10 thoughts on “Converting VB.NET 2003 WinForms to 2005/2008 Partial Classes”

1. 

   Thanks for the macro converter in VB.

   There is a small bug in your code – change MsgBoxResult.No to MsgBoxResult.Cancel in the following lines:
   …
   MsgBoxStyle.OkCancel Or MsgBoxStyle.DefaultButton2 Or MsgBoxStyle.Question, _
   “Confirm”) = MsgBoxResult.Cancel Then Exit Sub

2. 

   Good catch! I went ahead and fixed it.

3. 

   Thanks for the marco, works great, just what I’ve been looking for!

4. 

   Nathan,

   I like what you’ve done.

   Here’s a version that moves the existing “Inherits” line to the new file instead of assuming that the base type is “Form” and creating a (hopefully) duplicate copy there…

   Option Strict On

   Imports System
   Imports EnvDTE
   Imports EnvDTE80
   Imports EnvDTE90
   Imports EnvDTE90a
   Imports EnvDTE100
   Imports System.Diagnostics

   Public Module MoveDesignerCodeToPartialClass

   ‘ ————————————————————————-
   ‘ Extract WinForms Designer File Visual Studio 2005/2008 Macro
   ‘ ————————————————————————-
   ‘ Extracts the InitializeComponent() and Dispose() methods and control
   ‘ field delarations from a .NET 1.x VS 2003 project into a VS 2005/8
   ‘ style .NET 2.0 partial class in a *.Designer.cs file.
   ‘
   ‘ To use:
   ‘ * Copy the methods below into a Visual Studio Macro Module (use
   ‘ ALT+F11 to show the Macro editor)
   ‘ * Select a Windows Form in the Solution Explorer
   ‘ * Run the macro by showing the Macro Explorer (ALT+F8) and double
   ‘ clicking the ‘ExtractWinFormsDesignerFile’ macro.
   ‘
   ‘ Duncan Smart, InfoBasis, 2007
   ‘ Adam Best, 2009
   ‘ Jeff Shelby, 2010
   ‘ ————————————————————————-

   Public Sub ExtractWinFormsDesignerFile()
   Dim item As ProjectItem = DTE.SelectedItems.Item(1).ProjectItem
   Dim fileName As String = item.FileNames(1)
   Dim dir As String = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName)
   Dim bareName As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(fileName)
   Dim newItemPath As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(dir, bareName & “.Designer.vb”)

   ‘If the designer file already exists,
   ‘don’t create another one.
   For Each childItem As ProjectItem In item.ProjectItems

   If (childItem.FileNames(1) = newItemPath) Then
   MsgBox(“This form already has a Designer file. It will not be converted.”)
   Exit Sub
   End If

   Next

   Dim codeClass As CodeClass = findClass(item.FileCodeModel.CodeElements)

   ‘If we didn’t find a non-partial
   ‘code class, there’s nothing to do.
   If IsNothing(codeClass) Then
   Exit Sub
   End If

   Dim initComponentText As String = extractMember(codeClass.Members.Item(“InitializeComponent”))
   Dim disposeText As String = extractMember(codeClass.Members.Item(“Dispose”))
   Dim fieldDecls As String = extractWinFormsFields(codeClass)
   Dim PartialClassFileContents As New System.Text.StringBuilder

   With PartialClassFileContents

   If (Not IsNothing(codeClass.Namespace)) Then
   .Append(“Namespace ” & codeClass.Namespace.FullName())
   End If

   .Append(” _” & vbCrLf)
   .Append(“Partial Class ” & codeClass.Name & vbCrLf)
   .Append(vbCrLf)
   .Append(disposeText & vbCrLf)
   .Append(fieldDecls & vbCrLf)
   .Append(initComponentText & vbCrLf)
   .Append(“End Class” & vbCrLf)

   If (Not IsNothing(codeClass.Namespace)) Then
   .Append(“End Namespace”)
   End If

   End With

   System.IO.File.WriteAllText(newItemPath, PartialClassFileContents.ToString)
   Dim newProjItem As ProjectItem = item.ProjectItems.AddFromFile(newItemPath)
   ‘There’s only one element in the file, which is the partial class we just created.
   Dim newCodeClass As CodeClass = DirectCast(newProjItem.FileCodeModel.CodeElements.Item(1), CodeClass)
   ‘Move the “Inherits” statement from the original file to the new one.
   newCodeClass.AddBase(extractBase(codeClass))
   ‘Reformat the new file.
   newProjItem.Open(Constants.vsViewKindCode)
   newProjItem.Document.Activate()
   DTE.ExecuteCommand(“Edit.FormatDocument”)
   End Sub

   Private Function findClass(ByVal items As System.Collections.IEnumerable) As CodeClass
   ‘The designer generated code was originally placed in the same code behind
   ‘file as the custom code because partial classes were not supported. Knowing
   ‘this, we will assume that “partial class” has not been used to split this
   ‘form into multiple code files. If that assumption is correct, the first
   ‘class we run into will be the one that contains the designer generated code.
   For Each codeEl As CodeElement In items

   If (codeEl.Kind = vsCMElement.vsCMElementClass) Then
   ‘Convert the original class declaration to a partial class.
   Dim start As EditPoint = codeEl.GetStartPoint().CreateEditPoint()
   Dim endPoint As TextPoint = codeEl.GetStartPoint(vsCMPart.vsCMPartBody)
   Dim text As String = start.GetText(endPoint)

   If text.Contains(“partial class”) Then
   ‘Bad news. Our assumption was violated so
   ‘we probably don’t want to carry forward.
   MsgBox(“The code is already in “”partial class”” form so it will not be converted.”)
   Return Nothing
   End If

   start.Delete(endPoint)
   Dim newText As String = text.Replace(“class”, “partial class”)
   start.Insert(newText)
   Return DirectCast(codeEl, CodeClass)

   ElseIf (codeEl.Children.Count > 0) Then
   Dim cls As CodeClass = findClass(codeEl.Children)

   If Not IsNothing(cls) Then
   Return cls
   End If

   End If

   Next

   Return Nothing
   End Function

   Private Function extractBase(ByVal codeClass As CodeClass) As String
   ‘Due to a “feature” of the FullName implementation for VB
   ‘this will not work if the base class is a generic type.
   ‘There is a way around this using the VBGenericExtender
   ‘(see http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vsx/thread/59dd091b-a11f-4d27-9e77-df43b664b2b1)
   ‘however:
   ‘a) Having a generic base type seems unlikely in this case
   ‘b) Using VBGenericExtender wouldn’t work for C# code which
   ‘ makes it harder to convert this code back and forth.
   Dim BaseName As String = codeClass.Bases.Item(1).FullName
   codeClass.RemoveBase(BaseName)
   Return BaseName
   End Function

   Private Function extractWinFormsFields(ByVal codeClass As CodeClass) As String
   Dim fieldsCode As New System.Text.StringBuilder
   ‘We can’t just iterate over the members of the Members
   ‘collection because we will be changing its membership
   ‘inside the loop.
   Dim MemberCount As Integer = codeClass.Members.Count

   For iMember As Integer = MemberCount To 1 Step -1
   Dim member As CodeElement = codeClass.Members.Item(iMember)

   If (member.Kind = vsCMElement.vsCMElementVariable) Then
   Dim field As CodeVariable = DirectCast(member, CodeVariable)

   If (field.Type.TypeKind vsCMTypeRef.vsCMTypeRefArray) Then
   Dim fieldType As CodeType = field.Type.CodeType
   Dim isControl As Boolean = _
   fieldType.Namespace.FullName.StartsWith(“System.Windows.Forms”) _
   OrElse fieldType.IsDerivedFrom(“System.Windows.Forms.Control”) _
   OrElse fieldType.IsDerivedFrom(“System.ComponentModel.IContainer”)

   If isControl Then
   fieldsCode.AppendLine(extractMember(member))
   End If

   End If

   End If

   Next

   Return fieldsCode.ToString()
   End Function

   Private Function extractMember(ByVal memberElement As CodeElement) As String
   Dim memberStart As EditPoint = memberElement.GetStartPoint().CreateEditPoint()
   Dim memberText As String = memberStart.GetText(memberElement.GetEndPoint())
   memberStart.Delete(memberElement.GetEndPoint())
   Return memberText
   End Function

   End Module

5. 

   Excellent post!

   I also wanted to contribute. Here is a version that can convert also User Controls, by virtue of actually querying the base class of the selected item:

   (Technically, what it does is to insert into the designer whatever base class the original form/usercontrol/designable item has)

   Imports System
   Imports EnvDTE
   Imports EnvDTE80
   Imports EnvDTE90
   Imports System.Diagnostics

   Public Module ExtractWinFormsDesignerFile

   ‘ ————————————————————————-
   ‘ Extract WinForms Designer File Visual Studio 2005/2008 Macro
   ‘ ————————————————————————-
   ‘ Extracts the InitializeComponent() and Dispose() methods and control
   ‘ field delarations from a .NET 1.x VS 2003 project into a VS 2005/8
   ‘ style .NET 2.0 partial class in a *.Designer.VB file. (This tested to work
   ‘ with VB only.)
   ‘
   ‘ To use:
   ‘ * Copy the methods below into a Visual Studio Macro Module (use
   ‘ ALT+F11 to show the Macro editor)
   ‘ * Select a Windows Form in the Solution Explorer
   ‘ * Run the macro by showing the Macro Explorer (ALT+F8) and double
   ‘ clicking the ‘ExtractWinFormsDesignerFile’ macro.
   ‘
   ‘ Duncan Smart, InfoBasis, 2007
   ‘ From: http://blog.dotsmart.net/2008/05/20/converting-visual-studio-2003-winforms-to-visual-studio-20052008-partial-classes/
   ‘ Modified and updated by Nathan Jones, 2010
   ‘ See: https://www.nathanpjones.com/
   ‘ ————————————————————————-

   Sub ExtractWinFormsDesignerFile()

   Dim item As ProjectItem = DTE.SelectedItems.Item(1).ProjectItem
   Dim sourceFileName As String = item.FileNames(1)
   Dim sourceDir As String = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(sourceFileName)
   Dim origCode As String
   Dim bareName As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(sourceFileName)
   Dim newDesignerFile As String = sourceDir & “\” & bareName & “.Designer.vb”

   If IO.File.Exists(newDesignerFile) Then
   MsgBox(“Designer file already exists!”)
   Exit Sub
   Else
   If MsgBox(“You are about to extract designer code from:” + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   ” ” + sourceFileName + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   “To the following file:” + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   ” ” + newDesignerFile + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   “MAKE SURE TO BACK UP FIRST!”, _
   MsgBoxStyle.OkCancel Or MsgBoxStyle.DefaultButton2 Or MsgBoxStyle.Question, _
   “Confirm”) = MsgBoxResult.Cancel Then Exit Sub
   End If
   origCode = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(sourceFileName)

   Dim codeClass As CodeClass
   Dim namespaceName As String
   Dim baseClass As CodeClass
   Dim baseClassName As String

   codeClass = findClass(item.FileCodeModel.CodeElements)
   namespaceName = “”
   baseClassName = “”
   If codeClass.Namespace IsNot Nothing Then
   namespaceName = codeClass.Namespace.FullName
   If codeClass.Bases.Count > 0 Then
   baseClass = codeClass.Bases.Item(1)
   baseClassName = baseClass.FullName
   End If
   End If
   If baseClassName = “” Then
   MsgBox(“No base class defined. Cannot continue!”)
   End If

   Dim initComponentText As String
   Dim disposeText As String
   Dim fieldDecls() As String
   Try
   initComponentText = extractMember(codeClass.Members.Item(“InitializeComponent”))
   Catch
   MsgBox(“Error extracting InitializeComponent!”)
   Exit Sub
   End Try
   Try
   disposeText = extractMember(codeClass.Members.Item(“Dispose”))
   Catch
   MsgBox(“Error extracting Dispose! Will restore source file.”)
   System.IO.File.WriteAllText(sourceFileName, origCode)
   Exit Sub
   End Try
   Try
   fieldDecls = extractWinFormsFields(codeClass, initComponentText)
   Catch
   MsgBox(“Error extracting field declares! Will restore source file.”)
   System.IO.File.WriteAllText(sourceFileName, origCode)
   Exit Sub
   End Try

   Dim finalCode As String

   finalCode = IIf(namespaceName “”, “Namespace ” + namespaceName + vbCrLf + vbCrLf, “”) + _
   ” _” + vbCrLf + _
   “Partial Class ” + codeClass.Name + vbCrLf + _
   ” Inherits ” + baseClassName + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   disposeText + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   fieldDecls(0) + vbCrLf + _
   vbCrLf + _
   initComponentText + vbCrLf + _
   fieldDecls(1) + vbCrLf + _
   “End Class” + vbCrLf + _
   IIf(namespaceName “”, vbCrLf + “End Namespace” + vbCrLf, “”)

   ‘ Now write the new designer file

   System.IO.File.WriteAllText(newDesignerFile, finalCode)

   Dim newProjItem As ProjectItem = item.ProjectItems.AddFromFile(newDesignerFile)
   Try
   newProjItem.Open()
   Catch
   End Try
   Try
   DTE.ExecuteCommand(“Edit.FormatDocument”)
   Catch
   End Try

   MsgBox(“Code separated successfully!” + vbCrLf + _
   “You may have residual comments or code regions in the source ” + vbCrLf + _
   “class that should be deleted or moved to the new Designer.vb class.”, _
   MsgBoxStyle.Information, _
   “Complete”)

   End Sub

   Function findClass(ByVal items As System.Collections.IEnumerable) As CodeClass

   For Each codeEl As CodeElement In items

   If codeEl.Kind = vsCMElement.vsCMElementClass Then

   Return codeEl

   ElseIf codeEl.Children.Count > 0 Then

   Dim cls As CodeClass = findClass(codeEl.Children)
   If cls IsNot Nothing Then
   Return findClass(codeEl.Children)
   End If

   End If

   Next

   Return Nothing

   End Function

   Function extractWinFormsFields(ByVal codeClass As CodeClass, ByVal initComponentsCode As String) As String()

   Dim member As CodeElement
   Dim fieldsCode As String
   Dim components As String
   Dim initComponentsCodeForComp As String = initComponentsCode.ToLower

   fieldsCode = “”
   For i As Integer = codeClass.Members.Count To 1 Step -1

   member = codeClass.Members.Item(i)

   If member.Kind = vsCMElement.vsCMElementVariable Then

   Dim field As CodeVariable = member

   If field.Type.TypeKind vsCMTypeRef.vsCMTypeRefArray Then

   If field.Name.ToLower = “components” Then

   ‘ We’ll insert this separately
   components = extractMember(field)

   ElseIf initComponentsCodeForComp Like (“* Me.” + field.Name + ” = New *”).ToLower Then

   fieldsCode = extractMember(field) + vbCrLf + _
   fieldsCode

   End If

   End If

   End If

   Next

   Return New String() {components, fieldsCode}

   End Function

   Function extractMember(ByVal memberElement As CodeElement) As String

   Dim memberStart As EditPoint = memberElement.GetStartPoint().CreateEditPoint()
   Dim memberText As String = String.Empty

   memberText += memberStart.GetText(memberElement.GetEndPoint())
   memberStart.Delete(memberElement.GetEndPoint())

   Return memberText

   End Function

   End Module

6. 

   Hello, I used the code provided by the author of this article but my controls did not convert over. All of user controls are gone so I’m left with an empty form. Can anyone help with this?

7. 

   I’ve only used this for a Form. I’d recommend digging into it to get it to work the way you want and then sharing in the comments here.

8. Pingback: Converting Visual Studio 2003 WinForms to Visual Studio 2005/2008/2010/2012 partial classes (via: Duncan Smart’s Weblog) « The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

9. 

   Nathan,
   Thanks for your Macro. Since Macros have been eliminated in Visual Studio 2012, I used your Macro and the subsequent adaptions posted here to create a Visual Studio Add-In. I wrote an article about the Add-In and submitted it to The Code Project. The article can be found here: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/528990/A-Visual-Studio-add-in-to-move-Windows-Forms-Desig

10. 

    Dear Nathan,

    Thank you for the great article and code. I have used your code submitted on CodeProject. It works like a charm and saved days of effort for me. Great work.

    Regards,
    Nishant Kainth

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