NuGet (www.nuget.org) is the package manager for the Microsoft development platform including .NET. The NuGet client tools provide the ability to produce and consume packages. OPC Studio NuGet packages are hosted in the NuGet Gallery (https://www.nuget.org/packages). The NuGet Gallery is the central package repository used by most package authors and consumers.

When you use NuGet to install a package, it copies the library files to your solution and automatically updates your project (add references, change config files, etc.). If you remove a package, NuGet reverses whatever changes it made so that no clutter is left.

For more details about OPC Studio NuGet packages and instructions on how to use them, see:

• List of Component Packages
• Installing NuGet Packages in Visual Studio
• Installing NuGet Packages in JetBrains Rider
• Installing NuGet Packages using .NET CLI Tools    

Local Copy

The OPC Studio NuGet packages are available online, from www.nuget.org .

In addition to this, the Setup program also installs a local copy of OPC Studio NuGet packages, into the NuGetPackages directory under the product installation folder. The structure of this directory is such that it can be directly used a NuGet local feed, e.g. for off-line development and building purposes. All you need to do is to add this directory in your NuGet package manager as an additional package source.

Limitations

Note that NuGet is primarily a tool for resolving build-time dependencies. The amount of functionality that you get through OPC Data Client or OPC Wizard NuGet packages is smaller than what OPC Studio can actually do for you. If you want a full coverage of the features, you would be better off installing the product using the Setup program. Further below you will find a list of differences between the two distribution forms.

The bulk of this documentation assumes that you have installed the product using the Setup program. You need to keep the limited scope of NuGet in mind when interpreting the documentation.

What is included in the NuGet packages:

• Runtime assemblies for all OPC specifications and programming models (for .NET Framework and .NET 6+ target platforms).
• User interface components (OPC browsing dialogs and browsing controls for Windows Forms).
• IntelliSense support (XML comments).    
• Examples in LINQPad. This means that whenever you reference one of the OPC Data Client NuGet packages in LINQPad, LINQPad will automatically add the OPC Studio examples under its “Samples” tab.

What is only available from the Setup program or elsewhere (e.g. online):

• Support for COM development (VB6, PHP, Excel, Delphi and similar tools).
• Documentation and Help.
• Visual Studio integration, including Live Binding design-time support (codeless creation of OPC applications).
• Examples and Demo applications, Bonus.
• OPC Data Access simulation server, test tools.
• License Manager utility.
• Excel Connector.

XML Comments and IntelliSense

Together with the .DLL files of the assemblies, contained in the NuGet packages, OPC Studio also includes .XML files that contain XML comments for them. The texts contained in these files are used by various tools to provide features such as IntelliSense and Object Browser information in Visual Studio.

ReSharper Annotations

In the OPC Studio assemblies contained in the NuGet packages, API members are annotated using JetBrains ReSharper (http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/) attributes, such as the most common [CanBeNull] and [NotNull] attributes. ReSharper users benefit from the annotations, as possible improper usages are recognized and highlighted by ReSharper’s code inspection feature.