Plugin and subassemblies upgrade to .net 8

[idoQEYMP]

Hi,

I'm looking into upgrading my plugin to .net 8 for support. Haven't started yet.

I see there are instructions in the developer guide and also there's the other guide written by @_gile and translated by @Jeff_M .

The instructions are a bit different and frankly I don't have the understanding of what each of these steps is actually doing. I'd love to hear some guidelines on the differences between these guide and advantages of either one over the other.

I am not quite sure how to manage versions until I upgrade the other users to 2025 which may take some time. Can I have the versions dependent on the same code? can I make exceptions for the changes in version 2025?

Is the process for .net subassemblies any different?

I have many windows forms in my plugin. I understand I'm going to have to use WPF instead. Is there a way to automatically convert the two?

[Jeff_M · Accepted solution]

@idoQEYMP the first thing I would do is try to load and run your current build, which works in Civil3D 2024, in Civil 3D 2025. Many projects will work without upgrading.

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@idoQEYMP wrote:

Hi,

I'm looking into upgrading my plugin to .net 8 for support. Haven't started yet.

I see there are instructions in the developer guide and also there's the other guide written by @_gile and translated by @Jeff_M .

The instructions are a bit different and frankly I don't have the understanding of what each of these steps is actually doing. I'd love to hear some guidelines on the differences between these guide and advantages of either one over the other.  They aren't that much different, the dev guide has a few extra things but the one gile created is a bit more detailed. Be sure to create a backup before doing anything! See my additional comments below.

I am not quite sure how to manage versions until I upgrade the other users to 2025 which may take some time. Can I have the versions dependent on the same code? Yes can I make exceptions for the changes in version 2025? Yes, use conditional compilation symbols

Is the process for .net subassemblies any different? The developer guide suggests there is, however I haven't worked with the .net subassemblies in years so not sure exactly what must be done.

I have many windows forms in my plugin. I understand I'm going to have to use WPF instead. Not true, WinForms are still supported in .NET 8 Is there a way to automatically convert the two? No. I have been working on converting my WinForms to WPF for over a year and sill only have about 10% of them done. I concentrate on those that have display issues on different resolution displays...WPF works far better on all display resolutions and font scalings

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As for the upgrade, I did my upgrade last September...long before there were any guides on how to upgrade. I manually copied the csproj file for my 2024 project, did a find/replace using Notepad to change any 2024 entries to 2025, along with any paths that needed to be updated. I then used the Upgrade Assistant to upgrade that project. All of my code I am still using for Civil 3D 2020 - 2025 without a problem...so far. It is only the csproj files and some conditional symbols (the using statements for COM file for SheetSetManager mainly) that need to be addressed.

All in all, the upgrade process was not as difficult as I had imagined it to be.

[idoQEYMP]

Thanks for your reply. It's very helpful.