Upgrade Existing WinForms Applications to Use the Latest RadControls

Upgrading projects to new versions can be a pain, especially when you have to update several assemblies from a single version, as is the case with RadControls for WinForms.

Q1 2010 simplifies this process a lot, by giving a couple of ways (one new and one updated) to upgrade existing applications to the latest and greatest version of RadControls for WinForms:

• By using the new Visual Studio Extensions (VSX), available in VS2005, VS2008 and VS2010 RC;
• By using the updated Project Upgrade Utility.

Here are the steps:

Upgrading a classic Windows Forms application to the latest RadControls for WinForms by using the Visual Studio Extensions

1. Install RadControls for WinForms Q1 2010
2. Open the classic Windows Forms application (VB or C#)
3. Open the Telerik Menu and select RadControls for WinForms --> Convert to Telerik WinForms Application
    
   
    
4. Select the Telerik controls you plan to use in the application, as well as a theme, and click OK. The VSX package will add the needed assemblies to your project automatically for you.
    
   
    
5. Replace the standard controls on your form with the respective Telerik controls.
    
   
    
6. Run the application to see the result.

Upgrading an older RadControls application to the latest RadControls for WinForms by using the Visual Studio Extensions

1. Install RadControls for WinForms Q1 2010.
2. Open your current RadControls application (VB or C#), which uses pre-Q1 2010 assembly versions.
3. Open the Telerik Menu and select RadControls for WinForms --> Upgrade Wizard
    
   
4. Choose to either use the online downloader of the latest version, or to use the currently installed version.
5. The VSX package will check what assemblies you use in your project and will upgrade them automatically.
    
   
    
6. Run the application to see the result.

Upgrading an older RadControls application to the latest RadControls for WinForms by using the Project Upgrade Utility

The Q1 2010 Project Upgrade Utility now features upgrading not only a single project, but all projects in a directory/solution (recursively). The tool is quite intuitive - simply choose your solution folder (or a folder with several projects)m and click Update.

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