What's New for LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2012

Visual Studio LightSwitch contains several new and enhanced features in Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2012 Update 2. The following links highlight some of those changes.

Create HTML5 Applications for Mobile Devices

(Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 only) You can create HTML5 applications that are optimized for a variety of mobile devices. See HTML Client Screens for LightSwitch Apps.

Create Apps for SharePoint

(Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 only) You can host Silverlight or HTML client apps on SharePoint or SharePoint for Office 365. See LightSwitch Apps for SharePoint.

Localize an Application

(Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 only) You can localize your application into multiple languages. See Walkthrough: Localizing a LightSwitch Application.

Connect to OData Data Sources

LightSwitch applications can now connect to any Open Data Protocol (OData) data source. See Connect to an OData Service.

Expose Data as an OData Service

You can expose data from a published LightSwitch web application as an OData feed for use by other applications. A separate endpoint is created for each data source in a LightSwitch project. See Exposing LightSwitch Application Data.

Format Numbers and Dates

You can get better control over the display format of numbers and dates by using the Format Pattern property . See How to: Format Numbers and Dates in a LightSwitch Application.

Percent and Web Address Data Types

You can treat a Decimal as a percentage and a String as a URL, with built-in formatting and validation, if you use the Percent and Web Address business types. See Adding a Data Field.

Display Static Text and Images

By using the Static Label and Static Image controls in the LightSwitch screen designer, you can display text and data on a screen without data binding. See How to: Add Static Text or Images to a Screen.

Assign Roles and Permissions to Groups

If you use Windows authentication, you can assign roles and permissions to any group in Active Directory. See LightSwitch Authentication and Authorization.

See Also

Tasks

Walkthrough: Exposing and Consuming an OData Service in LightSwitch

Concepts

LightSwitch Guided Tour

Other Resources

Getting Started with LightSwitch