Set Up Visual Studio for FieldWorks Development on Windows

August 14, 2026 · View on GitHub

This guide covers the Visual Studio setup required for FieldWorks development. FieldWorks builds with Visual Studio 2026 or 2022. When both are installed, the build uses the newest; Build/FieldWorks.Toolchain.props defines the supported version range and the MSVC toolset each Visual Studio uses (v145 under 2026, v143 under 2022).

$FWROOT in this document refers to the root directory of the FieldWorks source tree (where you cloned the repository).

Install Visual Studio

  1. Download Visual Studio Community Edition (or Professional/Enterprise):

  2. Select workloads and components. The simplest way is to import the repo's .vsconfig: in the Visual Studio Installer choose More -> Import configuration and select $FWROOT\.vsconfig. (Opening the solution in Visual Studio also prompts to install anything missing.) The equivalent manual selections:

    Workloads:

    • .NET desktop development
    • Desktop development with C++

    Individual components:

    • MSVC C++ x64/x86 build tools (latest for your Visual Studio: v145 in 2026, v143 in 2022)
    • C++ ATL for the latest build tools (x86 & x64)
    • C++ MFC for the latest build tools (x86 & x64)
    • Windows 11 SDK (10.0.22621.0 or newer)
    • .NET Framework 4.8 SDK
    • .NET Framework 4.8 targeting pack

Configure Visual Studio Settings

Set "Keep tabs" in Text Editor

This is required to match our coding standards:

  1. Go to Tools → Options
  2. Navigate to Text Editor → All Languages → Tabs
  3. Select the "Keep tabs" radio option
  4. Verify Tab size and Indent size are both 4

Using Shared Settings for ReSharper (Optional)

If you have ReSharper installed:

The shared settings file is located at $FWROOT/FW.sln.DotSettings. If you save your solution as $FWROOT/FieldWorks.sln, the shared settings will automatically be picked up.

Alternatively:

  • Copy the file and give it the same name as your solution with a .sln.DotSettings extension
  • Or import settings via ReSharper → Manage Options → Import/Export Settings → Import from file

Tip: Using the shared settings file directly has the advantage that ReSharper will pick up any changes made to the shared settings.

Open the FieldWorks Solution

Open the main solution file:

$FWROOT\FieldWorks.sln

This solution contains all the FieldWorks projects organized for development.

Building from Visual Studio

Visual Studio may have difficulty building all projects in the correct order. For reliable builds, add the build script as an External Tool:

  1. Click Tools → External Tools...
  2. Click Add and configure:

Build FW (Full):

Title:             Build FW Full
Command:           powershell.exe
Arguments:         -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build.ps1
Initial directory: $(SolutionDir)

Select ✅ "Use Output window"

Build FW (Release):

Title:             Build FW Release
Command:           powershell.exe
Arguments:         -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build.ps1 -Configuration Release
Initial directory: $(SolutionDir)

Select ✅ "Use Output window"

Option 2: Command Line Build

Build from PowerShell before opening Visual Studio:

.\build.ps1

Then use Visual Studio for editing and debugging.

Debugging FieldWorks

  1. Set FieldWorks (or the specific project you're working on) as the Startup Project
  2. Ensure the configuration is Debug and platform is x64
  3. Press F5 to start debugging

Running Tests

Using Test Explorer

  1. Open Test → Test Explorer
  2. Build the solution to discover tests
  3. Run individual tests or all tests from the Test Explorer

Using External Tools

Add a test tool:

Title:             Run Tests
Command:           powershell.exe
Arguments:         -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build.ps1 -MsBuildArgs @('/p:action=test')
Initial directory: $(SolutionDir)

Troubleshooting

.NET Framework 2.0 Required (Legacy Branches)

Some legacy branches may require .NET Framework 2.0. To install:

  1. Launch "Turn Windows features on or off"
  2. Select ".NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)" and click OK

Native Build Failures

If native C++ components fail to build:

  1. Ensure you have the C++ workload installed
  2. Try building from the command line first: 
    .\build.ps1

Solution Won't Load All Projects

This is expected - Visual Studio may not load all 100+ projects correctly. Use the command-line build for full builds, and Visual Studio for editing and debugging specific projects.

See Also