With the launch of Windows Vista last week, I thought that it would be helpful to put together a list of resources that I have been using to develop Vista Sidebar Gadgets for MSN UK. Stuart has also posted a couple of great articles on Sidebar Gadgets which talk about installing and configuring Gadgets and a second which talks about how to sign your gadgets.
File paths that you need to know about
Repository for gadgets on your local pc, replace your user name with mine C:\Users\RGriffin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets. Here you will find all the currently installed gadgets.
If you are using the new RSS platform Object Model then you will also be interested in the Settings.ini file that can be found here at C:\Users\RGriffin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\.
You will also be interested in the directory C:\Users\RGriffin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Feeds which contains a FeedsStore.feedsdb-ms, which contains a listing of all your RSS registered feeds, here you will also find and feeds or directories that you have created using the feeds manager.
Debugging and building your gadgets
I have been using Visual Studio and Expression Web to build my gadgets. If you are experiencing errors when loading your gadgets you will be able to dive into the code and so long as you have the script explorer window open you will be able see the executed script. If you have been doing Atlas then you will be in a very familiar world. If you want to step through your code and examine certain values of variables, load up your gadget and switch over to Visual Studio. Attach your Visual Studio session to the Sidebar process that is running your gadget, you will then be able to step through the code. One thing to notice here is that when you do this you will see Cassini kick in and away you go.
One important thing to note here, while debugging your gadget, is to remember that the server will cache your files and changes that you make may not be visible when you next run your gadget. One way around this is to close down Cassini, next go to the sidebar directory and delete the gadget, this will ensure that your code is no longer cached and then reinstall your gadget.
Links to resources
Sidebar Gadget APIs
Sidebar Gadget Dev Manual
Sidebar Blog
Examples of the object model
Windows Sidebar Reference or http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms722795.aspx
Vista Sidebar Gadgets Persistence Settings
Microsoft Gadgets
LiveSide Developer Blog
Sidebar Gadget Development forum
OdeToCode Sidebar Gadgets
Scripting in Widows Vista Part 1
Sidebar Gadget Development Overview
I will attempt to maintain this list of resources. For the most up to date listing you can check out http://del.icio.us/grippa.