Send your project to Visual Studio

When you work on your project in Microsoft Expression Blend, you can use the shortcut menu in the Projects panel to open your project at the same time in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.

The following procedure requires that you have Visual Studio 2008 installed (or another program that can be used for the development of applications that are based on the Microsoft .NET Framework), and an association between the project file extension (.csproj or .vbproj) and the development program. This association is created automatically when you install the development program.

To open your project in Visual Studio 2008

1. In Expression Blend, make sure that your project is saved, because you cannot open a code-behind file or a project without first saving the project. To save your project, click Save All on the File menu, enter a name and location in the Save Project dialog box, and then click OK.

2. In the Projects panel, right-click your solution name, and then select one of the following options:

   • Edit Externally   Opens your project in a development program. Your project will most likely open in Visual Studio 2008 if it is installed.

   • Edit in Visual Studio   Opens your project in Visual Studio 2008.

     Note

     Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition or later must be installed if you are opening a project that was created by using Expression Blend. If you have both Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 installed, the Visual Studio version selector might try to open your Expression Blend project in Visual Studio 2005, which is not supported. To avoid this situation, open Visual Studio 2008 before you select Edit in Visual Studio. Projects that were originally created by using the first version of Expression Blend can open in Visual Studio 2005.