Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework Sample Browser v4 Released – A New Way to Enjoy 700 Microsoft Code Samples

Today, we reached a new milestone of Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework.  It gives me great pleasure to announce our newest Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework Sample Browser - v4 available to the globe.  With this release, we embrace the hope of giving global developers a completely new and amazing experience to enjoy over 700 Microsoft code samples.

Compared with the previous version, this new version of Sample Browser is completely redesigned from tip to toe.  We heard lots of users’ voices about how we can do better.  So in Sample Browser v4, its user interface, sample search and download experience have numerous changes.  I hope that you will love our effort here.

Install:   https://aka.ms/samplebrowser
If you have already installed our last version of Sample Browser, you simply need to restart the application. You will get the auto-update.

The main user interface of the Sample Browser is composed of three columns. 

The left column is the search condition bar.  You can easily enter the query keywords and filter the result by Visual Studio versions, programming languages, and technologies.  The search history is recorded so you can resort to your past search with a single simple click.  

In the middle, the sample browser lists the sample search result.  We added the display of the customer ratings and the number of raters.  We also integrated social media so that you can quickly share certain samples in your network – you are highly encouraged to do it!  You can selectively download the samples, or download all samples after the search is completed.

All downloading samples are queued.  You can find their download status by clicking the “DOWNLOADING” button.

If an update is available for the sample, your will be reminded to get the sample update.  The sample download and cancel are very flexible.  Enjoy the flexibility! :-) 

The right column of Sample Browser displays the most detailed information of the selected code sample.   You can learn all properties of the sample before you decide to download it, read the sample documentation, and in the near future, we will add the “social” feature that allows you to learn what people are saying about the sample in the social network.

Besides the above features, we added another heatedly requested one: NEWEST samples.  If you click NEWEST, the search result displays samples released in the past two months.  Clicking it again will cancel the NEWEST filter.

 

The Sample Request Service page introduces how you can request a code sample directly from Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework if you cannot find the wanted sample in Sample Browser.   The service is free of charge!

Last but not least, here is the settings page, where you can configure the sample download location and the network proxy.

 

We love to hear you feedback. Your feedback is our source of passion. Please try the Sample Browser and tell us how you think about it. Our email address is onecode@microsoft.com

 

What’re Coming Soon?

We never stop improving the Sample Browser!  Here are the features that are coming soon this year.

1. Visual Studio Integration
   We will upgrade the old version of Sample Browser Visual Studio extension to the new, so you can enjoy the same experience from within Visual Studio!
2. Expanding to all MSDN Samples Gallery samples
   Today, the Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework Sample Browser searches for only Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework code samples.  We will start to expand the scope to all samples in MSDN Samples Gallery.
3. Add the "social" feature in the details panel to allow you to see the discussion of a sample in the social network
   
4. Add the "FAVORITES" feature to allow you to tag certain samples as your favorites.
5. Add the "MINE" to allow you to add your PRIVATE samples to Sample Browser.
6. Add the offline search function – index the downloaded samples and allow you to search samples offline.
7. Integrate the MSDN Samples Gallery Sample Request Forum with the Sample Browser

 

Special Thanks

First of all, special thanks to all customers who provided feedback to onecode@microsoft.com.  Your feedback helped us understand where we can do better than the last version, and we will do better and better thanks to your suggestions!

This new version of Sample Browser is written by our developer Leco Lin who put lots of effort on it.  Our tester Qi Fu tested the application and strangled the bugs.  Jialiang Ge designed the features and functions of the Sample Browser.  The UI is worked out by Lissa Dai and Jialiang together.  Special thanks to Anand Malli who reviewed the source code of Sample Browser and shared lots of suggestions.  Special thanks to Ming Zhu and Bob Bao who gave seamless technical support of WPF to Leco and smoothened the development.  Special thanks to the Garage – a Microsoft internal community of over twenty-three hundred employees who like building innovative things in their free time.  These people gave us many ideas about the Sample Browser.  Special thanks to Mei Liang and Dan Ruder for their supports and suggestions.  They will next introduce the sample browser to other teams in Microsoft and collect feedback.  Last but not least, I want to particularly thank Steven Wilssens and his MSDN Samples Gallery team.  This team created the amazing MSDN Samples Gallery – the host of all samples.  We have a beautiful partnership, and we together make the idea of Sample Browser come true.

Comments

• Anonymous
  October 02, 2011
  Is the source for the sample browser available? I looked through the Codeplex Project's source but didn't see it (but given how many samples there are it would be easy to miss). Thanks

• Anonymous
  October 03, 2011
  Not inspired by the Zune client at all then :) Nice job

• Anonymous
  October 07, 2011
  Hello, we need a better index. one list with 1000 demos is not useable Thank you for your hard work.

• Anonymous
  October 07, 2011
  Hi Jon thanks for your feedback!  Have you tried to filter the 1000 demos(samples) by using the search options in the left column?  It allows you to filter by technology, language, and Visual Studio version.  

• Anonymous
  October 09, 2011
  Thanks, great version, better than v3. will you consider sharing the source code in future after the new version?? Thanks, it would beinteresting sharing source code about Sample Browser v3 and v4 too, and Sample Browser VS extension. "All in one" source code in All in one. Great. Microsoft All-In-One Code Framework Sample Browser v4 Released

• Anonymous
  October 17, 2011
  Thanks for the wonderful program. I watched a demo video which demonstrate how to use Visual Studio Tools menu to search code samples. Where can I download the visual studio extension file (or *.vsix file)? Kimchi

• Anonymous
  October 18, 2011
  Hi woogon Thanks for your feedback!  Today we just upgraded the sample browser VS extension to v4.  Here is the download of the latest vsix: http://aka.ms/samplebrowservsx

• Anonymous
  October 19, 2011
  It's amazing,greate work. But today when I making a search,I come across a error: Error occurs:Cannot resolve this remote name: 'code.msdn.microsoft.com' Please check your network connection and settings. I swift the Network Setting from "Do not use proxy" to "Use Internet Explorer proxy setting",the same Error.

• Anonymous
  October 19, 2011
  Hi Peter Thanks for the feedback! Are you behind any proxy in your network environment. Can you open code.msdn.microsoft.com from your internet explorer?  

• Anonymous
  October 22, 2011
  Doesn't run on .NET 4.0 Client Profile. Requires .NET 4.0 Full Profile which is inconvenient because ClickOnce installation experience is expected. Suggestion: do next version in HTML5 + JavaScript + Modernizr with offline support.

• Anonymous
  October 23, 2011
  Hello Dmitri Thank you for your suggestion.  We have changed the sample browser to target the .NET 4 Client Profile. We were using the .NET 4 full version because of a function in the app that relies on some System.Web functions.  We used a workaround to remove this dependency, and now it targets the client profile. Thanks and have a nice day!

• Anonymous
  October 28, 2011
  Installed the latest bits earlier this week and was working great. Today, however, it is throwing an unhandled index out of range exception when the discovered samples count hits 700. Top of the call stack is SampleBrowser.MainWindow.BackWorker(object searchCondition). So, atm it is unusable for me.

• Anonymous
  October 28, 2011
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  December 02, 2011
  Without Offline searching this tool is not full !! But good job.

• Anonymous
  December 20, 2011
  Hello, looks like a great VS extension but when I click on "Search Code Sample" I get the following Windows Internet Explorer error [Cannot find "file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/jordib/Configuración%20local/Temp/tmp2E3.mht"]. If I press accept the Code Search tab opens but not filtering by the command I was looking for. Also preferences like Visual Studio Version are not stored for the next time I used it. Is this a known problem? Any suggestions? Thank you!

• Anonymous
  December 20, 2011
  Hello Jordi May I know the region setting on your side?  We will try to reproduce the problem and investigate the cause. Thanks Jialiang Ge

• Anonymous
  February 01, 2012
  I loaded the only WP7 sample, the Cloud Story, and it coughs out so many errors when you try to load it, it will never run.

• Anonymous
  February 01, 2012
  Hi If you mean the CSWP7AzureVide​oStory sample code.msdn.microsoft.com/CSWP7AzureVideoStory-2b9c3e12 It has some prerequisites, such as Windows Phone 7 SDK, Windows Azure SDK, etc.  If you can find info about the prerequisites in the documentation of the sample.  After installing them, you should be able to open the solution

• Anonymous
  March 20, 2012
  How can I see the codes in Sample Browser retrieved from a central library already downloaded on local HDD without internet connections.