what is Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode)?

Question

I am new to Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode), I just want to know what is its function? (I did not find much clearly from the web.)

From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb510103.aspx looks like it is some interface/framework to allow tools to integrate with VSTS IDE. My question is whether any Microsoft VSTS tools (like databse designer and other tools in VSTS) dependent on VSTS Shell? I am asking this question because it is conflicting with SQL Server 2008, and I want to make sure that if I uninstaill VSTS Shell, it does not impact anything.

thanks in advance, George

Answer 1

SQL Server 2008 Management Studio using the VS 2008 Shell. (That's why it looks and feels just like Visual Studio).

Answer 2

Visual Studio Shell is an extensibility mechanism provided to use Visual Studio core platform to provide your own tools. It has two modes. In "Isolated Mode," it'll always set up a separate instance of Visual Studio that hosts your tool. In "Integrated Mode," it'll only install a new VS instance if there's no one already available. If one is already there, it'll integrate with it. I don't think removing it causes any problems for a VS installation. It seems to be smart enough to handle it (it might break a third party tool, however).