Visual Studio Tips & Tricks

rrrajesh84in · #21 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 03:54 AM

Global Keys - VII

Shift+F5 Debug StopDebugging
Alt+F6 Window NextPane
Ctrl+F6 Window NextDocumentWindow
Ctrl+Shift+F6 Window PreviousDocumentWindow
F6 Window NextSplitPane
Shift+Alt+F6 Window PreviousPane
Shift+F6 Window PreviousSplitPane
Alt+F7 Window NextToolWindowNav
Ctrl+F7 Build Compile
F7 View ToggleDesigner
Shift+Alt+F7 Window PreviousToolWindowNav
Alt+F8 View MacroExplorer
F8 Edit GoToNextLocation
Shift+F8 Edit GoToPrevLocation
Alt+F9, A DebuggerContextMenus BreakpointsWindow

rrrajesh84in · #22 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 03:58 AM

Global Keys - VIII

Alt+F9, D DebuggerContextMenus BreakpointsWindow
Alt+F9, S DebuggerContextMenus BreakpointsWindow
Ctrl+F9 Debug EnableBreakpoint
Ctrl+Shift+F9 Debug DeleteAllBreakpoints
F9 Debug ToggleBreakpoint
Shift+F9 Debug QuickWatch
Ctrl+Alt+G Debug Registers
Ctrl+G Edit GoTo
Ctrl+Shift+G Edit OpenFile
Ctrl+Alt+H Debug Threads
Ctrl+H Edit Replace
Ctrl+Shift+H Edit ReplaceinFiles
Ctrl+Alt+I Debug Immediate

rrrajesh84in · #23 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:02 AM

Global Keys - IX

Ctrl+Alt+Ins Project Override
Ctrl+Ins Edit Copy
Ctrl+Shift+Ins Edit CycleClipboardRing
Shift+Ins Edit Paste
Ctrl+Alt+J View ObjectBrowser
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+B Tools CodeSnippetsManager
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+F NewFolder
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+M Edit GenerateMethodStub
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+N Edit NextBookmark
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+P Edit PreviousBookmark
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+R View ObjectBrowserGoToSearchCombo
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+S Edit SurroundWith
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+V View ClassViewGoToSearchCombo
Ctrl+K, Ctrl+W View BookmarkWindow

rrrajesh84in · #24 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:09 AM

Global Keys - X

Ctrl+K, Ctrl+X Edit InsertSnippet
Ctrl+Shift+K, Ctrl+Shift+N Edit NextBookmarkInFolder
Ctrl+Shift+K, Ctrl+Shift+P Edit PreviousBookmarkInFolder
Ctrl+Alt+L View SolutionExplorer
Alt+Left Arrow View Backward
Left Arrow Edit MoveControlLeftGrid
Shift+Left Arrow Edit SizeControlLeftGrid
Ctrl+Alt+M, 1 Debug Memory1
Ctrl+Alt+M, 2 Debug Memory2
Ctrl+Alt+M, 3 Debug Memory3
Ctrl+Alt+M, 4 Debug Memory4
Ctrl+Alt+N Debug ScriptExplorer
Ctrl+N File NewFile
Ctrl+Shift+N File NewProject

rrrajesh84in · #25 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:12 AM

Global Keys - XI

Alt+Num * Debug ShowNextStatement
Ctrl+Alt+OView Output
Ctrl+O File OpenFile
Ctrl+Shift+O File OpenProject
Ctrl+Alt+P Tools AttachtoProcess
Ctrl+P File Print
Ctrl+Shift+P Tools RunTemporaryMacro
Ctrl+PgDn Window NextTab
Ctrl+Q Data RunSelection
Ctrl+Alt+R View WebBrowser
Ctrl+R, Ctrl+E Refactor EncapsulateField
Ctrl+R, Ctrl+I Refactor ExtractInterface
Ctrl+R, Ctrl+M Refactor ExtractMethod
Ctrl+R, Ctrl+O Refactor ReorderParameters

rrrajesh84in · #26 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:16 AM

Global Keys - XII

Ctrl+R, Ctrl+P Refactor PromoteLocalVariable
Ctrl+R, Ctrl+R Refactor Rename
Ctrl+R, Ctrl+V Refactor RemoveParameters
Ctrl+Shift+R Tools RecordTemporaryMacro
Alt+Right Arrow View Forward
Right Arrow Edit MoveControlRightGrid
Shift+Right Arrow Edit SizeControlRightGrid
Ctrl+Alt+S View ServerExplorer
Ctrl+S File SaveSelectedItems
Ctrl+Shift+S File SaveAll
Ctrl+Alt+T View DocumentOutline
Ctrl+Shift+Tab Window PreviousDocumentWindowNav
Ctrl+Tab Window NextDocumentWindowNav
Shift+Tab Edit SelectPreviousControl

rrrajesh84in · #27 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:20 AM

Global Keys - XIII

Tab Edit SelectNextControl
Ctrl+Alt+U Debug Modules
Shift+Up Arrow Edit SizeControlUpGrid
Up Arrow Edit MoveControlUpGrid
Ctrl+Alt+V, A Debug Autos
Ctrl+Alt+V, L Debug Locals
Ctrl+Alt+W, 1 Debug Watch
Ctrl+Alt+W, 2 Debug Watch2
Ctrl+Alt+W, 3 Debug Watch3
Ctrl+Alt+W, 4 Debug Watch4
Ctrl+Shift+W File ViewinBrowser
Ctrl+Alt+X View Toolbox
Ctrl+Shift+X Test StartSelectedTestProjectwithoutDebugger
Shift+Alt+X Test StartSelectedTestProjectwithDebugger

rrrajesh84in · #28 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:23 AM

Global Keys - XIV

Ctrl+Alt+Z Debug Processes
Ctrl+Shift+Z Edit Redo

hi every body still now i show all the short cuts keys used globally
in future i ll show u some other key words also

thak u ....

SaravananJ · #29 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 02:51 AM

How to bind keyboard shortcuts to commands

The Visual Studio shell is a big place. I should know, since I used Visual J++ everyday for a year before joining the team. As I write these tips, I try to think back to my J++ days to come up with a list of tips and tricks I wish I had known back then what I now take for granted. One of these is definitely keyboard binding. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough for features within Visual Studio. Maybe I never needed to rebind a command, so I never discovered this. Anyways, here’s how to do it, so everyone knows now.

Go to Tools – Options and choose Environment – Keyboard
Either select the command from the list or type in the command name in the edit box above it
In the “Press shortcut key(s)”, press the keyboard shortcut you want to associate with the currently selected command
Press Assign

If there’s a conflict, the “Shortcut currently used by:” will show the conflict. Pressing Assign will override the conflict.
Also note that there are different scopes. There’s the combo box “Use new shortcut in:” which usually says “Global.” This is the current scope for that particular keyboard shortcut. For example, keyboard shortcuts assigned in the “Text Editor” scope will only work when focus is on the Text Editor. If you place focus on a tool window and try the same keyboard shortcut, the command that is bound to that keyboard shortcut under global scope will execute.
Another “fun” way of learning about Visual Studio is to go through the list of commands available. For example, if you type Edit.Line, you’ll see all of the commands that contain “Edit.Line”. You’ll discover a command called “Edit.LineTranspose” which is bound to Shift+Alt+T. In case you ever need to transpose a line, you now know the keyboard shortcut for it.
And vice versa, if you want to find out what the commands that are bound to Ctrl-<letter>, simply put the focus into the “Press shortcut key(s):” edit box and party on it ‘til your heart's content.

Happy Editing!

SaravananJ · #30 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 02:55 AM

How to have fun with the Visual Studio Find Combo Box

These tips will work on both Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Visual Studio 2005.

Goto a line – type the line number and press Ctrl-G
Goto a file – type the name of the file and press Ctrl+Shift+G
Set a breakpoint on a function – type the name of the function and press F9
Get help – type the keyword and press F1

And using command aliases…

To get a callstack – type “> kb”
To go to a webpage – type “> nav Microsoft Corporation”

See Welcome to the MSDN Library for the complete list.

SaravananJ · #31 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 02:57 AM

How to do column selection

Did you know that Visual Studio has two different selection models? Stream and Box. Stream selection is what everyone is familiar with. Hold down the shift key and arrow left, right, up, or down. Box selection allows you to manually select columns and lines at the same time. Probably not the best explanation of box selection, but hey, it was worth a try. =)

To use box selection, just hold down Shift-Alt and then move the arrow keys around. You’ll quickly get the feel for box selection.

Happy Editing!

SaravananJ · #32 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 03:40 AM

How to save your favorite window layouts in Visual Studio .NET 2003

This tip is for Visual Studio .NET 2003. Although it will work in Visual Studio 2005, there are easier ways to save your favorite window layouts – which is a tip to be told at another time.
There are four different window layout states

Design view – what you see when you launch Visual Studio
Full screen – Toggled by Shift-Alt-Enter
Debugging view – when debugging
File view – when you run “devenv.exe foo.txt”

These states are saved to %appdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\7.1\devenv.xml upon shutdown.
I was asked earlier this week in email how to get rid of the Object Browser when it appears every time you launch VS. The answer is to close the Object Browser (or whatever tool windows you want to close or open whenever the shell is launched) and shut down the shell. The state is written out to devenv.xml, so the next time you launch, you get the desired configuration.
Same is true for the other different window layouts for Full Screen, Debugging and File view. Set the desired state, shut down, and when you relaunch, you’ll have your desired configuration. If you ever need to get back to the original configuration, delete %appdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\7.1\devenv.xml.

Happy Visual Studioing!

SaravananJ · #33 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 03:42 AM

Navigate between files in Solution Explorer

If you’re working in a large solution or a project that contains numerous files, one quick way to jump to the file you want to open is to type the first few letters of the filename. For example, if I were on filename “Class1” and wanted to select “ReadMe.txt”, I could just press Ctrl+Alt+L (in General Development Environment) to bring up Solution Explorer and then type “Rea”. If there are no other Rea* files, ReadMe.txt will get selected. In case of a conflict, the first filename listed wins.
I had a coworker show me this trick. Most standard Windows list views and tree views controls support type-ahead selection, but I just never thought to try it using the Solution Explorer before. It’s really the simple things in life =)

Happy Visual Studio’ing!

SaravananJ · #34 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 03:58 AM

Use Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow to quickly access all your open files

At the end of the File Tab Channel, there’s a drop-down arrow and a close ‘x’ button. If you press the drop-down arrow, you’ll get a menu of all the open files in Visual Studio in alphabetical order. Simply click on a file name, and it’ll open on the left-side of the IDE file channel.

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Now for today’s actual tip. The command to drop down the menu is bound to “Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow”. Anywhere in the IDE, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow and get the menu to pop-up. Now, you can type the name of the file (or the first few unique characters of the file name) to quickly select that file.
Not jazzed about using two hands to access this keyboard shortcut? Change it by going to Tools – Options – Keyboard, and type in the Show commands containing edit box “Window.ShowEzMDIFileList” and bind it to whatever. Just make sure you’re in Global scope (you can use any scope, but Global scope makes the most sense for this feature.)

Happy Visual Studio'ing!

rrrajesh84in · #35 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 04:17 AM

HTML Editor Design View

Ctrl+B Format Bold
Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow Layout InsertRowBelow
Shift+F7 View ViewMarkup
Ctrl+I Format Italic
Ctrl+L Format ConverttoHyperlink
Ctrl+Shift+L Format InsertBookmark
Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow Layout InsertColumntotheLeft
Ctrl+M, Ctrl+C Project AddContentPage
Ctrl+M, Ctrl+M View EditMaster
Ctrl+Alt+QView NonVisualControls
Ctrl+Q View VisibleBorders
Ctrl+Shift+Q View Details
Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow Layout InsertColumntotheRight
Ctrl+U Format Underline
Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow Layout InsertRowAbove

rrrajesh84in · #36 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 04:19 AM

HTML Editor Source View

Ctrl+Shift+. View AutoCloseTagOverride
Shift+F7 View ViewDesigner
Ctrl+PgDn View NextView
Ctrl+PgUp Window PreviousTab

rrrajesh84in · #37 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 05:27 AM

1.0 - Inserting Comment Tokens (Ctrl-K,Ctrl-H)

This feature enables you to write a comment and find it again easily. To see a list of all reminders you placed in your code (see Figure 1):

Without recompiling, select View > Show Tasks > All

To insert task shortcuts in your code:

Press Ctrl-K, Ctrl-H.

This marks the current line with a shortcut icon and inserts a clickable shortcut icon in the Task List.

To remove the shortcut:

Press Ctrl-K, Ctrl-H.

These shortcuts survive IDE restarts.

Figure 1. Comment Tokens.

rrrajesh84in · #38 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 05:28 AM

1.1 - Commenting Code Blocks (Ctrl-K, Ctrl-C)

One-line comments are extremely useful in explaining seldom used code and assisting in navigation and definition of development projects. To inserted a comment for a code block or segment:

Press the “//” token for Visual APL.

Additionally, Visual APL allows you to comment entire paragraphs and segments. To place a comment in a paragraph or segment:

Select “/#” (and corresponding “#/”) tag around the comment.

To quickly comment entire paragraphs:

Select the text.

Click the Comment button (see Figure 2) or

Press Ctrl-K, Ctrl-C.

This comments an entire selection.

To uncomment any selection:

Click the Uncomment button or

Press Ctrl-K, Ctrl-U.

Figure 5 - Comment and Uncomment buttons

rrrajesh84in · #39 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 09:02 AM

1.2 -Creating Regions

The more code you generate, the more difficult it can become to navigate. In addition to selecting classes and their methods from the drop-down lists above the main editor, you can also group your code into logical regions. Regions are extremely helpful for dividing code in logical ways and even commenting it. Regions allow you to collapse code to a single line defining the region and still easily see what is inside it once it is collapsed. They can even be nested. Automatically generated code in VS.NET usually uses this feature, so you may already be familiar with it.

To specify a region:

Insert a #region keyword and a description at the beginning of your segment and a corresponding #endregion keyword at the end of your segment (see Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Creating regions

The Outlining menu displays various collapse and expand options. To expand and collapse the current region you are in:

Press Ctrl-M, Ctrl-M.

To expand or collapse all regions at once:

Right-click the gray bar to the left of the main editor window.

To collapse an individual region:

Click the plus sign next to the #region keyword.

This collapses the code into a single line that shows the region description.

To display the inside of a collapsed region:

Move the mouse over the gray description area (see Figure 4).

Figure 4 - Mouse over a region to see its content

You can even drag and drop collapsed regions inside your code. When you paste a collapsed region into a different location, the pasted text is automatically expanded.