Microsoft LightSwitch Was a ‘No Code’ Tool With Unique C#/VB/XAML Extensibility

Visual Studio LightSwitch was a Microsoft development tool designed for rapid development of line-of-business software. It was known for its simplicity and customization capabilities. It enabled rapid, ‘no-code’ development through a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for designing entities, queries, and UIs.

Advanced users could go further by adding custom C# and XAML code (or VB.NET and XAML) to create unique controls and extend application functionalities.

Unlike many SaaS solutions, LightSwitch allowed full control over application deployment, offering a blend of ease and customization for business software development.

The Urgent Need for Migration

With the discontinuation of the Silverlight plugin, which powered LightSwitch apps, many enterprises faced the dilemma of either overhauling their existing applications or risking operational failure.

It’s crucial for businesses to understand the risks associated with continuing to use Silverlight-based applications. Although LightSwitch apps can still operate in IE Mode on some versions of Windows, the discontinued support for Silverlight poses significant security risks and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, there is always the possibility that future Windows updates might suddenly end Silverlight support, leaving applications inoperable.

Introducing the “LightSwitch Compatibility Pack”

Recognizing this challenge, we developed a solution that allows these applications to transition smoothly to modern web technologies.

OpenSilver 2.2 enables this by allowing developers to compile their existing LightSwitch applications to modern technologies, such as HTML5 and WebAssembly. The resulting applications run flawlessly on all modern browsers, including Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera—without any plugins.

Migrating with the LightSwitch Compatibility Pack offers numerous advantages over a full rewrite:

• Cost Efficiency: Migration is significantly less expensive than rewriting applications from scratch.
• Speed: Transition timelines are drastically reduced.
• Risk-Free: We offer a guaranteed fixed price for end-to-end migrations, ensuring that there are no financial surprises.
• Fidelity: The migrated applications are indistinguishable from the original, both in terms of functionality and GUI.
• No User Retraining Needed: Since the application remains the same, there is no need for end-user training.

How the Migration Works

Migrating a LightSwitch application is straightforward:

1. Developers start by copying the generated files from their existing LightSwitch project in the legacy version of Visual Studio.
2. These files are then imported into a new OpenSilver (Download) project in the latest version of Visual Studio. OpenSilver supports both C# and VB.NET.
3. By referencing the “LightSwitch Compatibility Pack” NuGet package (Request Trial) in their project, developers can then compile their applications frontend into static files.
4. These static files are ready to be deployed across any web hosting environment, ensuring wide compatibility and accessibility.

See the Difference: Before and After Migration

To illustrate the effectiveness of OpenSilver 2.2, please find below live links of a sample LightSwitch application, both before and after migration. These demos clearly show that the applications are identical post-migration, confirming that functionality and user interface are preserved without compromises.

LIVE DEMO:

• Original LightSwitch application (requires the Silverlight plugin)
• Migrated LightSwitch application (no plugin required)

The source code for this demo can be found on GitHub. More OpenSilver live demos can be found in the Gallery.