Testing the VoiceAttack Plug Inn Samples?

[BuggSmasher]

Hi  there,

Having activated plugin support, and read the warning signs, I thought testing the sample Plugins would be straight forward. However I can not fond the .dll files to place in the apps folder . I have the "Test  VB-Profile.vap" files and PluginSampleVB.zip files.

So what am I missing?

[SemlerPDX]

You would need to unzip the contents of the "PluginSampleVB.zip" and then open this project in Visual Studio.  From there, you can compile a build (such as Release) to produce the .dll file which would comprise this sample profile.

Please be sure to read the "VoiceAttack Plugins (for the truly mad)" section of the VoiceAttack manual for additional details and instructions relating to plugins.

[BuggSmasher]

Thank you,

I just succeeded in my first compilation . ..
I did achieve this on Win7 and received a few Errors, stating from MVS:

=======================================
"A project with an Output Type of Class Library cannot be started directly.
In order to debug this project, add an executable project to this solution which references the library project.
Set the executable project as the startup project."
=======================================

My first time in studio, but I did have success with my build report, did I not?
After compiling the .dll , O have placed as per manual, and VA has at least recognised it as a plugin.
Have not tested the plugin any further than this though.

Just as a further note, I game in Win10 Pro and was hopping to Code on Win7. So I can attempt this later accordingly to see if errors are reduced.

Build started...
1>------ Build started: Project: VATestPlugin_VB, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
1>  VATestPlugin_VB -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VoiceAttack\Plugin Samples\VB.net\PluginSampleVB\VATestPlugin_VB\bin\Debug\VATestPlugin_VB.dll
========== Build: 1 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
========== Build started at 2:58 AM and took 03.285 seconds ==========


I have some experience in VBA with Excel and some basic C withi programming ArmA II and III. But this will be fun !
Your thoughts, and thank you !

[SemlerPDX]

The error message you shared indicates that you may have attempted to press the "Start" button with the little green triangle on it's side.  When developing an application with a startup method, this is used to launch the currently selected build to test the application.  A class library is not an application, and so by nature cannot be launched, as it is something that OTHER program(s) make use of in order to engage the functionality therein.

This can make testing changes to a plugin slightly more difficult, as you must first build the dll, close VoiceAttack, copy/move the dll into place in the VoiceAttack Apps folder as instructed (overwriting the existing dll), and then launching VoiceAttack to a profile where you can test your plugin (or edits to it). As stated by that error, you may also add an executable project to your solution, referencing the classes in your library as needed to test, such as a desktop console application (.NET Framework).

The best info is in the VoiceAttack Help Manual.

As noted by your second copy/paste from VS, the build was successful, and can be found in the folder path noted in the build output.


*There will be no difference building your plugin in Windows 7 versus Windows 10, though Windows 7 is at end of life, and really should be avoided at this point due to potential incompatibility issues and/or security concerns.  In addition to this, you should be developing using Visual Studio Community 2022, which is the latest version and which does not run properly on the Windows 7 OS.