Developing with Visual Studio Code#

This topic describes the steps needed to setup Visual Studio Code for AVBlocks .NET development on macOS. These steps have been verified to work on macOS Ventura 13.5.2.

.NET#

If you don’t have .NET installed follow the steps in the Setup .NET development environment on Windows post to configure a .NET development environment.

Visual Studio Code#

Download and install from Visual Studio Code site.

Open Visual Studio Code and press Cmd + Shift + p. Select Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH.

Also install the C# Dev Kit extension.

Close Visual Studio Code.

Create the .NET project#

mkdir ~/avblocks/net/simple-converter
cd ~/avblocks/net/simple-converter

# needed so that we can run the dotnet CLI
export PATH="$HOME/.dotnet:$PATH"

# We use 8.0 here but give the commands for other versions
# see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/global-json 
dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 8.0.100 --roll-forward latestPatch
# dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 7.0.404 --roll-forward latestPatch
# dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 6.0.417 --roll-forward latestPatch

# create new console application and project
dotnet new console --framework net6.0 --use-program-main 

# create new solution and add the project to it
dotnet new sln
dotnet sln add simple-converter.csproj

# add .gitignore
dotnet new gitignore

Automate the build#

Add the following Visual Studio Code specific files to the .vscode subdir:

`.vscode/tasks.json`#

{
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "dotnet",
            "task": "build",
            "group": "build",
            "problemMatcher": [],
            "label": "dotnet: build"
        }
    ]
}

Setup Debugging#

Add the following Visual Studio Code specific files to the .vscode subdir:

`.vscode/launch.json`#

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": ".NET Core Launch (console)",
            "type": "coreclr",
            "request": "launch",
            "preLaunchTask": "dotnet: build",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/bin/Debug/net6.0/simple-converter.dll",
            "args": [],
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "console": "internalConsole",
            "stopAtEntry": false
        }
    ]
}

Test the build#

Test the build by pressing Cmd + B. Visual Studio Code should execute the dotnet build command automatically.

Test the debugging#

Set a breakpoint on the first line of static void Main(string[] args) inside Program.cs. Press F5 to launch the debugger. It should stop at the breakpoint.

Update for AVBlocks .NET#

Replace the contents of Program.cs with this code:

using PrimoSoftware.AVBlocks;

namespace SimpleConverter
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Library.Initialize();

            var inputInfo = new MediaInfo();

            inputInfo.Inputs[0].File = "Wildlife.wmv";
            if (inputInfo.Open())
            {
                var inputSocket = MediaSocket.FromMediaInfo(inputInfo);
                var outputSocket = MediaSocket.FromPreset(Preset.Video.Generic.MP4.Base_H264_AAC);
                outputSocket.File = "Wildlife.mp4";

                using (var transcoder = new Transcoder())
                {
                    transcoder.Inputs.Add(inputSocket);
                    transcoder.Outputs.Add(outputSocket);

                    if (transcoder.Open())
                    {
                        transcoder.Run();
                        transcoder.Close();
                    }
                }
            }

            Library.Shutdown();
        }
    }
}

Download the Windows version of AVBlocks for .NET (net60). The file you need will have a name similar to avblocks-net60-v3.0.1-demo.1-windows.zip - the version number may differ.
Unzip in a location of your choice, then copy the file AVBlocks.clrcore.x64.dll and AVBlocks64.dll to the project’s directory.

Add a reference to AVBlocks.clrcore.x64.dll

Replace the contents of the simple-converter.csproj project file with this code:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

<PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0</TargetFramework>
    <RootNamespace>SimpleConverter</RootNamespace>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
</PropertyGroup>

<!-- This adds a reference to AVBlocks .NET dll-->
<ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="AVBlocks.clrcore.x64">
    <HintPath>AVBlocks.clrcore.x64.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>  
</ItemGroup>

</Project>

Run the application#

Download the Wildlife.wmv HD movie from the Internet Archive and save it in the project directory.
Run the application in Visual Studio Code. Wait a few seconds for the Transcoder to finish. The converted file Wildlife.mp4 will be in the project directory.

Troubleshooting#

You may get a 'DllNotFoundException' exception: Unable to load DLL 'AVBlocks64.dll': The specified module could not be found. To fix that, copy the file AVBlocks64.dll to the project directory.
Transcoder.Open may fail if there is already a file Wildlife.mp4 in the project directory. Delete Wildlife.mp4 to solve that.

AVBlocks for .NET

Developing with Visual Studio Code

Contents