properties.)

If you want to generate the window library files to a location other than the default, specify that location in the Output path field. This can be a relative path to the project, an absolute path, or a Synergy logical.

If you want to produce a library with a different name, or use an output extension other than .ism, specify that name or extension in the Output name field.

If you want to make your window library build with ISAM Revision 4 for compatibility with older runtimes and tools, check the Target ISAM Revision 4 check box.