Add submenu to existing Visual Studio extension menu
I created a Visual Studio menu extension that I deploy via a VSIX package; now I need to create a new VSIX package to add submenus to the previous one.
I have created a Visual Studio extension menu (A) via a VSIX project, that contains a button.
First extension result:
Now I'm trying to create a second VSIX project, and my goal is to create a submenu (B) that is child of (A), by preserving all the pre-existing buttons; I need to create a sort of modular behavior, so I cannot create just a single VSIX project.
However, when I try and install the second VSIX package, it seems that it overwrites the first extension, and I see only the second.
Second extension result:
My wanted goal is as shown in the following picture:
I already found this other question and I tried what it suggested, but with no luck.
The file *.vsct of the first project is
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CommandTable ...>
<Extern href="stdidcmd.h" />
<Extern href="vsshlids.h" />
<Commands package="guidMyTestVSPackage">
<Menus>
<Menu guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet" id="TopMenu" priority="0x100" type="Menu">
<Parent guid="guidSHLMainMenu" id="IDG_VS_MM_TOOLSADDINS" />
<Strings>
<ButtonText>MyApp</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Menu>
</Menus>
<Groups>
<Group guid="guidAboutPackageCmdSet" id="MyTestAboutMenuGroup" priority="0x0E00">
<Parent guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet" id="TopMenu" />
</Group>
</Groups>
<Buttons>
<Button guid="guidAboutPackageCmdSet" id="cmdidAboutCommand" priority="0x0100" type="Button">
<Parent guid="guidAboutPackageCmdSet" id="MyTestAboutMenuGroup" />
<Strings>
<ButtonText>About</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Button>
</Buttons>
</Commands>
<Symbols>
<!-- This is the package guid. -->
<GuidSymbol name="guidMyTestVSPackage" value="{212cdc15-f054-46cf-8db5-a4e2a75c0d1e}" />
<GuidSymbol name="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet" value="{2ca5942d-9e0f-48cb-9eb8-a979358ff308}">
<IDSymbol name="TopMenu" value="0x1022" />
</GuidSymbol>
<GuidSymbol name="guidAboutPackageCmdSet" value="{4b9c6cc9-e54e-4ded-84ff-161c3bde5ad7}">
<IDSymbol value="4128" name="MyTestAboutMenuGroup" />
<IDSymbol value="256" name="cmdidAboutCommand" />
</GuidSymbol>
</Symbols>
</CommandTable>
The file *.vsct of the second project is
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CommandTable ...>
<Extern href="stdidcmd.h" />
<Extern href="vsshlids.h" />
<Commands package="guidMyTestVSPackage">
<Menus>
<Menu guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet" id="TopMenu" priority="0x100" type="Menu">
<Parent guid="guidSHLMainMenu" id="IDG_VS_MM_TOOLSADDINS" />
<Strings>
<ButtonText>MyApp</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Menu>
<Menu guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="testMenu" priority="0x100" type="Menu">
<Parent guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="MyAppMenuGroup" />
<Strings>
<ButtonText>MyTest 2023</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Menu>
</Menus>
<Groups>
<Group guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="MyAppMenuGroup" priority="0x0000">
<Parent guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet" id="TopMenu"/>
</Group>
<Group guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="testMenuGroup" priority="0x0000">
<Parent guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="testMenu"/>
</Group>
<Group guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="MyTestMenuGroup" priority="0x0600">
<Parent guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="testMenu" />
</Group>
</Groups>
<Buttons>
<Button guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="MyTestCommandId" priority="0x0100" type="Button">
<Parent guid="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" id="MyTestMenuGroup" />
<Strings>
<ButtonText>Add MyTest NuGet Package</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Button>
</Buttons>
</Commands>
<Symbols>
<!-- This is the package guid. -->
<GuidSymbol name="guidMyTestVSPackage" value="{212cdc15-f054-46cf-8db5-a4e2a75c0d1f}" />
<GuidSymbol name="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet" value="{2ca5942d-9e0f-48cb-9eb8-a979358ff308}">
<IDSymbol name="TopMenu" value="0x1022" />
</GuidSymbol>
<GuidSymbol name="guidMyTestPackageCmdSet2" value="{2ca5942d-9e0f-48cb-9eb8-a979358ff309}">
<IDSymbol name="testMenu" value="0x1021" />
<IDSymbol name="testMenuGroup" value="0x1026" />
<IDSymbol name="MyAppMenuGroup" value="0x1023" />
<IDSymbol name="MyTestMenuGroup" value="0x1020" />
<IDSymbol name="MyTestCommandId" value="0x0100" />
</GuidSymbol>
</Symbols>
</CommandTable>
Solution
I managed to achieve what I wanted, I post the details, in case someone will have the same issue.
I create the first .vsct as described in the original question, where I defined the main menu MyMenu and the common menu items.
In the second .vsct I added the references to the Menu and MenuGroup and use them. I shouldn't also add MyMenu to Menus in this .csvt. Another mistake I took is to set MyMenu as parent of the new menu items, instead of its group MyMenuGroup.
For completeness sake, the first .vsct is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CommandTable xmlns="..." xmlns:xs="...">
<Extern href="stdidcmd.h"/>
<Extern href="vsshlids.h"/>
<Commands package="guidCommonPackage">
<Menus>
<Menu guid="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" id="MyMenu" priority="0x100">
<Parent guid="guidSHLMainMenu" id="IDG_VS_MM_TOOLSADDINS"/>
<Strings>
<ButtonText>Common Menu</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Menu>
</Menus>
<Groups>
<Group guid="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" id="MyMenuGroup" priority="0x0600">
<Parent guid="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" id="MyMenu"/>
</Group>
</Groups>
<Buttons>
<Button guid="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" id="AboutId" priority="0x0100" type="Button">
<Parent guid="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" id="MyMenuGroup"/>
<Icon guid="guidImages" id="bmpPic1"/>
<Strings>
<ButtonText>About</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Button>
</Buttons>
<Bitmaps>
<Bitmap guid="guidImages" href="Resources\About.png" usedList="bmpPic1, bmpPic2, bmpPicSearch, bmpPicX, bmpPicArrows, bmpPicStrikethrough"/>
</Bitmaps>
</Commands>
<Symbols>
<!-- This is the package guid. -->
<GuidSymbol name="guidCommonPackage" value="{cd573a98-a4dc-4c94-abc9-44ff2f1d3485}"/>
<GuidSymbol name="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" value="{a984ac26-be55-44b2-bc4e-ab1e79b6e875}">
<IDSymbol name="MyMenu" value="0x1010"/>
<IDSymbol name="MyMenuGroup" value="0x1020"/>
<IDSymbol name="AboutId" value="0x0100"/>
</GuidSymbol>
<GuidSymbol name="guidImages" value="{9ef0bc86-5032-4135-b94e-bd4bc76112ed}">
<IDSymbol name="bmpPic1" value="1"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPic2" value="2"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicSearch" value="3"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicX" value="4"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicArrows" value="5"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicStrikethrough" value="6"/>
</GuidSymbol>
</Symbols>
</CommandTable>
The second .vsct is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CommandTable xmlns="..." xmlns:xs="...">
<Extern href="stdidcmd.h"/>
<Extern href="vsshlids.h"/>
<Commands package="guidModule3Package">
<Menus>
<Menu guid="guidModule3PackageCmdSet" id="SubMenu" priority="0x1000">
<Parent guid="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" id="MyMenuGroup"/>
<Strings>
<ButtonText>Sub Menu</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Menu>
</Menus>
<Groups>
<Group guid="guidModule3PackageCmdSet" id="SubMenuGroup" priority="0x0600">
<Parent guid="guidModule3PackageCmdSet" id="SubMenu"/>
</Group>
</Groups>
<Buttons>
<Button guid="guidModule3PackageCmdSet" id="Command3Id" priority="0x0100" type="Button">
<Parent guid="guidModule3PackageCmdSet" id="SubMenuGroup"/>
<Icon guid="guidImages" id="bmpPic1"/>
<Strings>
<ButtonText>Invoke Command3</ButtonText>
</Strings>
</Button>
</Buttons>
<Bitmaps>
<Bitmap guid="guidImages" href="Resources\Command3.png" usedList="bmpPic1, bmpPic2, bmpPicSearch, bmpPicX, bmpPicArrows, bmpPicStrikethrough"/>
</Bitmaps>
</Commands>
<Symbols>
<GuidSymbol name="guidModule3Package" value="{8e7e1e97-c2a2-4bff-bc8f-788088b4f349}"/>
<GuidSymbol name="guidCommonPackageCmdSet" value="{a984ac26-be55-44b2-bc4e-ab1e79b6e875}">
<IDSymbol name="MyMenu" value="0x1010"/>
<IDSymbol name="MyMenuGroup" value="0x1020"/>
</GuidSymbol>
<GuidSymbol name="guidModule3PackageCmdSet" value="{614f17f3-962b-4cbd-a34d-aaf0346d5ec7}">
<IDSymbol name="SubMenu" value="0x1110"/>
<IDSymbol name="SubMenuGroup" value="0x1120"/>
<IDSymbol name="Command3Id" value="0x0100"/>
</GuidSymbol>
<GuidSymbol name="guidImages" value="{7c725fe5-b35f-438a-a637-daeea16254a4}">
<IDSymbol name="bmpPic1" value="1"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPic2" value="2"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicSearch" value="3"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicX" value="4"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicArrows" value="5"/>
<IDSymbol name="bmpPicStrikethrough" value="6"/>
</GuidSymbol>
</Symbols>
</CommandTable>
The final result, as expected:
- Is there an easier way to stop at a breakpoint only when an error happens?
- Visual Studio Error: An item with the same key has already been added
- Docker gets error "failed to compute cache key: not found" - runs fine in Visual Studio
- What is the link between a nuget package and its source?
- Visual studio 2022 is not remembering last opened files
- Visual Studio 2022 breaking on exceptions in third-party JavaScript library files when debugging Blazor WASM app using Chrome
- How do I stop Visual studio from adding reference to WebView2?
- What do the Visual Studio watch window icons represent?
- Error: SetSite failed for package [ApacheCordovaToolsPackage]
- Show custom indexer in debugger
- Adding MSVC 2017 to Qt
- likely/unlikely equivalent for MSVC
- Where is the GitHub Copilot Autocompletions Panel in Visual Studio 2022?
- Problem with LINQ - necessary to add reference to unneeded library
- How can I disable the Yellow Highlighting of @ in Blazor Visual Studio?
- Visual Studio doesnt find the installed .net SDK
- Can I tell what version of Visual Studio was used to build a DLL by examining the DLL itself
- How to install specific version of Visual Studio 2022
- Web stress testing of AngularJS SPA ASP.NET MVC application in Visual Studio
- Running Azure functions locally gives "No runtime" error after .NET7 upgrade
- Receiving Push Notifications on Android Emulator for .NET MAUI app
- How to replicate SublimeText ctrl+D in Visual Studio
- Is it possible to show only public components in the solution explorer in ms visual studio?
- Should GetEnvironmentVariable work in xUnit tests?
- Can't commit changes to GitHub in Visual Studio
- VS2008 internal compiler error
- Unknown build error, 'Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown
- How do you count the lines of code in a Visual Studio solution?
- How do I create timestamp url or where can I find free timestamp url for MSIX app packages
- Navigating through code with keyboard shortcuts