Windows Application Developer Tools

By: Christian Gunderman

Introduction:

This project aims to provide a small, coherent, well documented set of scripts and lightweight tools for improving productivity for developers. It aims to solve a number of common problems, including backup, build, error navigation, file search, patching of installs, F5 debugging of arbitrary solutions, and killing of processes.

It was originally created to improve productivity of developers building Visual Studio. ❤

Install: Self extracting installer.

Auto-updates on subsequent usages.

Use:

Launch Within Any Terminal

• In Powershell: tools.ps1
• In Developer Command Prompt: tools.cmd.

Documentation

• Run 'toolhelp' to list supported commands.
• Run 'Get-Help [alias]' for information on each alias.

'Building'

• Clone the repository recursively
• Update submodules
• Run Build.cmd
• Build produces 'StandaloneInstaller.bat' with packaged scripts.

Debugging

• Clone repo
• Run src/Tools.bat to test inline without installing. I recommend https://code.visualstudio.com/ with the PowerShell extension for editing.

Configure Patching

Patching can be used to update an installed VS or application with experimental bits. For robustness, patch makes backups of each file, takes a hash of the original files, and kills any lock processes, guaranteeing that patch always succeeds, and revert never breaks VS after an update.

• Open your 'scratch' (tool configuration) directory by typing 'nvgo scratch'
• Specify the VS instance to patch for this session by:
  • vsget: lists VS instances on your box
  • vspatch [instance number]: sets the VS instance you wish to use as your target instance (if patching VS extensions or running Apex tests).
• You can create a new patch profile with ptedit [profile name]. This gets stored in your scratch directory.

Creating patch profiles

You can create a new patch profile with ptedit [profile name]. This gets stored in your scratch directory and looks like the sample below. Patch profiles support embedded Powershell variables, including $env: for environment variables. Commands is an array of Powershell commands that are run on patch.

Must first set $env:PatchTargetDir to directory you want to patch. Use vspatch [install number] to choose which VS install to patch.

{
    "variables": {
        "`$env:EnvVariableName": "value"
    },
    "files": {
        "relative source path": "relative destination path"
    },
    "commands": [
        "Start-Process foo.exe -Wait -ArgumentsList 'So Argumentative'"
    ]
}

• variables: Strings that are expanded to PowerShell variables. Use $env:Foo to define environment variables, try $env:GitRoot to create paths relative to the repo root, and try `$env: to reference environment variables.

  • The following are 'special' variables that light up aliases:

    • `$env:PatchBuildCmd - The command to build with prior to patching.

    • `$env:PatchSourceDir - The source folder to copy bits from.

    • `$env:PatchTargetDir - The destination to patch to. You can optionally set this with the vspath alias or your own script.

    • `$env:PatchTargetExe - The main executable of the application being patched.

• files: a dictionary of source -> destination path that are backedup and patched. Can use environment variables.

• commands: an array of PowerShell commands to run after the patch and unpatch.

Start VS

• Find VS instances with vsget
• Launch desired instance with vsstart [instance number].
• Drop into Developer Command prompt with vscmd [instance number]
• Navigate to VS install directory with vspath [instance number]

Patch and Restore

• Follow steps above for 'Configuring' your machine and profile.
• Patch your install using ptapply [profile name]. The originally installed files are backed up and can be restored at any time.
• Check if your currently selected VS instance has been patched with ptstatus.
• Unpatch a specific profile using ptrevert [profile name].

Inner Dev Loop

• You can run the typical inner dev loop of build, deploy, run with:
  • ptuse [profile name] - Chooses a profile to use for this PowerShell session. Enables you to not specify each time.
  • ptbuild - builds the project with the command specified by $env:PatchBuildCmd
  • ptrun - runs the target application in $env:PatchTargetExe
  • ptbuildrun - builds, patches, and runs the target application using the commands in $env:PatchBuildCmd and $env:PatchTargetExe.

'Buddy packs'

Sometimes it's necessary to share pre-release bits with teammates, testers, build machines, etc. 'Buddy packs' are packaged versions of the patched bits in the form of a self-extracting batch script. Simply configure and ensure patching works and then run ptpack [profile name]. A profile.patch.cmd script will be created that can be shared with others or copied to other machines. Note that just like in the local scenario, buddy packs let you choose which VS to patch, check the status, backup changes, and even revert back to the original in a robust way.

F5 debug your project

• Follow steps above for 'Configuring' your machine and profile.
• Ensure that 'Patch and Restore' from above work.
• Run `ptF5 [instance number of VS instance to use to debug] [path to solution file] [profile name]

This patches your target application with links and enables F5 debugging in Visual Studio by running seamless updating the target binaries each time you build. Also injects a debug action for 'Start Debugging' and auto-attaches the debugger.

Return application to stock with ptrevert [profile name]

NOTE: for robustness, patch makes backups of each file, takes a hash of the original files, and kills any lock processes, guaranteeing that patch always succeeds, and revert never breaks VS after an update.

Cross machine patching (Experimental)

Some devs do not trust the integrity of their local machine to experimental products. In response, I have defined some experimental aliases for the innerloop that patch a remote machine or VM instead. This uses the same robust scripts as the regular patch and buddy packs.

• ptrtarget [machine name] - Chooses a machine to patch for this PowerShell session.
• ptrapply [profile name] - applies the files in the patch target to an installation on the remote machine.
• ptrbuildapply [profile name] - builds with the command in $env:PatchBuildCmd and then applies the patch to the specified remote machine.

More aliases

Find

Aliases for finding files and text:

• findp [path]: Searches subdirectory for paths containing [path].
• findif [text]: Searches subdirectory for files containing [text].

MSBuild

Defines some aliases for MSBuild with a clickable GUI error list that makes navigating MSBuild spew more pleasant.

• msbbuild: Build with typical settings
• msbclean: Clean project
• msbrestore: Perform Nuget restore.

Patching applications

Defines some simple commands for backing up, patching, and restoring installed applications based on a configuration file. This script features automatic killing of locking processes as well as hash-verification, ensuring that patch and revert are reliable. It has also experimental support for F5 debugging any VS solution via patch profiles.

Use with Visual Studio 'vspatch' command to patch a VS install.

• ptedit [profile]: Opens the selected profile for editing.
• ptget [profile]: Gets a list of profiles.
• ptapply [profile]: Applies the selected profile.
• ptstatus [profile]: Checks the current target application for patched files.
• ptrevert [profile]: Reverts the current profile's patched binaries.
• ptF5 [vsinstance] [solutionpath] [profile]: Launches the specified instance of VS with the specified solution + profile configured for one-click (F5) debugging.
• ptbuild [profile]: Builds the project for the named profile using the command contained in $env:PatchBuildCmd.
• ptrun [profile]: Runs the target executable for the named profile using the command contained in $env:PatchTargetExe.
• ptbuildrun [profile]: Builds, patches, and runs using the $env:PatchBuildCmd and $env:PatchTargetExe variables.
• ptuse [profile]: Indicates that this profile should be used for the duration of the PowerShell session. Run this once and no longer need to specify the profile each build.
• ptpack [profile]: Packs up the current contents of the selected profile into a self-extracting batch script that can be shared with others.

Process Snapshot

Defines some convenient scripts and aliases for killing groups of processes to help get you unblocked if a build executable is locking a file.

• pbunlock [fileName]: Kills all processes that are locking a file.
• pbldmp [profile] [fileName]: Dumps a list of all processes locking the given file into a profile.
• pbget: Gets a list of Process Baseline profiles that you have saved.
• pbnew [profile]: Dumps all active processes to a named profile or 'Default' profile if not specified.
• pbnstop [profile]: Stops all executables except those reference by the given profile or 'Default' profile if not specified.
• pbstop [profile]: Stops all executables referenced by the given profile or 'Default' profile if not specified.
• pbedit [profile]: Opens a named profile for manual editing.
• sudo [command] [args]: Opens tools prompt as admin or runs a command as admin.

Reliability Tools

Defines some aliases for automating investigation of build failures and crashes.

• dmpadd [exeName] [dumpPath]: Sets Windows to automatically capture dumps of the specified program to the specified folder.
• dmpget: Lists all apps currently set for automatic dump collection on this PC.
• dmprm [exeName]: Removes the specified program from automatic dump collection.

Navigation aliases

Defines aliases for navigating and opening explorer in named paths.

• nvedit: Opens the list of aliases for editing.
• nvget: Lists all defined aliases.
• nvgo: cds to the given alias or prompts you to define it if undefined.
• nvnew: Defines or redefines an alias.
• nve: Launches a named location in file explorer.

Visual Studio

Aliases for launching Visual Studio installs developer command prompts.

• vsget: Lists all VS installs and their [instance] number.
• vsstart [instance]: Starts a specific VS instance by its number.
• vsreset [instance]: Wipes a specific VS instance by its number.
• vsconfig [instance]: Updates configuration timestamp on a specific VS.
• vspath [instance]: Opens installation path on a specific VS.
• vscmd [instance]: Launches developer command prompt for a specific VS.
• vspatch [instance]: Selects an instance of VS as the target application for patching or running Apex tests.

ChangeLog

• 9/18/2023 - Accepted contribution to make Get-GitRoot work with Git worktrees.
• 10/2/2020 - Added 'sudo' alias.
• 2/26/2020 - Fixed installation failure if 'ToolsScratch' doesn't exist.
• 2/13/2020 - Added 'vsuse' alias for 'vspatch', print profile names when prompted for profile, changed output formatting, option for disabling version check, title, pfF5 is now fast and uses symlinks.
• 2/7/2020 - Fixed issue where 'nve scratch' was broken.
• 2/6/2020 - Added 'toolhelp' command for self-documentation.
• 12/12/2019 - Updated vspatch to set the Apex test framework to use the targed VS when the user makes a selection.
• 12/11/2019 - Added aliases for enabling automatic dump collection of executables on crash.
• 11/19/2019 - Added a warning on patch when assembly binding versions are mismatched and added prompts instead of failures when patching without specifying machine name.
• 9/9/2019 - Fixed issue where 'buddy-packs' would fail to pack due to a temp file that wasn't deleted. Added experimental aliases for cross-machine patching.
• 9/3/2019 - ACTUALLY fix the PATH corruption bug. So sorry for those affected 😬
• 8/27/2019 - Improve 'vsget' alias and introduce support for 'buddy packs' for packing up bits for sharing with teammates, testers, and demo/build machines.
• 8/15/2019 - Install to consistent location. Can now uninstall with 'Uninstall-Tools' function. Fixed issue where we'd pollute the user's path. Refined build, deploy, run workflow aliases.
• 7/17/2019 - Support environment variables in patch paths and define $env:GitRoot for the root of the current repo.
• 6/7/2019 - Fixed killing of locking processes when doing revert. Fixed overwriting of backup when revert fails. Print release notes on startup. Init submodule on build.
• 5/10/2019 - Add 'scratch' to default nav locations.
• 5/4/2019 - Auto updater.
• 5/3/2019 - Fixed dev prompts, fixed some bugs with F5, improved patching reliability, aliases for listing processes locking a file.
• 4/5/2019 - Kills processes locking files during patch operation, verifies hashes on restore, less likely to accidentally delete backups on exception, and enables F5 debugging.
• 3/23/2019 - Fix revert when patch is run multiple times and add navigation aliases.
• 3/20/2019 - Wait for VS config tasks to complete and store scratch outside of install directory.
• 3/19/2019 - Added patching aliases.
• 3/18/2019 - Added many tools and README.