VintageStudio - Visual Studio 2010 based IDE for 8-bit computers. (Currently supported: Commodore-64, VIC-20, Atari 8-bit).

Tree:
 +
 |
 +-Visual64TassEditor
 |
 +-VintageStudioProject
 |
 +-prg2xex
 |
 +-VintageStudio.sln

Visual64TassEditor   - extensions to VS Editor - syntax coloring, auto formatting etc. 
VintageStudioProject - Project System - building (integration with the compiler), 
                       running (integration with the emulator)
prg2xex              - used to convert .prg files (C64 format) to .xex files (Atari format)


Requirements:
 - Visual Studio 2010 Professional (or higher) with Visual C# and Visual C++ installed

Setting up the development environment:
 - Install Visual Studio 2010 SDK - note for Visual Studio 2010 SP1 you need 
   Visual Studio 2010 SP1 SDK
 - Download Managed Package Framework for Projects - Visual Studio 2010 
   (http://mpfproj10.codeplex.com/)
    Download changeset 51806 (this is currently the latest) and save in MPFProj10-51806 folder
    next to the VintageStudio solution folder
 - Fix a NullReferenceException bug in MPFProj:
    - Find the RefreshReferences() method in MPFProj10-51806/Dev10/Src/CSharp/ProjectConfig.cs
    - Modify the method to look like this:
        private void RefreshReferences()
        {
            // Refresh the reference container node for assemblies that could be resolved.
            IReferenceContainer referenceContainer = this.config.ProjectMgr.GetReferenceContainer();
            if (referenceContainer != null)
            {
                foreach (ReferenceNode referenceNode in referenceContainer.EnumReferences())
                {
                    referenceNode.RefreshReference();
                }
            }
        }

Building:
 Build (Ctrl+Shift+B) from the VS. 
 You may see:
   Warning: Microsoft.VsSDK.targets(889,5): warning : File 'AsmCodeFile.ico' referenced from 
   VSTemplate does not exist.
 This is a bug in VS. The warning can be ignored as per this connect bug:
 http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/552332/warning-file-bitmap-bmp-referenced-from-vstemplate-does-not-exist

Testing: 
 Shameful silence (no automated tests exist)

Setting up the runtime environment:
 - 64tass compiler - manual and link to download here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/tass64/ 
 - Emulator:
    Commodore 64 / VIC-20
    - Vice emulator - http://www.viceteam.org/ 
      Hint: make sure you download the "Binary for MS-Windows" and NOT the "SDL based binary for 
      Ms-Windows"
    Atari 8-bit
    - Atari800Win emulator - http://atariarea.krap.pl/PLus/index_us.htm
      Setup instructions - http://www.myatari.co.uk/issues/jun2002/emulate.htm
      Hint: If you see "BOOT ERROR" in the Atari emulator some settings are probably screwed up 
      (e.g. you have spaces in the path but the path is not enclosed in quotes (")) you need to 
      fix the problem and then start the emulator and detach all disks (File -> Disks -> 
      Detach All (Alt + 0)), and try again.
 - It is useful to add paths to the compiler and emulator(s) to your %PATH%. (for non-administrator 
   accounts here is how to do that: 
   http://superuser.com/questions/165909/how-can-i-set-user-environmental-variables-such-as-path-from-a-non-administrato). 
   If you don't you will have to set full paths to the compiler and the emulator in the project 
   settings for each new proejct. Otherwise it should work pretty much "out of the box".

 Hint: If you change the start address of the program (at the moment it is $1000) you may need to 
 set it in the settings as well to be able to debug your program in Vice. Atari800Win does not 
 support starting in debug mode.


Debugging / Debugging:

 Go to Project Properties (right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and select
 Properties) -> Debug tab and make sure that "Start Action" is set to "Start External
 Program:" and the path is set to the Visual Studio (e.g. 
 c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\ide\devenv.exe). In the 
 "Command line arguments" in the "Start options" you should see:
 /rootSuffix Exp
 If this is not set correctly you will see a dialog box reading "A project with an Output
 Type of Class Library cannot be started directly." when trying to start or debug the project

 F5 in the VS to run the project. It will open the experimental instance of the Visual Studio 
 with the extensions installed. You can set breakpoints and step through the code in the  
 Visual Studio instance you started the experimental instance from. 

 Ctrl+F5 to debug in the VS. It will open the experimental instance of the Visual Studio with 
 the extensions installed.