Visual Micro Changelog

What's new in Visual Micro 2024.0223.00

Mar 5, 2024

Fix: Improved message for dual use of verbose compiler message "Library Include Paths"
Fix: Hardware Debugging: STM32F4x Boards now use correct OpenOCD Config for Upload/Debug (generic_f407v/stm32f4stamp/netduino2plus/blackpill_f401)
Fix: Debugger Menu Items showed "Option 5" in some cases, and could confuse the list for "Hardware Debugger" with "Compiler Optimization" in some scenarios.
Fix: Compiler Deep Search: Relative Include Working Directory could fail to be set to the compiler path due to the override being set incorrectly

New in Visual Micro 2023.1212.00 (Dec 14, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 2023.1103.00 (Nov 14, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 2023.1006.02 (Nov 1, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 2023.1006.00 (Oct 6, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 2023.0915.00 (Sep 16, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 2023.0731.03 (Aug 15, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 22.11.28.24 (Feb 27, 2023)

New in Visual Micro 22.11.28.15 (Dec 23, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.11.28.12 (Dec 21, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.11.28.10 (Dec 16, 2022)

Color coding and intellisense and red squiggles were missing from .ino code in the latest Vs2022 IDE (+ bumped version for vs2022)
Blank platform explorer. Platform explorer dpi scaling failed for scaling above 100%
Fix: Use utf8 when reading the arduino 2 cli settings (yaml). Support international chars in paths.
Utf8 in paths caused the new intellisense format to fail (vs)
Potential hang in the intellisense engine after creating a new project using the File > New > Project templates.
Use utf8 when reading the arduino 2 cli settings (.yaml). Support international chars in paths.
Roll up of all changes since last release for Microchip
Arduino 2.0 support
Option to use Visual Micro without any backend IDE such as Arduino 1x or 2x
Moved the "Always use Atmel Debugging" toggle menu to work inline with the standard Visual Micro "debugger types" menu. Selecting "Hardware Debugger" will use the Microchip Studio hardware debug tools.
Prevent Microchip from attempting a build when attempting to attach a hardware debugger. Previously, users has to uncheck "Build>Configurations>Build/Deploy". (The Microchip build will always fail for Arduino projects, Visual Micro has to manage the build)
Project Names: Creating new projects will show "(Arduino)" after the project name in the solution explorer.
Release of the 1st version of Visual Micro for ARM64 devices. To create projects in the ARM version use "File>New>Arduino Project" or, to open .ino code for the first time use "File>Open>Arduino Project". This is because the Visual Micro templates in the standard Visual Studio "File>New wizard" can not be used until Microsoft release the Linux Workload for arm devices. In this release for ARM, the Visual Studio Desktop C++ workload is required. Normally Visual Micro only requires the Linux workload that provides better intellisense.
Potential crash accessing Visual Micro tool bars to automatically control visibility.
Potential crash when reloading tool chains via the Platform explorer
Potential crash when not loading Visual Micro on demand. Tool bar access while the Start Page Window is open prevented the ability to confugure the UI.
Potential crash if Visual Studio is not open and a solution (.sln) shortcut is clicked in windows. The IDE loads and loads the solution before the Visual Studio UI has initialized. Visual Micro will delay the load of its UI customizations until the IDE has sent it's first UI message.

New in Visual Micro 22.11.28.2 (Dec 3, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.09.05.7 (Sep 14, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.09.05.4 (Sep 12, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.09.05.0 (Sep 6, 2022)

Update: Serial Debugger now works on Raspberry Pi Pico W Board
Fix: Intellisense improvements for STM32 boards
Fix: Defaulted "Compiler > Always Copy Build Output to Intermediate" to FALSE
Fix: ESP32 Compiler Pattern did not have -MMD removed causing erroneous *.d files to be created as part of Deep Search for v2.0.0++ (Reported Here)
Update: Added a global option "Communications > Serial Read Frequency" (Default:75ms) to refresh the entire Serial Monitor. (Previous default was 100ms. Min allowed is 15ms)
Update: Added a global option to set the "Communications > Serial Read Timeout". Default changed from 100ms to 200ms.
Update: Upload property upload.pause_before_ms defaulted to 200ms if not set in board.txt (Reported Here)
Fix: Intellisense: MegaAVR Fix for missing String.h functions e.g. memset (Reported Here)
Update: Startup for clearer messaging regarding loading toolchains, and delays registering c++>.ino file extension
Update: Minor changes to messages and menu caption for non-activated use
Fix: IDELocations: Trims Double Quotes from Paths when entered
Update: Added a board property to try out pause before upload. set to milis:- upload.pause_before_ms= (Reported Here)
Update: Try/Buy Screen cleaned up for clearer explanation of Visual Micro to new Users
Fix: ESPExceptionDecoder - Ensure #line is included for both Debug:Off and Debug:Hardware (Reported Here)
Fix: ESPExceptionDecoder parses lines with "(discriminator x)" correctly to jump to code line correctly
Fix: HardwareId Generation improved to ensure this is calculated as early as possible
Fix: Correct environment font measured for presentation of boards list
Fix: Startup messaging improved
Fix: Shutdown stability improved
Fix: Intellisense improvements for SAMD Standard C functions e.g Memcpy (Reported Here)
Update: ESP32/ESP8266 no longer requires Bonjour Service to be installed to perform network discovery of boards.
Fix: Activation Form now removes leading & trailing spaces when submitting license key to reduce accidental errors in activation.
Fix: IDE Locations checks ensuring the same paths are not used for IDE Location / Sketchbook / Downloaded Board Packages (Reported Here)

New in Visual Micro 22.06.11.0 (Jun 15, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.06.07.0 (Jun 8, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.04.29.3 (May 15, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.04.29.0 (Apr 30, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.04.26.0 (Apr 29, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.02.18.5 (Mar 25, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 22.02.18.0 (Feb 22, 2022)

New in Visual Micro 21.11.08.9 (Dec 3, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.11.08.0 (Nov 8, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.09.17.5 (Oct 25, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.06.06.17 (Jul 27, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.06.06.4 (Jul 27, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.06.06.4 (Jun 23, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.06.06.0 (Jun 6, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.05.27.0 (May 27, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.04.27.0 (Apr 30, 2021)

New in Visual Micro 21.01.06.0 (Jan 17, 2021)

Intellisense: Fixes for Portenta H7 Intellisense (Reported Here)
Library Complilation: LD Flags Fix to ensure Library *.a folder is added to Linker Path (Reported Here)
GDB: Fixes for NRF5x Debuggers STLinkv2, JLink, BMP to remove upload selection reliance
Intellisense: Improvements for ESP32, NRF52 Boards to reduce errors
GDB: Addition of NRF5x Debuggers STLinkv2, JLink, BMP
License Management: Addition of General > Deactivate License, allowing transfer to another machine
Intellisense: Improvements for SAMD and MBED Boards
Prototype Generation: Fixes for incorrect detection of rawliteral() JS code in prototype generation
Intellisense: SAMD: Fixes for __disable_irq() / memcpy() etc..
IDE Location Screen: Hints updated for clarity
Library Compilation: When StopOnError is Enabled stops on first library compliation failure
Build Hooks: now fires "hooks.deploy.postupload", as well as vmdeploy (https://www.visualmicro.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1605708425/3#3)
Prototype Generation: Fixes for template<> definitions causing error on compile
Micro Explorer - Manage Libraries: Updating a library no longer automatically adds the library to the project
Build Core Caching: Fix for potential core caching issue in last two forum releases (20.09.10.12 + 20.09.10.13)
Serial Debug: Correction to datatype error seen in compilation for DigitalPinWrite (caused issues on ESP32)
License Expiry Message: Amended to be clearer as to causes, and solutions when this happens
Intellisense: Reduction of errors shown for Arduino Portenta H7 Board
Library Build: Processing of sub folders improved to remove conflicts reported (e.g. Sparkfun Artemis)
Switched to a new SSH library. Fixes Arduino Yun R2 network upload, www files upload and terminal. Also applies to other boards that use more recent ssh encryption.
Compiler: Comment Stripper Improved to ensure division broken over two lines is not treated as a comment (as seen in TensorFlow Hello_World Example)
Prototype Generation: Further improvements to ensure prototypes aren't generated when datatype matching fails (e.g. vector<string> from this report)
Prototype Generation: Improved prototype code derivation to resolve Multi Line Signature Issues
License Expiry: Output Window message to remind users now added when Licenses have expired
Disasssembly View: Additional fixes to quoting of command run in background to generate the objdump output + logfile
GDB: Addition of BBC MicroBit (+Other NRF5 Boards) for BuiltIn CMSIS-DAP Debugging via GDB + OpenOCD
GDB: Debug Menu > Optimization: "Default Optimization" now works for Debugging, and passes -Og parameter to compiler
ESP8266 UDP Debug: Cleanup of Socket Closure, ensured working in conjunction with ESP8266Webserver

New in Visual Micro 20.09.10.1 (Sep 11, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.07.08.7 (Aug 1, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.07.08.3 (Jul 18, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.07.08.2 (Jul 16, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.06.18.0 (Jun 18, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.05.18.9 (Jun 17, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.05.18.1 (May 21, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.05.18.0 (May 21, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.21.21 (May 12, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.21.11 (May 3, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.21.2 (Mar 22, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.21.1 (Mar 22, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.18.1 (Mar 20, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.18.0 (Mar 20, 2020)

New in Visual Micro 20.03.01.6 (Mar 16, 2020)

Standalone shareable Web debugger updated (Experimental)
GDB debug disconnect forces gdb to exit. Cleaner shutdown.
Support precompiled=true, link .a/.so files discovered in the library [mcu name] folder.
Extend check to ignore special case missing prototypes for setup() and loop() where (void) is declared as an argument to the two methods.
Fix: Resolve new python location for recent changes in the esp8266 package. Visual Micro spiffs (web server data files) upload now supports both older and newer esp tool chain versions.
Fix: Unabe to create new Arduino projects in Atmel Studio 7. Either failed or caused a hang/lockup of the IDE.
Insertion of the auto generated missing prototypes (using CTags) is updated to also cater for 1st method in an .ino other than the project_name.ino. This will avoid many compile issues when user types are defined in the .ino code and subsequently used in method sigantures that have missing prototypes. Reminder: CTags are only used for missing prototype generation if "deep search for libraries" (Gcc-E) is enabled.
Inserting soft debug breakpoints on 1st line of the setup() or loop() is now supported.
CLI fixes and new properties
GDB Hardware Debugging - Programmer/Upload Config updates (check selections after update), OpenOCD Updated to 2020-02-13
Experimental - Export local web debugger. pre-alpha option to export a self contained portable debugger. Allow a board that is already programmed with visual micro soft debugger break and/or trace points to be connected to another pc that does not have an IDE (visual studio or visual micro) installed. Applies to software debug only! "vMicro>Debugger>Export Web Debugger". tip: Close the serial terminal after soft debug starts and review the Micro Build output window for usage instructions. Read More Here
new - Esp32 OTA UDP software debugging
new - Teensy virtual usb port discovery
new - Teensy virtual usb Console
new - Teensy virtual usb (MIDI) software debugging
Fix: Automatic prototype insertion before first method in .ino files (in previous releases the prototypes were inserted before the first code line which required manual insertion of prototypes)
Fix: Software debugging did not work if the setup() and loop() methods were not in the project_name.ino
Fix: Software debugging breakpoints were ignored if placed on the first line of a method (on the method name or the line with the methods opening brace)
Hardware Debuggers: SAM - Improved support (+ JLink)
Add GDB support (hardware debugging) for the MXChip Azure IoT Board
Teensy 1.5 changes for intellisense.
STM32duino intellisense paths and fixes for latest toolchains
Ability to exclude certain unneeded variant files from intellisense intellisense.excludes=[semi-colon; sep list of file names without paths]. STM32 is preconfigured with this property.
Fix: SPIFFS: Manually installed esp8266 core under the "ArduinoIDE/hardware" folder failed to resolve python path

New in Visual Micro 1909.27.0 (Sep 27, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1909.15.1 (Sep 18, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1908.7.4 (Aug 16, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1908.5 (Aug 5, 2019)

STM32 F1 and F4 debugger update
Change default to False:- "vMicro>Compiler>Add Include -I for Shared Projects"
ESP32 Dev Kit Usb Programmer Update
Shared Library Projects: If we created a library called "LibraryA" that did not have a "LibraryA.h" and we did not #Include <LibraryA.h> in our sketch then the build failed to find the library.
Deep search for libraries: The cache failed for some shared library projects causing longer compile times.
Update structure of "File>New>Project>Arduino Library" to Arduino v2 library format containing sources in the src folder. Reminder: the src folder of Arduino v2 libraries automatically become a compiler -I include path.
Remove default capability to qualify library #includes with library name for example: #include SPISPI.h is not supported unless "vMicro>Global>Options>Compiler>Add Libraries Folders (-i) Includes" is set to TRUE. Note: Deep search for libraries must also be switched off to use this feature. It is not recommended to qualify lib paths with the folder name, is not Arduino compatible and can cause conflicts with libraries that also have relative path#includes.
ESP32 might crash at startup if libraries are installed that use relatives paths which conflict with other libraries (two reports). This is the primary reason for the change descrived in the previous point.
Installing libraries from Library Manager automatically adds #includes to the current project. This feature can be switched on in "vMicro>General>Global Options>Contributions>Add Includes when Installing Libraries"
First build or re-build might have failed for some boards. We now run the "prebuild" hook before deep search (gcc-e) library discovery. This allows cores such as STM32duino to create a default options header (build_opts.h) in the build folder.
Shared project compiler include paths moved to before the includes for the core.
NOTE: Cracked, invalid or illegal use of Visual Micro will cause the IDE to periodically stop working. At that time a dialog will be displayed asking you to contact us.

New in Visual Micro 1906.16.1 (Jun 18, 2019)

VS IDE now starts without loading Visual Micro unless bars are displayed that require Visual Micro to load. This allows C++, VB.NET and C# developers to work with Visual Micro installed but without impacting the IDE until Arduino features are used (such as opening an .ino project)
Improved toolbar auto visibility when an .ino project is opened. Auto visibility toolbars will hide before the IDE closes so that when the IDE is next used it will start quickly. In previous versions toolbars would be hidden after the IDE is restarted if an Arduino project was not opened.
Added "Toolbar Auto Visibility" menu to the vMicro menu. All tool bar visibility commands have been moved from the "General" menu to the "vMicro>Toolbar Auto Visibility" menu.
Add toolbar visibility menu item > "Auto All", which enables auto visibility for all bars. This saves having to click each toolbar to enable auto-visibility for many bars. In VS2019 it is recommended that the vMicro menu toolbar be displayed all of the time. This is because VS2019 does not show extension on the master menu bar at the top of the IDE.
Minor fixes: Admin users: Auto roll out for large scale deployment. It is now possible to auto-configure all Visual Micro settings when a user first logs onto the IDE and uses Visual Micro.
All toolbars are now hidden after first install (excl. the vMicro bar).
Changed the default auto visibility to 'True' for the Boards, Project and Serial toolbars This allows new users to find options more easily. The vMicro menu does not default to "auto visibility" because of the note above about the VS2019 menu bar.
Prevent build hook/event messages from being displayed unless verbose is enabled
New user first time experience improved. The IDE locations config window is not prompted until a Visual Micro feature is used.
Fix: New user IDE locations dialog failed to display on first run due to VS2017 InitializeAsync() failing to provide a valid win32WindowHandle.
Added "Micro Board Options" tool bar
Automatic hardware debugging configuration, GDB out-of-the-box.
Extensible GDB configuration
Fix: Removed Visual Micro settings from the Visual Studio "Help" menu. This was a mistake in recent versions, the same options are on vMicro>General and did not belong on the Help menu.
Serial monitor default font change to same font as output windows

New in Visual Micro 1905.29.5 (Jun 3, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1905.29 (May 30, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1905.24 (May 24, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1905.22 (May 23, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1905.19 (May 20, 2019)

Esp8266 verbose upload in the v2.5.1 core is not recommended because it sends huge amounts of trace data that will require a cup of tea before it finishes.
Esp8266 and esp32 spiffs is now compatible with esp v2.5.1 and also older versions
Fix: Renaming a non .ino or .pde master file incorrectly prompted rename of the current selected sketch (if one was active in the code editor). This was caused by a VS bug.... Visual Studio ProjectItems() incorrectly return the first item of the requested item name is not found.
Switch serial debugger to using a generic #define based on the Debugger>Remote Port (or the default Serial/Serial1 when not set). This allows many more board platforms to be supported by the soft debugger without need for changes to Visual Micro. It is still possible for the upload port to display in the ports list due to the fact that some usb ports can appear long after the upload process has completed (see windows device manager for usb status's)
When "Auto select board/port is selected, ignore usb port changes during upload to catarena type of boards. Previously undesirable port changes would occur for boards that temporarily boot into a different upload port.
When "Auto select board/port is selected, manually switching the com port will select the corresponding board. note: the auto select feature relies on the vid/pid values returned by the usb driver which must correlate to the vid/pid of a board definition. Some manufacturers share vid/pid within many different boards which renders this feature useless.
Themes for the platform explorer, debugger digital pin viewer and watch expressions
Ignore contributed board package index (json) files if they no longer exist in either the "arduino ide>preferences" or "visual micro IDE locations > board support urls" lists. Previously uninstalling a url would continue to show the package in the platform explorer unless the package_index.json was manually deleted using windows explorer.
Verbose upload is no longer affected by switching on "verbose compile"
Implement "No Verify" for older avr and sam boards that do not provide the switch via the platform config
Stop all builds if a user attempts to start another build when a build is already running. Assume they want to cancel and not start a new build.
The build is cancelled if an attempt is made to run another build. Example, F5 starts build, F5 again stops/aborts the build, F5 again starts a new build.
Fix: Board options menu failed to show options after menu #14
Minor UI improvements, syntax, spelling, charting etc
Debug tool will now inherit properties from the tool chain pre-commands and also support property tree ".debug" with the selected tool. For example upload.tool=openocd can also be debug.tool=openocd, with the tool supporting both .upload and .debug subtrees along with default properties at tool level.
Renamed vMicro>"Toggle Hidden Files" to "Show/Hide Hidden Files". Using this feature adds short cuts to external sources and often provides a better code navigation experience (especially when using GoTo Definition).
Support for board.txt foo_debugger.args which automatically transpose to microsoft gdb / MIDebuggerArgs in the debugger_launch.json. (nb: a debugger_launch.json is not required in the local project and should only be added by advanced users). Using the board.txt as per the following example if recommended.
The notification messages for missing tools within board support packages (index.json) were many and unhelpful. In the next release notifications and errors are informative and duplicate errors are prevented. This applies to clicking re-scan or using the Platform Explorer when a package index containing missing tools has been added to the IDE locations configuration window.
Change: Better code navigation into the core when using "Go To Definition": "Toggle Hidden Files" will also now add short cuts for ".c" files. These files will often cause many intellisense errors in the "Error List" window. To disable this option use "Tools>Options>Compatibility>Toggle Hidden C Files" = false (default is true). Note: We are shortly moving to the CLang intellisense engine which will improve things. Reminder: Click "Toggle Hidden Files" again to remove the code short cuts.
Fix: Intellisense for _AT boards that, for some reason, have a different mcu name (case) than that contained in the core of the boards. note: Visual Micro is moving its intellisense definition to a more intelligent system so hopefully this type of issue won't happen in the future.
Fix lack of case sensitivity in strings comparisons relating to UI and intellisense. Recent issue since release of vs2019
Automatically switch to "Show All Files" view when "Toggle Hidden Files" is clicked. This resolves a VS bug that causes "Toggle Hidden Files" to display incorrectly when used in "Show All Files" mode. To resolve the display issue the project needed to be closed and re-opened or the "Toggle Hidden Files" option needed to be clicked a few times.
Prevent status bar message for using fileAndForget. Possible contributor to vs2019 crash when visual micro attempts to set the DTE.StatusBar.Text
Change: Better code navigation into the core when using "Go To Definition": "Toggle Hidden Files" will also now add short cuts for ".c" files. These files will often cause many intellisense errors in the "Error List" window. To disable this option use "Tools>Options>Compatibility>Toggle Hidden C Files" = false (default is true). Note: We are shortly moving to the CLang intellisense engine which will improve things. Reminder: Click "Toggle Hidden Files" again to remove the code short cuts.
Fix: Intellisense for _AT boards that, for some reason, have a different mcu name (case) than that contained in the core of the boards. note: Visual Micro is moving its intellisense definition to a more intelligent system so hopefully this type of issue won't happen in the future.
Fix lack of case sensitivity in strings comparisons relating to UI and intellisense. Recent issue since release of vs2019
Automatically switch to "Show All Files" view when "Toggle Hidden Files" is clicked. This resolves a VS bug that causes "Toggle Hidden Files" to display incorrectly when used in "Show All Files" mode. To resolve the display issue the project needed to be closed and re-opened or the "Toggle Hidden Files" option needed to be clicked a few times.
Prevent status bar message for using fileAndForget. Possible contributor to vs2019 crash when visual micro attempts to set the DTE.StatusBar.Text

New in Visual Micro 1904.24 (Apr 24, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1904.23 (Apr 23, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1902.17 (Feb 18, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1902.15 (Feb 15, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1902.11 (Feb 14, 2019)

New in Visual Micro 1811.24 (Nov 27, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1810.3 (Oct 3, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1808.30.4 (Aug 30, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1808.25 (Aug 29, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1807.8 (Jul 9, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1807.7 (Jul 7, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1806.2 (Jun 4, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1806.1 (May 30, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1805.25.0 (May 28, 2018)

Use regex to determine .INO #includes for intellisense regardless of "Deep Search for Libraries" setting. This ensures intellisense is immediately updated when adding libraries and switching boards. Previously a build was required before library intellisense was updated fully (caused some confusion)
Right click - Publish Local Library. Copies a library to "[sketchbook]/libraries". Saves a backup of the replaced lib in "sketchbook/_libs_bak/libName/time/LibName". After publish the library is ready for use in other arduino projects. Building other projects that use the library will update intellisense
Added a clear example of a self-contained project structure with source code sub folders and a local/private library. "File>New>Project>C++>Arduino Project With Local Library"
Fix: Debugger Min/Max values failed to display for float/decimal data
When Deep Search for Libraries is enabled the older arduino regex expression is no longer also used. This prevented libraries conditional #includes in .INO source code from having any effect, the library would be linked regardless of #condition. note: Switching off deep search and adhering to the restrictions of the older regex system dramatically improves some compile times.
Correction to last release: Auto detect usb connect now defaults to OFF
Correction to last release: Added optional menu item: vMicro>Compiler>Local Files Override Library Files - Ignore library source files if a file of the same name exists in the project
Changed visualmicro.com (help/reference) links from http:// to https://
Fix: Support CTRL+Click shortcuts (file:///) paths that contain spaces in the build output
Export exports to the path resulting from "Visual Studio Project > Property Pages > Output Directory"
After a build, the build output can be found in "Visual Studio Project > Property Pages > Intermediate Directory"
Added verbose output messages for "export binary" and "final build output location"
Serial Monitor uses Visual Studio color theme (requires restart for changes to apply if the theme changes)
Serial terminal font has always defaulted to standard visual studio Text font. A new button has been added to the Serial Monitor bottom tool strip called "Terminal Font". This button enabled the serial monitor font to be changed. The setting is retained in Tools>Options>Visual Micro>Communications>Terminal Font
The "pre release / work in progress" of the past week, always ignored core .o files in a cached build, if the same name file was also included in the project. We now use the setting from tools>options, the default is to allow both core and project files of same name to be compiled.

New in Visual Micro 1805.14 Sp1 (May 13, 2018)

Fix problem with the new compiler warnings in arduino 1.8.5 built in avr or any toolchain that does not specify a "default" warnings.
Fix intellisense for arduino 1.0 boards. Intellisense had gradually broken after the huge arduino architecture changes over the past year or so.
Fix build process for arduino 1.0 boards when more recent custom hardware definitions are installed in my sketchbookhardware folder. Only hardware that has boards.txt but does NOT have platform.txt is loaded for Arduino 1.0
Add source code #line numbers and original source code file name to code in the temp build folder. This enables external tools and debuggers to work with the compiled .elf and object files.
Added a new menu item "vMicro>General>Auto Select Board/Port When A Device Connects". This feature is enabled by default which causes visual micro to select a newly found serial port and to use the usb vid/pid to resolve the connected board (if vid/pid is known in boards.txt). Some usb devices share a common vid/pid/driver so this feature only applies to certain boards. Most Arduino boards support this feature. Esp8266 and Esp32 do not.
Added ESP32 SPIFFS support to "vMicro>Publich Server Data". With or w/out password auth supported.
Resolve intellisense issue when toolchain and project are on different drives
Implement newer "compiler warnings" syntax for the arduino framework : {compiler.warning_flags}
Change "menu "vMicro>Compiler" to support separate warnings for :- Project, Libraries and Core.
Fix: RTS was not enabled/disabled in the serial monitor. Will have affected some esp8266 users if their usb driver defaulted to RTS on
Support local project source code override for library and core. Skip compile and link of core or library source codes that have the same name as the project source code. This allows selected core and library sources to be used locally in the project for testing or redesign. (The Arduino IDE already supports this feature). For example creating a main.cpp and then click "Build>Rebuild". This provides complete control over the micro-controller outside (or with modification) of the Arduino framework. tip: When the Solution explorer is not "Showing all files", use "vMicro>Toggle Hidden Files" to easily see/copy "core and library" sources.
Show more informative error during debug if a break-point message has invalid syntax such as a missing brace
Fix: Serial debug support for expressif esp32 boards
Serial debug support for nRF boards
Resolve Arduino 1.5 avr intellisense issues
Slow toolchains such as arduino 1.5.8 might have timed out at the start of the first build of the session
Examples show examples for the current board under an easy to see separate tree node in the micro explorer
GDPR - Removed anon telemetry at start-up which was used to monitor vs version usage. It might be re-implemented in the future with more obvious user controls.
Energia 18 new boards required some additions (java.exe location for RunActions, more to follow)
Add new config property and default to ON for Energia which uses a custom action to add a main.cpp to the build folder. In this case, if visual studio is set to "compile files in project", as opposed to "compile files found on disk" then the main.cpp will be forced into the list of files to be compiled := ide.actions_result_in_maincpp=true
New menu item 'vMicro>Compiler>Always Export Binary' saves the hex/bin to the project folder after each build. tip: The output files are available in the folder specified in "Project>Property Pages>Final Build Output Folder"
Tools>Options>Telemetry>Check for Updates is no longer read only for non-educational users. The tool tip of the property has also been extended to explain some Telemetry information (no personal info) is sent during check for updates. reminder: Microsoft Visual Studio also provides an update notifications facility configured in "tools>extensions and updates".
When there are new major releases of Visual Micro. Check for updates will show new release messages in a "quiet" output tool window instead of an annoying on top dialog.
Minor changes to the text of menus to make them more readable
"File>New>Arduino Project" creates a project with more informative comments in the new .ino file but only when "vMicro>General>Tutorial" Mode is enabled.
"vMicro>Compiler>Always Export Binary" - Verbose mode reports file names as clickable links
Changing "vMicro>Compiler>Deep Search for Libraries" for a project also changes the "default" setting that is applied to new projects and projects when "Deep Search" has not been specifically set.
The reason for debug build failures is better reported
The FAQ on visualmicro.com is more obvious and has been updated
The Pro version has been merged into a single product. All features available to all users. The license model has changed to provide free download and evaluation for 90 days. After that time the software continues to work but should be purchased. Thank you

New in Visual Micro 1804.21 (Apr 23, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1804.16 (Apr 17, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1803.26 (Mar 26, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1803.6 SP3 (Mar 6, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1803.4 (Mar 5, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1801.27 (Jan 28, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1801.14 (Jan 14, 2018)

New in Visual Micro 1711.19 (Dec 23, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1709.3 (Sep 4, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1707.30 (Jul 30, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1707.14 (Jul 17, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1706.25 (Jul 10, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1705.8 (May 8, 2017)

Reversed the new user experience changes from Feb 2017. First time usage prompts the Ide locations window. Advanced users who wish to work without an Arduino Ide can cancel and continue working with the "Visual Micro (No IDE)" option. The "No IDE" option supports board manager, library manager and sketch book custom hardware and libraries but will be missing the built-in hardware and libraries that are installed with an Arduino IDE (or clone).
Removed nag screens from atmel studio device programming except for the one, as described above.
Tested Atmel Studio Simulator with Uno and Mega 2560. nice!.
Esp32: Intellisense fix. Followi the esp32 arduino ide install guide. If using Symatec anti-virus, the esp32 tools give a false positve and will not work. change the platform.txt to use the linux python .py instead of .exe files. Make sure python is installed (see esp9266 community docs). Ask in the forum if you need help.
Fix: Shortcuts to library sources are added to the project if Toggle Hidden Files is enabled when adding libraries. note: This does not happen if "create a project when adding libraries" is enabled.
Board and library managers moved into the standard version of Visual Micro
High speed build moved into the standard version of Visual Micro
All local and custom library development moved into the standard version of Visual Micro
All shared project functionality moved into the standard version of Visual Micro
Board and Library Manager speed improvements
Board and Library Manager - Added new button 'Check for Updates'
Board and Library Manager - New global setting "tools>options>visual micro>contributions>update indexes". When 'True', Board and Library Managers will automatically check for updates when the managers are used. The default is False which requires the "Check for updates" button to be pressed before new BSP package_index.json and library.index.json urls are fetched/downloaded.
Added 14 day count down before the free version must be upgraded to the latest free. To help with support we force everyone using the free version of visual micro to upgrade at least once every 9-12 months.
Toggle Hidden Files - Due to bugs in Vs2017 the behavior has altered slightly. Variant shortcuts are combined with "Core". Library source shortcuts are grouped together for each library in a "Library Name" folder. The main difference is less virtual folders which can cause VS2017 to crash/hang.
Fuller and better defined experience for users of the unpaid free version. Nag screen once per day on first build. Software "required update by date" shown in "tools>options>visual micro>version". 14 day count down message in build output prior to the date. Free users must upgrade approx. every 9-12 months.
A trial is no longer automatically started for free users allowing the free software to be tested and used prior to starting a trial.
All types of shared project (in libraries) are available in the free version.

New in Visual Micro 1704.30 (May 1, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1704.20 SP1 (Apr 24, 2017)

Fix - Serial ports list might have been empty sometimes. Workaround/protect against Windows 10 bug of duplicate serial ports that caused visual micro not to display any serial ports
Fix - When using the Gdb Command Window - Degug.MIExec commands the returned output will correctly show in the command window where as previously the output showed in the "Debug" output window. For example Degug.MIExec help and Degug.MIExec list will show the resulting help or code in the command window below the command that was entered
Beta - Download GDB Debugging in Visual Studio 2017. A new light weight extension is available that simply launches the Visual Micro GDB debugger for projects that have a debugger flavor of "VisualMicroDebugger". Launching the debugger in Visual Studio is different for each version which therefore we will produce a separate extension for each version. The main Visual Micro Arduino IDE extension will remain compatible with all supported versions of Visual Studio. gdb aslso requires Android tools for Visual Studio to be installed
Fix: Arduino as ISP - Burn bootloader passes serial port to command
Fix: Removing all breakpoints from a .cpp (without making any edits to the source) failed to recompile and used the previously cached .o object files instead. A more efficient comparison is now made during file.copy and the LastModifiedDateTime is updated if the latest version of a source file is different from the cached build version
Updated: avr intellisense to detect gcc 4.6.2 and 4.6.3. 4.8.1 is also still supported
Added: intellisense redefines for the avr pgm_read defines which VS does not understand
Added: intellisense sense only preprocessor define _VMICRO_INTELLISENSE
Change: Enclose the vsarduino.h intellisense header source with if defined(_VMICRO_INTELLISENSE) read more
Automatically disable visual micro in project configurations that contain any of the following defines _WINRT_DLL; _WIN_IOT; _VMICRO_DISABLE
The above changes ensure that windows IoT projects containing a .ino course file can be compiled without interference from Visual Micro. Creating a new empty project configuration without the above defines will allow visual micro to build a windows 10 IoT project when the configuration is selected
New draft documentation guide to cross-compiling Windows 10 IoT and Arduino projects. How to optionally enable Visual Micro for a specific Configuration and how to create code that arduino.cc or Microsoft IoT will compile
Change: Automatic debugging will only be started for projects that have an active configuration name containing the text 'Debug' (not case sensitive). Previous version would enable debug unless the configuration name contained the text "Release". This is designed to prevent users who do not know what debugger is from accidentally enabling debugging
1704.18 - Reversed >> Updated to the latest SharpZip. Hopefully that solves some reported issues unpacking/installing new hardware. (issue report)
Workaround: Esp8266 debug failed to connect to wifi. If the esp8266 has a 2-3 second delay at the start of the setup() it fails to connect. Visual Micro no longer enforces this delay for esp boards. In fact the delay is only useful for boards such as the Uno which start almost instantly preventing the serial monitor (and debugger) from capture the earliest serial messages
Missing last char when reading serial during debug. If serial.print() was used in the arduino code without line terminator the last printed char was missing from the display
Known bug: Unprocessed debugger packets can sometimes appear in the serial output window. Improved slightly in this release
Intellisense and serial debugger support for Adafruit Feather/nrf52 type boards

New in Visual Micro 1704.3 (Apr 5, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1703.31 (Apr 3, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1703.30 (Apr 3, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1703.25 (Apr 3, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1703.20 (Apr 3, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1702.25 (Feb 28, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1702.18 (Feb 23, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1702.15 (Feb 14, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1702.11 (Feb 11, 2017)

Board Manager - Tested installing and building 400+ boards. Installing 3rd party board packages can no longer break other packages due to incorrect tool chain specification in 3rd party indexes. This protects packages, such as Adafruit, that inherit tools and cores from other packages.
Fix - Prevent board manager tool chains from overriding the arduino.cc original. It was possible that a working build system would break after installing board manager packages that use the same tool versions as the currently installed arduino package. This could be a serious issue for some users by causing the build system to appear unstable.
More resilient and more intelligent tools discovery for all 3rd part boards. Especially avr boards.
IoT device discovery failed if mdns properties were not available. For example connecting an esp8266 without using ArduinoOTA would fail to automatically discover the device. (applies only to apple bonjour for windows users)
Removed invalid #prama warnings from arduino 1.0.x debug builds. Did not cause a build to fail.
Added new build property {deploy.transport_type} to distinguish between normal and programmer upload types. deploy.transport_type=upload and deploy.transport_type=program (gdb debug forum)
Downloadable packages that contain platforms using the same named tool but of different versions could cause the wrong tool path to be available. This issue surfaced for the Intel Galileo gen2 boards that use a tool called sketchupload.exe. The intel package also contains the Genuino 101 definition which uses a different version of sketchupload.exe. Gal Gen2 boards would show {runtime.tools.sketchuploade...r} error when upload was attempted.
Assembly view - Added support for the latest "Teensy" style compiler path definitions (used to find -objdupmp.exe)
Added a new tools>options>visual micro>compiler property. "Disassembled View Auto Activate". If disassembled view has been enabled for a project then automatically display it after each successful build (defaults to OFF/false). tip: The view automatically converts temp build locations to correct source locations (dbl click to go to source).
Discover downloaded tools that exist on disk but that have not been registered in a package index.json. (example: Samsung Artik 10 linuxuploader.exe)
Use PnP serial device discovery instead of win32. This allows for more port properties to be discovered from WMI. The VId, PID and iSerial variables are now correctly populated. Build/upload properties include the {serial.port.iserial} which contains the unique serial device id and is used by boards such as Samsung Artik 10 during upload.
Project name showed as "Sketch". After creating a new project using "File>New Arduino Project", the project name would revert to "Sketch" when it was next opened. This was caused by users clicking "No" to the visual studio prompt "save changes to the project (vcxfilters)". This release of Visual micro forces projects to be saved immediately after creation.
Fix: "Key already in dictionary" error during load of hardware that contains key/values for properties that are normally set by the IDE at run time. Caused some hardware to be excluded from the available/installed boards list
Improved threading and status bar animation
Improved status messages during Esp8266 SPIFFS upload "vMicro>Upload Server Data Files"
Append Vid/Pid specific build properties for the currently selected serial port (does not apply to Net/WiFi/OTA uploads).
Show USB/Serial discovery properties in outputs when "Show Build Properties" is enabled. Properties are shown as Serial.[propName]=[value]
Nucleo Fxx type boards using the mass storage upload method incorrectly define the disk volume in the upload command with quotes. For example "tools.nucleoFlasher.upload.pattern=-O "{node}" produces an invalid volume name of "NODE_F103RB". Visual Micro strips the quotes so that mass storage upload completes successfully.
Allow Visual Micro to be used while board manager is downloading/installing packages. Currently, only one package can be downloaded at a time (more board manager improvements coming soon).
Usb debug support for ARM_CORTEXA
Usb debug support for STM32L4
Implement better resolution of tool chain locations for hardware that inherits tools from other packages (boards that were designed for older gcc tool chains (but that inherit the core from packages such as arduino) will now use the version of tools (such as avrdude) that matches the core.
Resolve the correct variants location for downloaded packages that use arduino idehardware variants. Caused certain boards such as "arcode" avr boards to fail to compile due a missing pins_arduino.h
Fix: Platforms with index.json without dependencies now resolve to the latest arduino gcc. (attiny and other platforms would fail to compile)
Network Esp8266 spiffs failed if authentication was not used unless an empty network.password= was provided via board.txt (tip: spiffs is the upload of files from the "projectdata" folder to the esp8266 file system)
Intellisense improvements for the latest arduino samd tool chain.
Board Manager - Download and install multiple packages at the same time
Board Mnanager - Allow project edit and upload during while new hardware is being downloaded and installed
Board Manager - New hardware installation progress "Number of packages remaining"
Arduino 1.6 and above only: -The default working directory when running build and upload processes has been changed from the arduinoide folder to arduinoidejavabin. This enables .bat files that use java (such as some variations of serialuploader.bat and mapleuploader.bat stm32 and maple) to run without error.
Board Manager - Improved installation of new package url index files via the 3rd party Board "Auto Discovery List". Instant download of new index.json files when clicking auto discovery nodes. Select as many as you want and then click the Re-scan button to view install-able platforms (will appear as in the available platforms list)

New in Visual Micro 1701.19 RC (Jan 19, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1701.17 (Jan 17, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1701.16 SP2 (Jan 16, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1701.16 (Jan 16, 2017)

New in Visual Micro 1701.3 (Jan 4, 2017)

More intelligent compiler cache managment, less rebuilds, faster compile times.
Pro/paid users please try the new vMcro>Compiler>Parallel Build feature. Build all the files in each folder at the same time.
Fix crash when clicking "Create New Local Arduino Library"
Fix possible program freeze during build > library search. An example would be if a header or code file #included itself. In this case the gcc tool chain might never return from an infinite loop causing visual micro to freeze. A 3 second timeout is now imposed on library discovery commands and 90 seconds for compiler commands. Under normal use the timeouts should never be hit.
Limit compiler error messages to max 250. Huge errors would cause extreme sluggish ide performance.
Support C++ shared projects as References. The code from shared projects is compiled as if it were part of the main project therefore all source file names must be unique within the build. (tip: If using sub folders in shared projects it is recommended that only one first level sub folder called src is used. This will make it easier to recombine sources into a single arduino ide compatible project. The arduino ide only recognize the src sub folder branch.)
Read more from Microsoft about C++ shared projects. Visual Micro applies the same rules to Arduino as is defined here for Cross-Platform and Android
Seemless development in a shared c++ project. Upload, debug exactly the same as when developing in the main project.
When editing code in a shared project, intellisense will be provided based on the the Visual Studio "Startup Project". The build and upload controls will also assume the current Solution Startup Project.
When the F4 project properties of a shared c++ project are viewed a "Micro" option allows the folder path of the shared project to be added as a -I compiler included. The setting is not required to successfully build projects based on shared projects. The setting is for advanced users that understand clearly what adding compiler -I includes does.
Intellisense: C++ includes are now relative to the project folder and the $(ProjDir) macro is used to specify the root.
Opening a project does not cause automatic check out.
Many improvement for shared development teams. (More to follow)
Build progress messages and progress.
Free users: Try buy nag screen opens one time, on the first build after each start of visual studio. Clicking Cancel allows the build to proceed.
Tip for Arduino AVR users only: The Arduino IDE moved to a new avr tool chain that runs slower than the older versions. If compile speed is slow then point visual micro to a slightly older version of the Arduino Ide.
Open (and create if it doesn't exist) board.txt when "Create board.txt" is clicked
More intelligent auto detect when a rebuild is required as a result of board options value change.
Fix bug introduced in 1612.20 - Library search was cached too heavily. The latest release has a high degree if intelligence for all build cache phases. Tp: The cache defaults to "preserved between ide sessions". "Build>Rebuild" always clears the cache and performs a clean build.
Free users must update prior to 25th Jan 2018

New in Visual Micro 1612.24 (Dec 26, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1612.20 SP2 (Dec 26, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1612.20 SP1 (Dec 26, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1612.12 (Dec 26, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1612.7.1 (Dec 8, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1612.07 (Dec 8, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1612.01 (Dec 8, 2016)

Esp8266 SPIFFS uses apple bonjour dns info when available
Fixed bug that caused the project to be un-selected from the VS build process. Not normally a problem for Arduino builds but the same setting allows custom build events to be executed. Please recheck the the build option for your project in "Build>Configuration Manager" if you want to use Visual Studio build events alongisde Arduino builds.
Support "network.password=" in each projects board.txt (pro users)
Added new menu item vMicro>Debugger>Full Speed. This switches off the default debugger message throttling allowing the micro-controller to run at full speed (approx). Enabling this property causes the advanced project property "Throttle Enabled" to be ignored and provides a more obvious setting for users who do not like to read the documentation. This setting is also required to debug in ISR handlers subject to a compatible debugger Serial/Pin configuration (example: if Serial does not work because the timer is being used then we have to select different port or pin for debug)
Captured the "Debug>Attach to process" event allowing debug to be resumed without need to for upload. This is the same as opening the serial monitor on the debug port. Useful when using Net/IP upload but debugging using a different port or pins.
Board Manager will warn/ask to run "post_install.bat" bat files if they exist with the tools installed during package installation. This allows usb drivers to be installed. The warning states the package must have come from a known reliable url (from a known package on a secure system).
Debugger - Fix for esp8266 free memory graph: {@ReportFreeMemory)
Updated to latest ICSharp.Zip api. Improves Board Manager package installer for GZip and TAR packages
Improve detection for new network/IoT devices when using the Apple Bonjour Printer Service for discovery (esp8266 + Arduino Yun).
Removed compiler delay in free version but removed the 'recently used boards' instead
Added menu item "Upload Last Build" to the vMicro>Uploader menu and removed from the Visual Studio "Project" menu
Removed all Visual Micro menu items from the standard Visual Studio "Project" menu. This applies to the "Add Code" and "Add Library" menu items. These items are available on the visual micro menus and bars, on the visual studio>solution>project right mouse context menu and on the visual studio "Add Items to Project" menus.
The dtr setting in the serial monitor defaults to False for boards such as esp8266
reminder esp8266 network config with or without apple bonjour print discovery services (as per arduino ide OTA guide)
local project board.txt
network.port=8266
network.auth_upload=yes
network.password=123

New in Visual Micro 1611.20 (Nov 23, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1611.18 (Nov 23, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1611.5.1 (Nov 7, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1611.5 (Nov 7, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1610.27 (Oct 27, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1610.25 (Oct 26, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1610.23 (Oct 24, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1610.4.2 (Oct 11, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1609.20.0 (Sep 20, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1609.18.1 (Sep 18, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1609.17 (Sep 18, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1609.9 (Sep 13, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1609.2.0 (Sep 2, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1609.01 (Sep 2, 2016)

Support [project_name].cpp as an alternative to .ino files. NOTE: A project_name.ino MUST still exist in the project folder and project. The ino can be empty and is ignored by the compiler when a project_name.cpp exists in the project. Visual Micro requires the project_name.ino to determine the project is an Arduino project.
When using a project_name.cpp instead of .ino files, the build is performed on the live project sources instead of a copy in the temporary folder. The compiler include paths will contain the path of the project folder instead of the path of the temp build folder. by popuar request :)
To make use of the "vMicro>Debugger>Use Atmel Studio Debugger" facility it is hightly recommended that a project_name.cpp is used instead of .ino files. The Atmel debuger doesn't work well with projects that contain .ino source code and will display code from the temp folder during a debug "step/break" operation which is highly confusing for users.
When using a "project_name.cpp", all the arduino build rules remain in place. Libraries must be #included using the standard Arduino #include syntax (no qualified paths).
When using a "project_name.ino", the "Add Library" facility will add demo #includes to the "project_name.ino". The #includes are ignored because the .ino is ignored, however it is useful to see the correct #include syntax for each library which can be copied into .cpp files as required.
Support new Arduino library.properties property called "includes". The "includes" property enables library developers to control which headers are #included when the "Add Code>Add Library" command is used.
When using a project_name.cpp it must serve the most basic of arduino code for the project to compile correctly. 1) #include "Arduino.h" 2) void setup() {} 3) void loop() {}. The setup() and loop() must have prototypes. To find a "ready made" project_name.cpp with the correct code for the current Arduino project switch on "vMicro>Compiler>Show Build Folder" then build. The build output will contain a link to the build folder and in the folder will be a project_name.cpp. Copy the project_name.cpp into the current project and the .ino files will no longer be used during builds.

New in Visual Micro 1608.31.0 (Aug 31, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1608.25.0 (Aug 26, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1608.24.0 (Aug 25, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1608.18.0 (Aug 19, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1608.14.1 (Aug 14, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1607.31.0 (Aug 3, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1607.25.11 (Jul 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1606.17.10 (Jun 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1606.17 (Jun 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1606.14 (Jun 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1606.11 (Jun 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1606.8 (Jun 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1606.6 (Jun 30, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1605.28.0 (May 29, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1605.14.0 (May 17, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1605.12.0 (May 14, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1605.11.0 (May 14, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1605.10.0 (May 11, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1605.6.0 (May 9, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1604.28 Sp1 (Apr 29, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1604.27 Sp1 (Apr 28, 2016)

Removed the "Buy pro" nag screen that appeared every 45 days to users of the free version (if ide fast start is enabled - see below)
Serial Monitor - DTR checkbox is no longer ignored. The only time Dtr should be ignored is if project property "Startup Delay or Dtr" is True
Added message to build "Using Visual Micro Free version"
Added a new "tools>options>visual micro>system" property to disable pro features (for testing)
Added a new "tools>options>visual micro>compiler>upload verbose" allowing only upload commands to be viewed in the output instead of all build commands when using the existing "Verbose" option.
Board options are now saved per board and project. This allows, for example, two projects to use the esp8266 but with different options.
Added menu item Help>Release Notes
If the trace is the active output pane when debugging ends, switch the output window back to "micro build"
Added "Tools>options>visual micro>system>ide fast start" as a new option forcing visual micro to load in a new thread after the ide has fully loaded. The current default is OFF but it would be great if you can switch it on and try it out. Does the ide load faster and become usable earlier when ON? Please comment in the forum thank you. The regedit can be used to switch it off if it has caused a startup issue for visual studio (not expected). [HKCU\Software\Visual micro\System\Ide Fast Start]
Serial Monitor logging. Date times are no longer Utc, Date formats should now be correct. Line terminator is always added to the conversation.txt log.
Serial Monitor Logs - Changed the conversation status from "Received" to "Message" and from "Send" to "Sent" which more accurately describes the current long entries.
Each build process has been isolated from the ide. This means that parallel builds are now supported and the build will no longer fail if the ide board is changed part way through a build.
The Visual Micro "build and upload" buttons will now build and upload the current project instead of the "startup project". This change is a result of the default value of "Tools>Options>Visual Micro>Upload>Debug Active Code" changing from False to True.
If you prefer the older functionality where the "Startup Project" is the main target for debug instead of the active code editor project then set the option to False. Regardless of the setting, the "Startup project" is always responsible for determining the functionality of the standard Visual Studio Debug/Start commands. This includes menus and F5 etc.
When working with Multiple projects in the same solution Visual Micro should respond more intuitively than previous versions. For example, in the same solution, a windows (or android) project can be debugged at the same time as an Arduino project. To achieve this the non-arduino project will be the "Startup project".
Micro Explorer Installed Boards - Keyword search has been improved. Boards can be filtered by common board properties such as:- Name, Architecture, Platform, Bootloader, build.coreore, build.board, build.pid, build.vid +++
Removed ../ProjectFolder/ from relative paths in the vsarduino.h intellisense header
Added message to start of build in the free version:- "Using the free version of Visual Micro. Please help by reviewing or buying"

New in Visual Micro 1604.18 (Apr 18, 2016)

Renamed the Visual Micro menu to vMicro so that it takes less space
Moved "unsupported hardware for debug" error message to the end of the compiler output so it is easier to see
Improved board search on the first tab of the Micro Explorer
Serial debug support for stm32 (adafruit feather) boards that use USBSerial + HardwareSerial
Local project build system property overrides. Pro users may add a board.txt to the root of an Arduino project. There is also a new menu item "Project Item>Add new board.txt" which adds a board.txt. To see current build properties switch on "Tools>options>visual micro>compiler>show build properties". The feature can be disabled in the "Compatibility" section of the same options. Example property would be:- upload.8dot3=false
Serial monitor commands user interface has changed to using top and bottom toolstrips. The previous layout made handling different high dpi settings almost impossible. The new layout should work with all dpi settings
Serial monitor log to file - New feature for pro users
Added "New" project item context item "Add Board.TXT"
Improved tool bar and serial monitor tool tips
Micro Explorer - Easier to see "Installed" platforms
More obvious tool tips (or comments) when a feature is available in Pro and not available in the free version
More obvious final build error message if the selected hardware does not support the serial debugger default configuration
Moved Project>Show Arduino Core and Librray Sources menu item to menu item "Micro>Toggle Hidden Files". The menu item will add/remove code short cuts to the core and library sources for the current project. The short cuts should be treated as readonly unless designing core or lib code. If significant changes or edits are made to the underlying source codes then click "Tools>Visual Micro>Reload toolchains" to let Visual Micro know about them (or restart the ide)
Serial Monitor Reconnect failed in yesterdays release
Logging currently provides two logs per log session
The RAW inbound (received) data log uses the following name format: "[port/ip]-[start datetime]-inbound.txt"
The COMMUNICATION log contains both "sent" and "received" (inbound and outbound) data along with a date stamp. The first two columns of each entry in the log contain the "[datetime] TAB [data direction (send/receive)]". The log file name format is:- "[port/ip]-[start datetime]-communication.txt"

New in Visual Micro 1604.12 (Apr 12, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1604.9 SP1 (Apr 11, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1604.7 (Apr 9, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1603.30 (Mar 31, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1603.28 (Mar 29, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1603.27 (Mar 28, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1603.25 (Mar 25, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1603.20 (Mar 21, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1602.13.0 (Feb 15, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1602.7.1 (Feb 9, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1602.3.0 (Feb 4, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.31.0 (Feb 3, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.30.0 (Feb 3, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.25.0 (Jan 28, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.21.0 (Jan 21, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.11.4 (Jan 19, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.11.3 (Jan 15, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.11.1 (Jan 12, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.04 SP1 (Jan 7, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1601.01 SP1 (Jan 7, 2016)

Note: Project hardware/board re-selection might be required after applying this update. Multiple boards of the same name but in different packages are now supported. Sorry, a one time annoyance to allow for all the new possibilities that arduino 1.6.x brings (arduino have introduced lots of changes this year but great improvements. It's been hard work keeping up but they say it's reached its peek)
Multiple platform architectures are support allowing platforms such as Teensy3 to support "avr" libraries. This support had broken in recent updates due to a change in arduino 1.6.x formats
The properties of platform.local.txt, platform.win.txt, platform.txt etc. are combined. Previously only one of the first file discovered was used. This affected various platforms such as Marlin.
Arduino 1.6.7 released and supported (does not yet support automatic 'related' library discovery or the new prototype discovery system, this means you might have to continue to #include or other related dependencies)
More robust support for current and historic 3rd party hardware definitions
Better integration with other projects types within the same solution. Visual micro will not attempt to build when the windows debugger is active for a different project in the solution.
Build output (hex,elf,map,bin) are copied to the projects configuration build folder. This is the first "real" visual studio c++ project property that Visual Micro supports (as opposed to it's own set of custom project properties). The build folder default to "ConfigurationName" such as "[project]\Release", "[project]\Debug". Final build properties are also written to a "build-board.boardinfo" text file in the output folder. (more about the reason for this output file later!)
Debug support for default Marlin Serial port (tip: To use Serial1 set project>Transport=HardwareSerial and project>RemotePort=Serial1)
ATMEL SmartEverything full support and also serial/bluetooth debug support which defaults to Serial1 (because the board doesn't have Serial)
Auto detect esp8266 and fix the .ar config so that compiler cache works correctly.
Beta - Support for Visual Studio Linux Makefile project types
More boards supported by the digital and analog pin viewers (zero, teensy 3.x ++ )
Cleaner Visual Studio shutdown - The extension version of Visual Micro was missing shutdown detection and could have attempted intellisense updates and other background tasks during shutdown causing a crash or hang.
Gdb beta release countdown - 3 days remaining!! Register your interest in the debug section of the forum.

New in Visual Micro 1512.28 (Jan 7, 2016)

New in Visual Micro 1512.23.1 (Dec 24, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 1512.23.0 (Dec 23, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 1512.20.0 (Dec 22, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 1512.14.0 (Dec 16, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 1512.10.0 (Dec 11, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 1511.23.1 (Nov 25, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 1511.21.0 (Nov 22, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.11.12 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.11.11 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.11.10 SP1 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.11.8 SP2 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.11.3 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.11.1 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.10.30 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.10.26 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.10.22 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.10.12 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.09.14 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.09.9 (Nov 13, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.09.08 (Nov 13, 2015)

Project folder is always added as compiler include path unless disabled with board property "compiler.always_include_sketchfolder=false"
Pro version supports local sketch libraries in "[sketch\_micro-api\libraries"
Tools>Options>Compatibility provides settings to restrict the build process to Arduino Ide compatibility
New menu item "Items>Add>Arduino Library" will create a new local library within the current project. The library will be #included into the .ino source code in the same way as a standard library would be #included.
Tools>Options>Compatibility>Compile Files In Project' - Support sub folders for each sketch, compile the files included into the visual studio project (except the "_micro-api" folder). Switching to False compiles on the files in the sketch folder (same as Arduino Ide)
Tools>Options>Compatibility>Compile ALL Project Folder Sources' - Regardless of which files are tagged into the project, compile all files found in the root of the project folder (ino,cpp etc) (Default=True for compatibility with the Arduino Ide)
Tools>Options>Compatibility>Allow Local Libraries' - Allows local project libraries to be placed or created under each project in folder "_micro-api\libraries\[theLibName]"
Added "Compile" button to the "Micro Project" tool bar and Visual Micro menu
Added "Compile & Upload" button to the "Micro Project" tool bar and Visual Micro menu
Moved "Install library from zip" to the libraries menu
Added "Refresh" to the libraries menu which is the same as Rescan in the micro explorer. Refreshes the installed library and hardware views without need to close and reopen the ide.
Prevent VS from creating annoying ipch folder below each sketch. Automatically set c++ intellisense to use fallback location. Automatically switch off C++ intellisense "using fallback" notification. Disable this feature via "Tools>Options>Visual Micro>User Interface>Use Intellisense Fallback Location". When the fall back location is being used the \ipch folders below each sketch will no longer be used and can be deleted. BY default the "fallback location" us windows temp but the path can be altered in "Tools>Options>Text Editor>C++>Advanced"

New in Visual Micro 15.08.30.1 (Sep 1, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.08.30.0 (Aug 30, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.08.1701 (Aug 19, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.08.1401 (Aug 14, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.08.1001 (Aug 14, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.07.2600 Beta (Jul 28, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.07.2301 SP6 (Jul 28, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.07.1801 SP1 (Jul 22, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.06.0100 SP6 (Jun 1, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.3000 SP4 (May 30, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.2400 SP2 (May 26, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1902 RC (May 20, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1701 RC (May 18, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1501 RC (May 16, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1300 RC (May 14, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1200 RC (May 14, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1102 RC (May 12, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.1000 RC (May 11, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.0400 RC (May 5, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.0305 RC (May 4, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.05.0100 RC (May 1, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.04.2504 RC (Apr 27, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.04.2000 RC (Apr 20, 2015)

Library manager:
Fully compatible with Arduino 1.6.2+ which introduces some significant but useful changes. (Complete compatibility with previous Arduino versions is still provided by Visual Micro)
Micro Explorer - Boards Manager - Downloadable hardware with version management
Auto notification of new releases of board packages
Download and install any version
Controlled download once to staging area
Automatic install of core and tool chains
Graphical keyword searchable view of packages
Info panel with package details and hyperlinks to view sources, tools or downloadable internet content
Auto discovery of new packages from the package_index.json in the repository happens once per session (or after a re-load/re-scan) when the Board Manager tab is clicked. If download fails the existing index is used but of course downloading any new hardware will fail
Micro Explorer - Library Manager - Downloadable libraries with version management
Auto notification of new releases of board packages
Download and install any version
Controlled download once to staging area
Automatic install of core and tool chains
Graphical keyword searchable view of libraries covers library name, maintainer name, author, category ++
Info panel with package details and hyperlinks to view sources, tools or downloadable internet content
Groupings with counts auto filtered by search results (ie: Category, Library Author, Library Maintainer
Auto discovery of new packages from the library_index.json in the arduino.cc repository happens once per session (or after a re-load/re-scan) when the Board Manager tab is clicked. If download fails the existing index is used but of course downloading any new libraries will fail
Compiler defines ARDUINO_ARCH_ and ARDUINO_[BOARD] replace invalid chars with underscores
Tested the Esp8266 Ide and found to be working. The 8266 ide now appears in the ide configurations list so both Arduino 1.6 and the Esp version can be used in the same solution. Esp8266 is a very cheap option!
The "Micro Explorer" has been rename to "Visual Micro Explorer" and has been given an overhaul
Searching for board names
One click add board or library to the active editor sketch (if a sketch is open)
Direct access to Ide Locations Configuration tool
Re-scan button reloads the current editor tool chains
Installed platform and boards list (first tab) provides overview panel with hyperlinks to install paths such as sketchbook folder, install library from zip (beta), install hardware from zip (beta).
An "All boards list" now appears above the list of packages in the tree. When searching the "All boards list" filters based on board name, platform name and/or package name.
Many more tool tips to explain what is being viewed and what can be done
No apps or misconfigured application paths are reported in the explorer view in red. The explorer can be used to configure or remedy the problem
When no apps are configured the Micro Explorer displays the visualmicro.com setup guide.
Green and purple VM Documentation toggle button on tool bar
Import library from Zip has been added to the "Project/Add/Import Library" menu (above the refresh button)
Support for new Arduino build properties that provide tool and core locations to the build process. Older versions of Arduino are still supported
In platform.txt, pre and post build hooks can now be specified. Example: recipe.hooks.prebuild.0.pattern=echo "Hello {build.source.path}"
"Start Debugger Trial" prompt removed for first time users. A trial is automatically started

New in Visual Micro 15.03.1803 RC (Mar 23, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.03.0700 RC (Mar 7, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.03.0300 (Mar 4, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.02.2400 (Feb 25, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.02.1403 (Feb 17, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.02.1403 RC (Feb 16, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.02.0200 Beta (Feb 3, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.01.2200 Beta (Jan 22, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.01.1500 Beta (Jan 16, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 15.01.1000 Beta (Jan 12, 2015)

New in Visual Micro 14.14.0006 Beta (Dec 23, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.14.0004 Beta (Dec 20, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.12.1000 Beta (Dec 10, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.12.0702 Beta (Dec 9, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.12.0701 Beta (Dec 9, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.11.1901 (Nov 20, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.11.1400 (Nov 19, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.07.10 SP7 Beta (Nov 19, 2014)

Library header files discovery - If the same header.h exists in two different libraries. The first library that is resolved will be used. Reminder: Library resolution can be controlled by the order of #included headers. Alternatively #imports can be prefixed with a library name. Libraries that contain a matching #imported LibName.h will be resolved first.
Mass rollout/install instructions for enterprise/educational users. Includes auto-activation license keys + ability to configure any Visual Micro config option at global machine scope http://www.visualmicro.com/page/Installing-and-activating-for-ALL-USERS-Mass-Ins...
Tighter Atmel studio SDK integration
Implemented Atmel Studio "Show all sketch core and library files" (core and libraries). This already worked in VS but not As6. Allows Arduino core and libs to be linked to the project (with auto update). Also includes facilities to remove items again. Linked sources wil be located in src/sketch-api-readonly. note: Import sketch-api coming soon.
Show/Import is also available for native Gcc projects but toolchain locations must be manually configured (next release will include optional auto-config of toolchain properties and facility to easily see what toolchain options are required for a succesful Gcc compile based on the selected Arduino hardware)
"Project>Add/Import Arduino library" to native gcc projects that have imported or linked Arduino sources
Debugger attempts to auto-discover if a sketch is already using the serial at a different speed to the Visual Micro default of 115200. If discovery is successful then Visual Micro automatically uses the discovered speed. Otherwise users must still set the speed via "project properties>remote speed"
Edited sketches are saved to the recently used files on the Atmel Studio Start Page
Third party hardware architecture specific libraries are combined with, but take priority over, other architecture specific libraries of other related ide packages. For example: the "Pololu A-Star" will support Ide/avr libraries with the SoftwareSerial override that is installed with the custom hardware core found here
Custom hardware:- Programmers list is combined with the matching core architecture programmers.
Tools>Visual Micro> "Auto hide boards list" and "Auto hide ports list". Normally Visual Micro tool bars can be hidden/displayed by users via a right mouse click. These two optional new settings cause Visual Micro to only display the tool bars when an Arduino sketch is open. Useful for hard-core gcc developers that rarely use Arduino but have Visual Micdro installed
Coming soon. Import Arduino sketch, core and/or library code into native Gcc project.

New in Visual Micro 14.07.10 SP5 Beta (Nov 19, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.07.10 SP4 Beta (Nov 19, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.07.10 SP1 (Nov 19, 2014)

New in Visual Micro 14.07.10 (Nov 19, 2014)

Fix: Contributed/User library compiler error for some users 'The given path's format is not supported Exception' c:\avr
Support for Arduino versions up to and including 1.5.7
Support for avrgcc8
Better verbose messages for compiler -I includes and library location discovery
Verbose compiler messages and/or warnings switches are now available from both "Tools>Visual Micro" and "Tools>Options"
Debugger break point "Hit Count" "Equal To" will now execute only once.
Fixed some confusion in the last beta regarding break point "When Hit" handling.
Compiler error pre-processor offsets + headerCount is now consistently used to resolve .ino/.pde source locations (Previously errors in code towards the end if a .ino file resolved to the wrong .ino/.pde file)
The correct .ino/.pde source code names and line numbers are automatically resolved (where applicable) for compiler error:- "Error : In function 'void foo()'"
Ignore obsolete 'options>tool chain locations>avr' for arduno 1.5.x uploads. Entering a location caused an avrdude upload error 'can't open config file "path": Permission denied'
The Arduino Due gets it's first programmer (beta)!
Atmel Studio - Support the new ATMEL-ICE programmer for SAM and AVR (beta)
Closing and then re-opening the same project/solution without re-starting the ide caused visual micro to become temporarily disabled (bug was only in 1406.16 beta)
Added support for pre-arduino 1.5 libraries that contain the new format Arduino library.properties file
Change - When debug Trace Mode is Off, Disabled breakpoints will continue to display debugger trace and messages, When Trace Mode is On, messages for disabled breakpoints will not be displayed. (the vs breakpoint dialogs do not provide enough facilities for Visual Micro, so we have tried to find the most useful combination. Feed back welcome as usual)
Debugger will always break/pause unless in "Trace Only Mode" or a break point has a "When Hit Message/Expression(s)" with "Continue Execution" ticked.
More reliable notification when the Arduino is stopped at a break point (in Break/Pause waiting for F5)
Shift+F5 to stop debug or click the blue square icon on the serial ports bar
F5 can no longer be used to stop debugging. F5 will only step when the debugger is active it will never prompt to build.
Fixed the debugger failing to start fully when reconnect was Off
In Automatic Debugging mode any configuration with a name that does not contain the text 'Release' will start the debugger after compile and upload.
Added "Debugger has been activated" message to the serial window when debugging starts. Previously the serial window just showed the usual "Port Open" which could be confusing for new users
New users defaults: Trace Only Mode = Off, Tutorial Mode = On, Automatic Debugging = On.
Trace Only Mode - Replaces the Enable Break/Pause project property. Defaults to Off, allowing breakpoints to break/step
Fix - Serial window correctly resets after upload
Fix - Incorrect build output was copied to Atmel Studio configuration build folder
Fix - Arduino Due debug with Native USB port
Change - Automatic debugging will only debug when the configuration name does not contain the text "release" (previously all configurations allowed debug including Release, this was confusing and prevented simple non-debug F5 upload)
New - Stop button (red dot) appears on the Serial Port tool bar when debug starts. The button is a quick way to terminate debug
Change - Only the F5/Debug command will now "Continue" at a break point. All other "build" and "debug" commands will stop the current debug session (where applicable).
Fix - A Visual Studio bug caused some menu items to be duplicated for some users. This affected the debug and help menu. The items have been removed or moved.
Fix - Some optimizations where failing during editing of sketches. This might have impacted slower pc's by causing more cpu usage then needed
Fix - Status bar highlighting and the "F5 Continue" message disappeared from the status bar too quickly and could be missed by users.
Fix - Prevent 'Upload via programmer' from resetting the serial terminal (if it is open)
Updated support for all micro-controller versions
More intelligent diagnostics with auto-fallback
Fix - Port discovery error stuck in loop (if a Yun was connected and no ide application paths where configured)
Support for lm4f and msp40 in Energia Ide released Mar 2014
Application locations - Warning if invalid location is specified (forum)
Application locations - Ensure valid folder provided by user, ignore .exe file name in paths (forum)
Extended verbose messages during upload
fix - #includes in comments are ignored
'Help>Visual Micro Documentation' menu item with alpha of new help system
Menu Icons use less memory
Improved upload error reporting
Debugger breakpoint/trace throttle delay is now factored by PC Cpu speed
Bitmap for Atmel new project templates
Installer configured color syntax for Vs versions in line with Atmel Studio
Installer prompts for .net 3.5
Compiler errors in .ino sources displayed incorrect line numbers (drill down into source code was correct)
Windows wmi database errors are silently ignored until the database is repaired. then it will be used again
Improved status messages
Verbose compile reports #included paths
On-screen warning and additional diagnostics if the Ide application list can not be loaded from the installed Visual Micro files. Usually a virus checker preventing install or access to "micro platforms/applications.txt"
Users with a corrupted wmi database were unable to load Visual Micro. The windows wmi database should be fixed using advice from Microsoft however we only read from it and we can work without it!
Arduino versions up to 1.5.6 and 1.0.6
Atmel Studio 6.1/6.2 and Visual Studio Pro 2008>2013
Support for #import
Include paths contains root libraries folder
More intelligent library compiler cache
Faster compiler
Faster debugger
More trace diagnostics reports such as Port and Library discovery
New icons
Atmel New project templates (same for vs coming soon)
Better intellisense and support for custom hardware (1.0.x and 1.5.x)
Galileo high speed compiler
More robust syntax color code
Fix, existing users had to uninstall the previous release and then install 1403.03 before Atmel Studio 6.2 was configured correctly.
Support for custom boards with bootloader.hex files stored in bootloaders root (sparkfun MegaPro).
Installer refresh which failed to register Visual Micro for Atmel Studio 6.2
Support for Atmel Studio 6.2
Atmel Studio new project templates
Arduino 1.5.6-2 + all lib formats
Debugger hit count bug fixes
TI LaunchPad Stellaris compiler bug fix
Many other fixes will be posted in the new releases section of the forum
Atmel Studio options to use Jungo Usb drivers with programmers (JTAG ICE3, AVRISP MkII)
Large improvements for MpIde, Pic32 and ChipKIT. Intellisense and compiler fixes/additions. Much of the Pic32 lower level sources are now available to intellisense.
Mpide Arduino and Pic32 will include -l the SketchFolder for both intellisense and compilations. This allows #include from the current sketch folder as an option instead of #include "foo.h" . Mpide supports this but the Arduino Ide does not. So Visual Micro does either depending on the selected Ide.
Tools>Visual Micro - Menu changes and additions:
New items - Quick access to existing global options, some items renamed
New - "Tools>Visual Micro>Tutorial Mode" places additional messages around the UI to help new users
New - Verbose compiler and compiler warnings can be enabled via the Tools>Visual Micro menu.
Dis-assembly View:
Added double click Go To source in the dis-assembly view
Resolve temp folder paths to sketch path
Resolved sketch.cpp line numbers and file names to the correct .ino/.pde sources
Resolve gcc format line numbers (:line) to Visual Studio (line)
Added support for all platforms (including All Arduino, Teensy, SAM, Intel, ChipKIT, LaunchPad, FraunchPad etc)
Changed default obj-dump switches to include source line numbers -l. The default is now " -h -S -l"
Tip: Alternative obj-dump switches can be specified in the project properties. -D is useful but might be slower to calculate the report (all)