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 10.0 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 10.0.102 --roll-forward latestPatch 
# dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 9.0.308 --roll-forward latestPatch
# dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 8.0.416 --roll-forward latestPatch
# dotnet new globaljson --sdk-version 6.0.428 --roll-forward latestPatch

# create new console application and project
dotnet new console --framework net10.0 --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": "${workspaceFolder}/bin/Debug/net10.0/simple-converter.dll",
            "args": [],
            "cwd": "${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 (net10.0). The file you need will have a name similar to avblocks-net10.0-v3.3.0-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>net10.0</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.