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# About the Visual Studio Integration Plugin

The Visual Studio Integration Plugin is currently available only to users of Visual Studio 6, it offers simple ways of doing common tasks when writing a Qt application.

- How to install the Visual Studio Integration Plugin
- How to uninstall the Visual Studio Integration Plugin
- What can the Visual Studio Integration Plugin do?
  - Using the 'New Qt Project' button
  - Using the 'New Qt Dialog' button
  - Using the 'Qt Designer' button
  - Using the 'Open Qt Project' button
  - Using the 'Write Qt Project' button
  - Using the 'Use Qt In Current Project' button
  - Using the 'Add MOC' button

## How to install the Visual Studio Integration Plugin

When you install Qt, the integration plugin should be installed for you, and ready for use. However, sometimes this does not happen properly, so you need to manually carry out the following steps.

- Ensure that the file '%MSDevDir%\addins\qmsdev.dll' exists.
- Start Visual Studio, if it isn't already running.
- Select Tools|Customize|Add-ins and Macro Files.
- Ensure the checkbox to the left of the "QMsDev Developer Studio-Add-In" add-in is checked.
- Click Close.

Now the integration plugin should be properly installed. If this doesn't work, then contact Trolltech technical support giving details of what went wrong.

## How to uninstall the Visual Studio Integration Plugin

When you want to uninstall the integration plugin, just carry out the following steps.

- Close down any instances of Visual Studio.
- Delete the file '%MSDevDir%\addins\qmsdev.dll'

## What can the Visual Studio Integration Plugin do?

The integration plugin adds the following options to Visual Studio:

- New Qt Project
- New Qt Dialog
- Qt Designer
- Open Qt Project
- Write Qt Project
- Use Qt In Current Project
- Add MOC

### Using the 'New Qt Project' button

The 'New Qt Project' button allows you to create a simple Qt project ready for development. Simply fill in the form and if you select 'Dialog' or 'Main Window' without MDI support then it will automatically start up Qt Designer. When you have finished with the form in Qt Designer just save it and it will appear in a ready made Qt project.

If you select 'Main Window' with 'MDI Support' then it will simply give you a code skeleton in a project ready for you to populate with your own code.

### Using the 'New Qt Dialog' button

The 'New Qt Dialog' button works in two ways: You can use it to create a new dialog for your project; or you can use it to insert an existing dialog into your project.

If you want to create a new dialog then all you need to do is specify where the dialog file should be saved and give it a name. This will start up Qt Designer to allow you to design your new dialog, and will add it to the existing project.

If you want to add an existing dialog to your project, then just select the relevant `.ui` file. This will then add it to your existing project and add the relevant steps to create the generated code.

### Using the 'Qt Designer' button

The 'Qt Designer' button simply starts up Qt Designer, it has no ties to your existing project so whatever you do with it will not affect your existing projects. It can also be started up by using the Ctrl+Shift+D key combination in Visual Studio.

### Using the 'Open Qt Project' button

The 'Open Qt Project' button allows you to convert an existing `qmake` project file into a `.dsp` file which you can insert into your existing workspace. When you click the 'Open Qt Project' button, just select an existing `qmake` project file (a `.pro` file) and then click OK. You will get a message box at the end which asks you to insert the newly created `.dsp` file into your existing workspace.

### Using the 'Write Qt Project' button

The 'Write Qt Project' button creates a `qmake` project (`.pro`) file for your current project so that you can easily copy the files onto another platform and be able to use `qmake` to create a Makefile on that other platform. All you need to do is make the project you want to create a `.pro` file for, and click on the button. Just name your `qmake` project file and click Save.

### Using the 'Use Qt In Current Project' button

The 'Use Qt In Current Project' button simply adds in the necessary information for the current project so that it links against Qt and sets any other settings needed to use Qt in that project.

### Using the 'Add MOC' button

The 'Add MOC' button will add in the custom build step for the selected file so that it creates any needed MOC files and it will add these generated files to the project. All you need to do to use it is click on a file that has Q_OBJECT and click the button.

You only need to use this button if you added a file that has Q_OBJECT in it by hand, you don't need to use this if you used any of the previously mentioned buttons. It can also be invoked by using the Ctrl+Shift+M key combination in Visual Studio.