<h1>Integrating Fossil in the Microsoft Express 2010 IDE</h1>
<i>Contributed by Gilles Ganault on 2013-05-24.</i>
The Express version of Visual Studio doesn't support add-in's and plug-in's,
but it's not an issue since it's still possible to use Fossil through the
External Tools menu and Fossil is a CLI application anyway:
<ol type="1">
<li>Tools > Settings > Expert Settings</li>
<li>Tools > External Tools, where the items in this list map
to "External Tool X" that we'll add to our own Fossil
menu later: </li>
<ol type="1">
<li>Rename the default "[New Tool 1]" to eg.
"Commit" 2.
</li>
<li>Change Command to where Fossil is located eg.
"c:\fossil.exe"</li>
<li>Change Arguments to the required command, eg.
"commit -m".
The user will be prompted to type the comment that Commit expects</li>
<li>Set "Initial Directory" to point it to the work directory
where the source files are currently checked out
by Fossil (eg. c:\Workspace). It's also possible to use system
variables such as "$(ProjectDir)" instead of hard-coding the path</li>
<li>Check "Prompt for arguments", since Commit
requires typing a comment. Useless for commands like Changes
that don't require arguments</li>
<li>Uncheck "Close on Exit", so we can see what Fossil says
before closing the DOS box. Note that "Use Output Window"
will display the output in a child window within the IDE instead of
opening a DOS box</li>
<li>Click on OK</li>
</ol>
<li>Tools > Customize > Commands</li>
<ol type="1">
<li>With "Menu bar = Menu Bar" selected, click on "Add
New Menu". A new "Fossil" menu is displayed in the
IDE's menu bar</li>
<li>Click on "Modify Selection" to rename it
"Fossil", and...</li>
<li>Use the "Move Down" button to move it lower in
the list</li>
</ol>
<li>Still in Customize dialog: In the "Menu bar" combo, select
the new Fossil menu you just created, and Click on "Add Command...":
From Categories, select Tools, and select "External Command 1".
Click on Close. It's unfortunate that the IDE doesn't say which command
maps to "External Command X".</li>
</ol>