November 2008 - Posts
update 2 dec 2008 : This feature originated in C++ over 10 years ago. My bad C++ folks for my earlier statements that it was only a C# feature. I added the exclamation point, because I never knew this. It is amazing that I’m still finding out about IDE
Read More...
There’s a built-in command line switch devenv.exe /log to log Visual Studio activity, e.g. which packages got loaded, etc. I’ll call out immediately that the documentation is wrong, but you should read Paul’s comments at the bottom of the page for the
Read More...
This feature is helpful when you need a common file shared among projects, like a bitmap, readme, set of common tools and utilities, etc. To add, right-click on the project in the solution explorer, and select Add – Existing Item. You’ll notice
Read More...
Starting in Visual Studio 2005, you’ll find the Visual Studio Image Library, a zip file that contains over a 1000 images to create applications that have a consistent UI look and feel to Windows, Office, and Visual Studio. During the Visual Studio setup,
Read More...
Argh! I wish I had found this one in time for the book. A second edition, maybe? I’d hate to be known as a one-hit wonder. I’m sure there are more people who could use scholarship money. Ever did a Find in Files and was annoyed that Visual Studio showed
Read More...
Whenever I found a bug that required the developer to investigate on my machine, I swear the first thing each and every one of them would do was dock the Call Stack alongside the Solution Explorer. If you’re dealing with call stacks only 5 lines deep,
Read More...
Another good keyboard shortcut many don’t know about. I only say that because I forgot all about this one until now… There is a command called View.ClassViewGoToSearchCombo which does exactly as it says. When you press Ctrl+K, Ctrl+V, wherever you are
Read More...
Visual Studio has a command line argument you can specify to open a file in an existing instance of VS. Just run devenv /edit <filename> and the file will open in the IDE. You could also create a VSEdit command if you find yourself using this feature
Read More...
We’ve all seen smart tags before, the little line that appears whether we’re renaming something or VS wants to help us add a using statement to our code. There are two keyboard shortcuts to invoke (show) smart tags in the editor. There’s the keyboard
Read More...
Directly from the help documentation: To display an End User License Agreement (EULA) in the Visual Studio Content Installer, you must embed this information in the .zip file. WinZip supports including embedded information through the Comment feature.
Read More...
On the front page of the Content Installer is a link to view the content in Windows Explorer. When you click the link, Windows Explorer will open up to the temporary location where that .vsi has been unzipped to (or if a .vscontent file, it will explorer
Read More...
Continuing with yesterday’s tip, whenever you install a code snippet, the content installer will present you with a page (per snippet language) asking you where do you want to install the code snippet. and upon completion, you’ll have another chance to
Read More...
Throughout my blog and my book, I talk passionately about how I loved to test a certain feature or how a certain feature drove me crazy. But no feature has more emotion behind it than the Content Installer. If you ever meet me in person, just say, “Hey
Read More...
Now before I get the angry emails on my first day back from vacation, I will say up front that there is no love for VB in today’s tip. This is just for C#. As a VB developer from my SDET days, I feel your pain and encourage you to vote for this functionality
Read More...
This also works in the Object Browser, but considering it is in a tabbed documented state (meaning it’s expanded in the editor and not in a tool window state) i never thought of trying this. Suppose you want to call a particular method, but don’t feel
Read More...
Today’s tip is actually a continuation from yesterday’s, as the Create Instance and Invoke Static Method actually are a part of the Class Diagram implementation. I don’t know too much about the Class Diagram, so I’ll just write a quick tip that these
Read More...
The Class Diagram was built by another team outside the Visual Studio Core Team, so I don’t have too much first-hand or in-depth knowledge about it. During this time, I was heads-down in accessibility work, and my second-in-command for the accessibility
Read More...
Just like Object Browser, you can export your class view settings to a .vssettings file. Go to Tools – Options – Import and Export Settings, and under Export select the Class View Options category. I’m not quite sure what is meant by “display mode”
Read More...
Just like in the Object Browser, Alt+Right Arrow (View.Forward) and Alt+Left Arrow (View.Backward) works in the Class View. Also, just like in the Object Browser, there’s a specific navigation command just for the Class View, namely View.ClassViewForward
Read More...
Please note I’m on vacation and won’t be able to approve comments until I get back mid next week. The Class View and the Object Browser are very similar, even down to the sort by options. I had to put screen shots of their context menus side by side to
Read More...
My camera battery died after Day 2. Must buy new camera that charges via USB (instead of draining.) As announced on the CodePlex team blog, Channel 9 and I hosted the first ever CodePlex town hall. Thanks to Tamir Khason , Joseph Guadagno , and Kevin
Read More...
