Is there any guidance on converting existing .NET class libraries to portable libraries?

Question

I have some class libraries with a non-trivial amount of existing code. The class libraries currently target .NET 4.0. Is there any guidance on how to convert these librarie

Answer 1

You can delete the <Import Project="..." /> line. Then, when you reload the project, Visual Studio will ask you which frameworks to target. You can then change this later in the project's properties.

Answer 2

I created a Visual Studio Extension to automate this. Just search in Visual Studio > 2012 in Extension for "convert to pcl"

The source code is also available on Github.

Answer 3

We also converted existing libraries to portable libraries and it works fine. You have to modify the project file. Replace the following line:

<Import Project="..." />

with

<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\Portable\$(TargetFrameworkVersion)\Microsoft.Portable.CSharp.targets" />

Add following line inside a PropertyGroup tag

<ProjectTypeGuids>{786C830F-07A1-408B-BD7F-6EE04809D6DB};{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}</ProjectTypeGuids>

And remove following lines from the AssemblyInfo.cs file

[assembly: ComVisible(false)]
[assembly: Guid("...")]

After that, Visual Studio should show you the Tab page "Library" in the project Property page and you can change the target frameworks for the portable library.