Acquiring and Installing Extensions
In this lesson, you will learn how to find and install extensions for LightSwitch.
Acquiring and Installing Extensions
Extensions let you add new capabilities to LightSwitch. You can find and download extensions directly from LightSwitch by using the Extension Manager. After the download finishes, the extensions appear in the Extensions tab of the Application Designer. You can enable or disable them as needed.
To download an extension
On the Tools menu, click Extension Manager.
The Extension Manager dialog box appears, and a list of installed extensions is displayed.
In the Extension Manager, click and expand the Online Gallery node.
A list of available extensions appears in the center pane.
Select the extension that you want to download and then click Download.
A Download and Install dialog box appears.
In the Download and Install dialog box, read the license agreement (if any). If you agree with the terms click Install.
The extension is installed and appears in the Installed Extensions node of Extension Manager group.
Click the Restart Now button to restart LightSwitch.
LightSwitch closes and restarts. The extension is available but not yet enabled in the Application Designer.
To enable an extension
In Solution Explorer, double-click Properties.
The Application Designer appears.
In the Application Designer, click the Extensions tab.
The extension that you just installed is listed in the Extensions list.
Check the check box to the left of the extension to enable it for use in the current project.
To enable the extension for all future projects, check the Use in new projects check box.
Closer Look
In this lesson you learned how to download, install, and enable extensions. You can download extensions from the Online Gallery or you can find extensions on other web sites. You can also install extensions from other media, such as a CD. If you acquire extensions from other sources, follow any special instructions to install them.
Use the Extensions tab of the Application Designer to enable or disable them for the current project. If you disable an extension that is being used in the current project, any custom data types, controls, themes, or shells revert to their default settings.
Use the Extension Manager to uninstall extensions. When you uninstall an extension, it is removed from the Extensions tab of the Application Designer.
Next Steps
In the next lesson you will learn how to change the appearance and behavior of your application by using theme and shell extensions.
Next lesson: Applying Shell and Theme Extensions
See Also
Concepts
How to: Add or Remove Extensions
How to: Use Extensions in a Project