We’ve published a set of set of add-ins which augments existing functionality in the Visual Studio 2005 Class Designer and the Distributed Systems Designers. The Design Tools Enhancements add-in provides a common set of features that can be used by both the Class Designer and the Distributed System Designers, such as pan/zoom window and rich formatting commands. The Class Designer Enhancements add-in provides additional functionality for the Visual Studio 2005 Class Designer, such as HTML export and nested type creation commands. This download includes all necessary source code and a Visual Studio project template for creating your own add-ins for the Visual Studio 2005 designers.

The installer and source code are available for download from gotdotnet workspace. The installation requires the Beta2 version of Visual Studio 2005 installed on the machine. You can use the Class Designer MSDN forum or discussion boards in the workspace to post any questions/feedback on the add-ins.

Here is a list of features provided by the add-ins (you can find more detailed description in the documentation installed by the download):

  • Design Tools Enhancements
    • Diagram Search
    • Formatting Commands
    • Floating Property Grid
    • Pan/Zoom Window
    • Design Surface Scrolling Improvements
    • Create Comments with Double-Click
    • Design Surface Grid
  • Class Designer Enhancements
    • Export Diagrams for Web
    • Display Xml Comment Command
    • Documentation Tool Window
    • Filtering Appearance
    • Filtering Lines
    • Filtering Members
    • MSDN Help on System Types
    • Fast Navigation
    • Interface Lollipop Labels Commands
    • Inheritance Visualization Commands
    • Show Type Command
    • Association and Inheritance Line Dongles
    • Create Tests Command
    • Type Creation Commands
    • Add Member Commands
    • Synchronization with Code Definition Window
    • View Class Diagram Command Improvements
  • Creating Custom Add-ins

Enjoy!
Dmitriy Vasyura
Class Designer Team