Visual Studio - How save *changes* to current customized window layout? - visual-studio

Starting with Visual Studio 2015, there is a feature to save multiple customized layouts of the windows (panes) of the IDE.
"Save Window Layout" is the menu command to create a new one of these.
It asks for the name to save the layout as.
But now that I've created several layouts, I don't want to create a new one; I want to save an updated version of one of my layouts. I want that to replace the existing one, with the same hot key shortcut.
How do I do so?

Do "Save Window Layout".
When it asks for layout name, type in exactly the same name as before.
This results in message box:
A layout named '...' already exists.
Do you want to replace it?
Answer [Yes].
(Tested in Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise, v.15.9.6.)

Related

Visual Studio files association in Windows

In Windows Explorer when I double-click on any Visual Studio file (*.cs, *.csproj, etc.), it's opening an old version of VS instead of the latest one (VS 2017). And VS has associations with too many file types.
How can I change the default Visual Studio (for all those files that VS can handle)?
There is a similar old question about Visual Studio 2008 (Move file associations from Visual Studio 2005 to 2008) but the solution in there doesn't work anymore (there is no "Restore File Associations" button on the settings of Visual Studio 2017).
Each version of Visual Studio registers itself in the Set Default Programs panel of the Control Panel.
Go to Control Panel\Programs\Default Programs
Then choose Set Default Programs:
In there you can simply choose the Visual studio version of your choice and then click the button Set this program as default in order to associate every file type that VS handles.
Or you might prefer to click the button Choose defaults for this program to review the current associations of those file types and change only the ones you want.
Yet another in a long list of previously working-just-fine things which Microsoft have managed totally #$#%# up. If I try to change defaults the 'right' way I get this kind of thing:
i.e. completely ignored. The only way I've managed to solve it is by removing the file association entirely through the registry. Let's take .asm as an example:
Open Registry Editor / "regedit.exe"
Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.asm\OpenWithProgIds
Delete any Visual Studio values you see
From there, you can (finally) open files with whatever you choose instead of having the association clamped to Visual Studio:
For the record, I believe this to be a problem with Windows 10. Not with Visual Studio. See: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/cant-change-default-programs-in-windows-10/229fc3a9-25c9-433b-a333-5806bc5090db
On the file you will always open with vs17, click right and choose open with and there choose another app. On win10 it pop out a dialog with some proposals. If vs17 is there, choose your favorite and activate the always open with. then ok and your done.

wanna have a designer for a REPX file - VS13/DevExpress

I want to open a repx file with a designer.
(but now, I only see the code behind)
I have installed Visual Studio 2013 and DevExpress.
I just want to add 3 paramters to a printer lable.
The existing file was made with XtraReport - maybe that helps.
Thx.
First, open or create a blank XtraReport file in design mode in Visual Studio. Then, click on the Tasks tag on the upper-left corner of the report design surface. From the pop-up menu, click on "Open/Import" and select a .repx file.

Visual Studio Team Explorer can't properly open a PDF file - Solution Explorer not available for "open with" setting

We have PDF (and other) files attached to TFS Work Items and in Source Control under TFS. They are not opened correctly (they show up as ASCII, basically) in Visual Studio.
The problem seems to be that until you use the 'Open With..' dialog from the Solution Explorer, VS doesn't properly associate a program with extensions like '.pdf'.
If our users had a full installation of Visual Studio, that would be an ok work-around. However, many of them only have Visual Studio 2013 with the Team Explorer component - no Solution Explorer at all.
I'm guessing that there must be some workaround for this case. Perhaps setting the proper registry value? Since VS properly remembers the association if you can tell it (through the Solution Explorer), it must be stored somewhere.
Ideas? Suggestions?
If you've got a PDF file in a project you can right-click in the solution explorer and choose "Open with..". Now you can choose which editor you want to use. If Acrobat isn't already listed you can add it and after that click the button "Set as default".
After that, your PDF's will always open with Acrobat Reader regardless if you open it from source control browser or elsewhere in the Visual Studio. But you need to configure that for all your Studios.
Reference: Answer in MSDN "Source Control Explorer Doesn't View PDF Files"
"Open with" is not available in context menu. But I found solution - well better said workaround:
You have to create external command to open this pdf file in you pdf viewer.
Go to Tools/External tools.
In command section, enter path to your PDF viewer (exe file)
In Arguments, choose "Item path". Save it under preferred name
Put this new command you created in some of existing toolbars or create new one for it. This is also little complicated, so here is how:
Hit the small arrow next to the existing toolbar, choose customize
In the new window, choose "Add command"
In the new window, your new command is hidden under the category "Tools" as command "External command 1". Add it and confirm.
Now here comes the nasty trick. This command will not work in the browser window with PDF file selected, the argument is empty :(
So you have to OPEN the pdf file into that ASCII window and THEN hit the new command. Now the file will open in you selected pdf viewer.
Hope this will help someone

Blame source file from within visual studio

I'm using AnkSVN within Visual Studio 2010, and it covers ~95% of my SVN needs. The biggest missing feature is that I can't find a way to blame a file from directly within VS. The workaround I currently use is to right click on the file within the tablist, and select Open Containing Folder, and then right clicking on the file in Explorer to call Blame.
It's called Annotate in AnhkSVN.
Subversion -> Annotate in the context menu.
I didn't like AnkhSVN's Annotate feature. So I used the following:How to integrate TortoiseSVN into Visual Studio.
Content from above url:
If you're using Visual Studio, you can integrate TortoiseSVN commands to various context menus.
The first step is to add the TortoiseSVN commands as external tools, under the menu TOOLS->External Tools....
Add the name of the command, the path to TortoiseProc.exe and then the parameters for the command.
Use the VS variables wherever needed. Since I add my commands to the context menu of the open file tab, here's the parameters I used:
/command:blame /path:"$(ItemPath)" /line:$(CurLine)
/command:diff /path:"$(ItemPath)"
/command:log /path:"$(ItemPath)"
Notice the /line: parameter: this will make TortoiseBlame automatically scroll to the same line the cursor is located in the opened file in Visual Studio.
Now to add those new commands to the file tab context menu, go to TOOLS->Customize..., select the Commands tab, click the radio button Context menu and then select Other Context Menus | Easy MDI Document Window.
Now you have to select the commands. Problem is that the custom commands are not shown with their title but only as External Command X with X being the number of the external command.
In my case, the commands were number 9-11, you might have to do some trial-and-error here. Just add the commands you think are the ones you added and then check if the right ones show up in the context menu.
NOTE: In Visual Studio 2010 to add a command to the right-click menu of a document’s tab, first you’ll need to right-click on a Visual Studio document tab to work around a Visual Studio bug. (Otherwise the Easy MDI Document Window context menu doesn’t show up in the Customize dialog.) Source

Will VS 2010 display recent used project and solution in the context menu of the start menu?

Start menu in Windows 7 has a feature: a programs, pinned to the top, can show a context menu with recently used files:
alt text http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/5149/contextmenustartmenuwin.png
Will Visual Studio 2010 be able to display also recently used Projects and Solutions?
It is possible to pin solution files to the recently used file list.
First make sure you already have Visual Studio pinned to the Start Menu.
Next, drag the Solution file on to the Start Menu so that it is pinned in the main list.
Now select the the Recently Used Files button for Visual Studio so that the list is showing.
Drag the solution file from the main list into the recently used file list.
You can now remove the solution file from the main list.
Beta 1 doesn't seem to support this yet. Its easily possible by using the new Taskbar APIs and specifically the custom categories feature. I think their main problem might be that the solution files are associated with an app called VSLauncher.exe (this small app determines what version of VS to load when you launch a SLN file).
If you want to "pin" your fav solution files to any version of VS, one option this is (I currently used this with VS 2008 and 2010 Beta 1:
Open Explorer and browse to any SLN file you want to pin.
Drag it and pin on the taskbar (it will pin to VSLauncher.exe; this is okay)
Now just repeat the steps for other SLN files.
When you click on a SLN file from the above pinned program's jumplist, another instance of VS2010/VS2008 will launch. It won't show your recent projects or solutions, but atleast it allows you to pin your fav/recent solutions manually. I think you can use this for CSProj or other project files as well.

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