PowerShell Script to Create Visual Studio Project Template Extension Zip Issue

Question

I\'m trying to write a PowerShell script to write a Visual Studio extension which will simply add a project template. Here is a trimmed down version of the script to demonst

Answer 1

For some reason, [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::CreateFromDirectory will not create a zip/vsix file that works correctly, even though it will show as installed. The template does not show in the new project UI.

Use 7zip instead to create zip files.

While I tried to investigate this issue, I did not like that the code was not using fully qualified paths, and the strings were hard to look at. I refactored your code a bit.

Based on my testing, this now works as expected.

CODE

<#
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/40462544/powershell-script-to-create-visual-studio-project-template-extension-zip-issue

For some reason, [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::CreateFromDirectory will not create a zip/vsix file that works correctly,
even though it will show as installed.  The template does not show in the new project UI.

Use 7zip instead to create zip files.
#>

Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
$VerbosePreference = [System.Management.Automation.ActionPreference]::Continue

# Makes debugging from ISE easier.
if ($PSScriptRoot -eq "")
{
    $root = Split-Path -Parent $psISE.CurrentFile.FullPath
}
else
{
    $root = $PSScriptRoot
}

Set-Location $root

<#
Create a zip file with items under Path in the root of the zip file.
#>
function New-ZipFile([string]$Path, [string]$FileName)
{
    $zipExe = 'C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe'
    $currentLocation = Get-Location
    Set-Location $Path
    & $zipExe a -tzip $FileName * -r
    Set-Location $currentLocation
}

# Create temporary directories for the zip archives

"Extension", "Template" | % {New-Item (Join-Path $root $_) -ItemType Directory}

# Build up the contents of the template file

$templateContent = @'


    
        MyExtension
        MyExtension
        MyExtension.ico
        CSharp
        
        2.0
        1000
        61251892-9605-4816-846b-858352383c38
        true
        MyExtension
        true
    
    
        
    

'@

# Save the template file

$templateContent | Out-File (Join-Path $root "Template\MyExtension.vstemplate") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Build up the contents of the proj file

$projContent = @'


    
    
    Debug
    AnyCPU
    
    
    2.0
    {403C08FA-9E44-4A8A-A757-1662142E1334}
    {349c5851-65df-11da-9384-00065b846f21};{fae04ec0-301f-11d3-bf4b-00c04f79efbc}
    Library
    Properties
    $safeprojectname$
    $safeprojectname$
    v4.5
    false
    
    
    
    
    
    
    true
    full
    false
    bin\
    DEBUG;TRACE
    prompt
    4
    
    
    pdbonly
    true
    bin\
    TRACE
    prompt
    4
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    10.0
    $(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)
    
    
    
    
    
    
        
        
            False
            True
            58060
            /
            
            
            False
            True
            http://localhost/
            False
        
        
    
    
    

'@

# Save the proj file

$projContent | Out-File (Join-Path $root "Template\MyExtension.csproj") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Create the template zip file

New-Item (Join-Path $root "Extension\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Web\1033") -ItemType Directory
New-ZipFile (Join-Path $root "Template") (Join-Path $root "Extension\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Web\1033\MyExtension.zip")

# Create a content types xml file (an error will be thrown if this does not exist)

$conentTypesContent = @'

'@

# Save the content types file

$conentTypesContent | Out-File -literalPath (Join-Path $root "Extension\[Content_Types].xml") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Now create an extension manifest for the visual studio template

$extensionContent = @'

    
        
        MyExtension Project Template
        MyExtension Project Template Extension
    
    
        
    
    
        
    
    
        
    

'@

# Save the extension file

$extensionContent | Out-File (Join-Path $root "Extension\extension.vsixmanifest") -Encoding "UTF8" #-NoNewline

# Create the extension zip file

New-ZipFile (Join-Path $root "Extension") (Join-Path $root "MyExtension.vsix")

# Delete the temporary directories
"Extension", "Template" | % {Remove-Item (Join-Path $root $_) -Recurse -Force}