Visual Power Packs ship with Visual Studio 2008 SP1

Question

Beginning with the Service Pack 1 update to Visual Studio 2008, the Visual Basic Power Pack controls are included in the standard installation. While it is still possible to download and install the Web version of the Power Packs, it is recommended that you use the version included with Visual Studio 2008 SP1.

Having both versions of the Power Packs installed can cause issues - if both are referenced from the same project, an "ambiguous reference" error can occur. This error can be corrected by removing one of the references to Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.

To determine which Power Packs version(s) you have installed:

- From the Project menu, click Add Reference

- In the .NET tab, scroll down to Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks

The version that ships with Visual Studio is listed as Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks.Vs, version 9.0.0.0

The Web download version is listed as Microsoft.VisualBasic.PowerPacks, version 9.0.0.0

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Steve Hoag Microsoft aka the V-Bee

Answer 1

Thanks Steve!

YunFeng also have a blog here to explain it more:
http://blogs.msdn.com/vsdata/archive/2009/07/24/visual-basic-power-packs-is-included-in-visual-studio-2008-sp1.aspx

Cheers!

John

Answer 2

I've upgraded Visual Studio 2008 to SP1 and have used some of the line/shape functionality.  I like the way it works, but I can't deploy my app now because I haven't found a way to upgrade other computers to the new Visual Basic Power Pack that don't have Visual Studio 2008 installed.  Any ideas?

Answer 3

Hi DevGuyFrank,

You need to deploy the Power Packs controls along with your application. A bootstrapper package is included that allows you easily install them as a part of either a ClickOnce or MSI deployment. See the topic "Deploying Applications That Reference Visual Basic Power Packs Controls" for more info: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc488314.aspx

For the specifics on how to use the bootstrapper, see the Task links at the bottom of the topic.

Hope this helps,

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Steve Hoag Microsoft aka the V-Bee