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VS.Php - Product Information

VS.Php is a PHP IDE (integrated development environment) based on Visual Studio IDE. With VS.Php you can design, develop, debug and deploy PHP applications within the Visual Studio IDE. VS.Php key features are around providing rich PHP editor as well as Smarty editing capabilities. Also is the ability to debug PHP scripts locally as well as remotely.

Benefits

  • Be more productive and obtain faster results
  • Build dynamic web applications and web services using PHP
  • Collaborate better with your software team
  • Ensure quality early and often throughout the development process
  • Deploy your application securely
  • Leverage your existing software tool investment

Why VS.Php?

If you are a .Net developer you may wonder why VS.Php? PHP is one of the most popular languages for developing web applications. In fact, the PHP community has the largest pool of rich open source applications, frameworks and resources to make your development life easier. VS.Php lets those who enjoy using Visual Studio use their favorite IDE for PHP development. VS.Php also provides many unique features by leveraging the Visual Studio IDE like PHP/Javascript debugging.

VS.Php Features Highlights

VS.Php is a PHP integrated development environment based on Visual Studio 2008. With VS.Php you can design, develop, debug and deploy PHP applications within the Visual Studio IDE.

Editor and File Management

  • PHP4 and PHP5 Support including the new PHP 5.3 language features
  • Syntax Coloring for PHP, Smarty, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, XML and XSLT
  • File templates for PHP, Smarty, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, XML and XSLT
  • Intellisense for PHP, Smarty, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, XML and XSLT

Debugging

  • XDebug and DBG support
  • Debug PHP, JavaScript and .Net in one single session
  • Built-in Apache web server for ease of debugging. Preconfigured with Php4, Php5, XDebug and DBG.

How to configure debugging

Team collaboration

  • Supports any SCC-plugin for Visual Studio including CVS, Svn, Perforce, Sourcesafe, etc.

Deployment and remote servers

  • Supports Ftp, SFtp (SSH), Ftp/S (SSL) and Smb (Network shares)
  • Automatic deploy files before debugging
  • Download/Import project from remote server
  • Work on remote files directly

Detailed feature list

This release has primarily been focused on improving the overall quality of the product.

Changes in 2.10.3.6722

Changes in 2.10.2.6699

Changes in 2.10.1.6642

VS.Php integrates with Silverlight tools

The integration in VS.Php allows you to host Silverlight applications written C# or VB in your PHP application. When creating a new Silverlight project, you can choose to host the control in a PHP application rather than an ASP.Net application. Silverlight can talk to PHP via standard mechanism like REST, JSON and SOAP.

The following screencast shows how the integration between VS.Php and Silverlight 3 tools work.

VS.Php and Silverlight demo
VS.Php and Silverlight demo

IIS Integration

IIS7

VS.Php 2.7 improves the IIS integration introduced on VS.Php 2.6. The new IIS configuration wizard includes much functionality including:

  • Set the name of virtual directory
  • Choose the virtual host
  • Reuse existing FastCGI pool or create new one
  • Use IIS with any existing local project by simply changing the project's debug mode
  • Using the create project from existing folder wizard can be used to host IIS projects
  • New IIS project wizard walks you through the configuration wizard

Note to VS.Php 2.6 customers using IIS integration

When upgrading to VS.Php 2.7 you may notice that your existing FastCGI pool for your 2.6 projects may not longer exist. You can go to the applicationHost.config file and fix the path to php.cgi. A better option is to create a project from existing folder, then go to the project debug properties and set IIS mode. That will allow you to reconfigure IIS to use the new VS.Php FastCGI pool

Choosing the right VS.Php edition

VS.Php comes in two different edition. You can choose one of them based on your existing environment.

VS.Php for Visual Studio 2010

You should use this edition if you own one of the following Visual Studio 2010 editions:

  • Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
  • Visual Studio 2010 Premium
  • Visual Studio 2010 Professional
  • Visual Studio 2010 Shell (VS.Php standalone mode)

VS.Php for Visual Studio 2008

You should use this edition if you own one of the following Visual Studio 2008 editions:

  • Visual Studio 2008 Standard
  • Visual Studio 2008 Professional
  • Visual Studio 2008 Visual Studio Tools for Office
  • Visual Studio 2008 Team System

VS.Php for Visual Studio 2005

You should use this edition if you own one of the following Visual Studio 2005 editions.

  • Visual Studio 2005 Standard
  • Visual Studio 2005 Professional
  • Visual Studio 2005 Visual Studio Tools for Office
  • Visual Studio 2005 Team System

What if I don't own Visual Studio or have an Express edition?

VS.Php comes with the ability to install the Visual Studio shell if you don't own Visual Studio. The Visual Studio shell provides the basic functionality of Visual Studio but does not include any of the .Net compilers or tools. You should be able to get all the functionality in VS.Php using the VS shell.

All three editions will install the shell. If you are a Standalone Edition customer, we recommend you to install VS.Php for Visual Studio 2005. Your license is compatible with this edition. New customers should install VS.Php for Visual Studio 2010.

Updates policy

VS.Php comes with a one year of free minor and major updates. Please note that moving from one edition to another edition is not part of the free updates. For example purchasing a license for 2008 does not entitle you to a 2010 edition automatically.

Upgrade cost

All VS.Php editions are priced at $99.99. Upgrade licenses cost $49.99. Upgrades also include one year of free updates. If you would like to update your edition of VS.Php (E.G. 2005 => 2008), you need to purchase an upgrade license.

Upgrade notifications

VS.Php will notify you when a new version is available. You may not necessarily qualify for a free update if your order was placed a year before the release of the new version. Please check before updating your software.

Requesting a new serial for a newer version of VS.Php

When activating your new version of VS.Php, enter your existing serial. VS.Php will then redirect you to a web page where you can request your new serial. You will need to enter your name, order id and product edition to get your new serial. The new serial will be emailed to the email address on record. If this email address is no longer valid, please contact us.