I know that Ctrl+} will take you to the corresponding brace in Visual Studio, but say I'm in the middle of a gigantic function and I don't know where the top or the bottom is, is there a shortcut to get directly to the function declaration?
void function()
{
//so many lines of code
//can't see the top or the bottom curly brace
//can i get to the top of the function with a shortcut?
}
I have a fresh install of VS2017. As of 15.9.1, the default for me is Alt+Shift+[.
This is the shortcut for EditorContextMenus.Navigate.GoToContainingBlock. So you may have to execute this shortcut multiple times if you are a few block layers deep, but it'll get you where you want to go.
Alt+Ctrl+UP,Tab,Tab,Enter
This sequence will move you through Project selctor > Scope selector > Function selector > Current Function.
Ctrl+M,Ctrl+M
This sequence will toggle between collapse/expand current block.
Place cursor at any line that is immediately enclosed by the function. Collapse. Place cursor at the end of the collapsed function, i.e after { ... }. Expand the function to get to its last brace.
Note:
If you have difficulty in finding a line immediately enclosed by the function(for example, when the function has lots of nested blocks), you can always goto the beginning to collapse the function.
Update
With last updates Visual Studio, now default keyboard shortcut for EditorContextMenus.Navigate.GoToContainingBlock is Shift+Alt+[
Old Answer:
Visual Studio 2017 version 15.8.0 comes with a new shortcut Ctrl + Alt + UpArrow - Go to Enclosing Block.
Go to Enclosing Block (Ctrl + Alt + UpArrow) allows you to quickly
navigate up to the beginning of the enclosing code block.
Source
This command allows also move to function declaration if you are inside function.
If shortcut doesn't work for you
For the VSCode lovers, this key combination will bring you to the top of the function:
Ctrl-Shift-.
followed by ENTER
and for MAC users:
Cmd-Shift-.
followed by ENTER
I usually double press the white line that is located left of the code.
It closes the function but it also takes you to the declaration of the function.
You can do it with Macros for Visual Studio extension.
Here's the code for macros:
// BeginningOfFunction moves the caret to the beginning of the containing definition.
var textSelection = dte.ActiveDocument.Selection;
// Define Visual Studio constants
var vsCMElementFunction = 2;
var codeElement = textSelection.ActivePoint.CodeElement(vsCMElementFunction);
if (codeElement != null)
{
textSelection.MoveToPoint(codeElement.GetStartPoint());
dte.ActiveDocument.Activate();
}
It is one of the sample macros of the extension. Edited it a little, because for some reason sample didn't work for me. You can get to the end of the function by changing codeElement.GetStartPoint() to codeElement.GetEndPoint().
I found one trick in visual studio:
Place the cursor on the empty to get the context (name of the function), copy the name of the function, then click the drop down arrow where all functions will be listed, paste the function name, enter. Then you are at the beginning of that function!
Another alternative would be to use Edit.PreviousMethod. I prefer this option because even if your cursor lies in multiple nested block, you can get to the method definition in single keystroke! I have mapped Edit.PreviousMethod to ctrl + alt + , and Edit.NextMethod to ctrl + alt + . but you can set it to whatever you prefer.
To setup key binding, goto Tools.Options.Environment.Keyboard, then in Show Commands Containing textbox type edit.previousmethod, set focus on Press Shortcut Keys textbox and press the key combination you want, the hit Assign. Repeat for edit.nextmethod, then Ok.
Related
I'm search in Entire Solution for a specific key word
Ex: int counter;
I want to put multiple break points at the result
in the example : I want here break points at
Class1,Class2,Class3..etc. at the "int counter;" line
Just double click on the line in the search result, and press ctrl+B, it will put break point there. Same way do it for other 3 lines too.
(Or)
Press ctrl+alt+B, it will open breakpoint window, then click new int left top side of breakpoint window and click at break at function, give your function name, check the intellisense checkbox, it will put breakpoints wherever that function is referred.
All right, this is stupid, but I have no clue how people deal with this and I'm hoping I'm missing something...
When I write something like this:
if (n == 0)
...The closing parenthesis gets added as soon as I type the opening one. The only way I know of to get out of them now is to reach over and tap the End key or something, which kind of ... Damages my shui, you know? And yet apparently they thought this feature was a cool idea, so...
What do you normally do to tell the IDE that you're done with this bit and you're ready to move on to the next? Same question applies to automatic quotes and stuff in the XAML editor, I guess.
Just keep typing - if you type your own ) when the cursor is just before the automatic one, it should not create another ), but just move the cursor over it.
(Disclaimer: I'm not certain this works on a vanilla Visual Studio - I have a bunch of extensions installed)
You can press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open a new line below the current one without moving the cursor to the end of the line.
To add to this, Tab is another option and I find it easier:
In your example, type the logic, press Tab to skip passed the end bracket.
If you are inside auto quotes, type your text, then press Tab twice.
Like the other answer, it only applies when first being typed, so if you go back to edit something, you are left using the End and Arrow keys.
In Visual Studio 2015 with Productivity Power Tools installed (probably works earlier as well), when being inside an auto-complete block (quotes or braces):
end goes to line end ( typically slow to type/find)
"/) typing same key as auto-complete already inserted will simply replace the auto-inserted character
tab jumps over end of auto-complete (e. g. braces or quotes)
shift+enter adds ; at end of line, goes to new line (often what you want)
ctrl+shift+enter goes to new line
There is a short key in VS - "Edit.LineEnd" - pressing "End" you get to the end of the current line. I've re-assigned it (for me the best variant was "Alt-Enter") and use it to get outside of parentheses and quotes.
Hit the enter key when you are done typing.
I couldn't find such feature in VS's shortcut list. Is there anyway?
If you want to copy a line, simply place cursor somewhere in that line and hit CTRL+C
To cut an entire line CTRL+X
#Sean found what I was looking for:
To disable this default behavior remove the checkmark (or check to re-enable)
Apply cut or copy commands to blank lines when there is no selection
Accessed from the menu bar: Tools | Options | Text Editor | All languages
You can also enter copy into the options search box for quicker access
[Tested in VS2008, 2010, 2017]
Clicking the line 3 times does the trick
If you have ReSharper you could use
Ctrl + W
- Extend Selection
Sidenote: You may have to use it multiple times depending on the context of your present text cursor position.
If you click once on the row number the entire row will be selected.
If you want to select a line or lines you can use the combination of ctrl + E then U. This combination also works for uncommenting a complete line or lines. This combination looks somewhat strange to work with, but it will get habituated very soon :)
You can also use Ctrl + X to cut an entire line. Similarly, you can use Ctrl + C to copy an entire line.
As long as you don't have anything selected, these commands will work on the entire line.
Clicking anywhere on the line and (CRTL + C) will copy entire line.
Clicking three time in quick succession also selects entire line.
There is a simple way of doing it, simple use Home or End button to reach the start or end of line, and then use home + shift or end + Shift depending on where your cursor is. Hope it helps.
Use the following:
Shift + End If cursor is at beginning of line.
or
Shift + Home If cursor is at the end of the line.
Alternatively, if you use resharper, you can also use the following
Ctrl + w while the cursor is positioned on the line you want to select
This won't solve the problem for Visual Studio, but if you're using Visual Studio Code you can use CTRL+L to select the line your cursor is currently on.
(If you're using Visual Studio, this will cut the line you're currently on—which may also be useful, but wasn't the question.)
Other answers require either using a mouse or hitting more than one combination.
So I've created a macro for those who want a VSCode-like Ctrl+L behaviour. It can select multiple lines, and that's useful for moving blocks of code.
To use it, install Visual Commander extension for macros: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=SergeyVlasov.VisualCommander
Then create a new command, select C# as a language and paste this code:
using EnvDTE;
using EnvDTE80;
public class C : VisualCommanderExt.ICommand
{
public void Run(EnvDTE80.DTE2 DTE, Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Package package)
{
var ts = DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection as EnvDTE.TextSelection;
if (!ts.ActivePoint.AtStartOfLine)
ts.StartOfLine();
ts.LineDown(true, 1);
}
}
Now you can assign a desired shortcut in preferences:
Tested in VS 2022.
You can use CTRL + U . This shortcut is use also for uncomment.
You can change the shortcut on this feature. Go to Tools->Options->Environment->Keyboard->Edit.UncommentSelection and assign CTRL+W (same as Resharper) or you can use what shortcut do you want.
If you want to select full row Ctrl E + U
Just click in the left margin.
If you click in the margin just left of the Outline expansions [+][-]
it will select the row.
You can also just click and drag to select multiple lines.
Necvetanov eluded to this in his answer above about clicking on the line number.
This is right...but it just happens that the line number is in the margin.
Here is a whole list of the keyboard shortcuts Default keyboard shortcuts in Visual Studio
a work around for this:
ctrl+d = duplicate line
ctrl+l = copy line
ctrl+v = paste copied text
You can enter, home then shift + end as well. What it will do is take you to the beginning of line then select the whole line till end. Or alternatively first enter end then shift + home
You can set a bind to the Edit.ExpandSelection command:
In the options. Click the shortcut until it selects the whole line.
The screenshot above is from the Edit > Advanced menu in Visual Studio 2022. I set this Alt+E, E shortcut myself and I don't remember if it's originally set to something or not.
Simply by clicking on the line number that's being shown on the left in vs-code. just a single click and a line will get selected.
In Mac, it is ⌘+L.
But if you have some specific conflicting keybindings, this won't work. In my case the VSCode Live Server extension auto registered a couple of bindings for these keys. I removed them and it worked.
I assigned a shortcut key to the following functionality. I press the shortcut until it selects the whole current line:
Edit.SubwordExpandSelection
I already know about Ctrl + L to delete an entire line...is there one to just select an entire line (which I can then copy and paste somewhere else...)
You can also use Ctrl + X to cut an entire line. Similarly, you can use Ctrl + C to copy an entire line.
As long as you don't have anything selected, the command will work on the entire line.
Hit
Home
Shift + End
You can do it with Shift + DownArrow.
Yes there is. If you are in the begining of the line press Shift+ End.
If you are in the end of the line press Shift+ Home.
Hope that helps
I believe, if you don't have any selection and press Ctrl + C, it would copy the line.
Shift + End = Select between cursor and the end of the line
It's Home+Home, then Shift+Down for me.
Or you change that setting which makes Ctrl+C with no selection copy the line. But I hate that, so I always turn it off. (Thanks to Bala for providing the link to that setting!)
To cut a line, Ctrl+L works in my keyboard settings.
There's also Alt-Up and Alt-Down to move whole lines. It's two fewer keystrokes than using Ctrl-X, and unlike Ctrl-X, it also moves multiple whole lines at a time if your selection covers multiple lines even partially. It's also nice because the feedback is instantaneous, unlike Ctrl-X where you can never remember whether the pasted line will go above or below your cursor.
I saw this and thought I'd never use the feature. But once I got used to it I use it all the time. There's no easier way to move a block of code than using Shift-Up/Down to select the lines, press Alt-Up/Down a few times to move them, and then use Tab to adjust the indentation.
Of course it only works within the same file though.
Visual Studio macros are another way to do these types of operations if you can't find an existing command. A simple way to create one is:
Use the Record TemporaryMacro option (under Tools/Macros).
Select the line however you prefer (e.g., home, shift, end).
Click Stop Recording (under Tools/Macros).
Choose Save TemporaryMacro (under Tools/Macros).
Then choose Tools/Customize/Keyboard and assign a shortcut to the macro.
It's not specifically a keyboard shortcut, but a triple-click will select a whole line of code.
This works in some other areas of Windows as well. In Chrome, for example, double-click selects a word, but triple-click selects a paragraph.
(This works in Visual Studio 2013 on Windows 7. Not sure about other versions/platforms.)
I use Ctrl + Insert to copy entire line, and Shift + Insert to paste entire line.
Other answers require either using a mouse or hitting more than one combination.
So I've created a macro for those who want a VSCode-like Ctrl+L behaviour. It can select multiple lines.
To use it, install Visual Commander extension for macros: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=SergeyVlasov.VisualCommander
Then create a new command, select C# as a language and paste this code:
using EnvDTE;
using EnvDTE80;
public class C : VisualCommanderExt.ICommand
{
public void Run(EnvDTE80.DTE2 DTE, Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Package package)
{
var ts = DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection as EnvDTE.TextSelection;
if (!ts.ActivePoint.AtStartOfLine)
ts.StartOfLine();
ts.LineDown(true, 1);
}
}
Now you can assign a desired shortcut in preferences:
Tested in VS 2022.
Triple-click to select the whole line. Then do what you want.
You can press Home + Shift + End to select the whole line as well.
If you want to copy the whole line then just press Ctrl + C. It will copy the whole line if nothing is selected.
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Visual Studio is such a massively big product that even after years of working with it I sometimes stumble upon a new/better way to do things or things I didn't even know were possible.
For instance-
Crtl + R, Ctrl + W to show white spaces. Essential for editing Python build scripts.
Under "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\Text Editor"
Create a String called Guides with the value "RGB(255,0,0), 80" to have a red line at column 80 in the text editor.
What other hidden features have you stumbled upon?
Make a selection with ALT pressed - selects a square of text instead of whole lines.
Tracepoints!
Put a breakpoint on a line of code. Bring up the Breakpoints Window and right click on the new breakpoint. Select 'When Hit...'. By ticking the 'Print a message' check box Visual Studio will print out a message to the Debug Output every time the line of code is executed, rather than (or as well as) breaking on it. You can also get it to execute a macro as it passes the line.
You can drag code to the ToolBox. Try it!
Click an identifier (class name, variable, etc) then hit F12 for "Go To Definition". I'm always amazed how many people I watch code use the slower right-click -> "Go To Definition" method.
EDIT: Then you can use Ctrl+- to jump back to where you were.
CTRL+SHIFT+V will cycle through your clipboard, Visual Studio keeps a history of copies.
Sara Ford covers lots of lovely tips: http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/tags/Visual+Studio+2008+Tip+of+the+Day/default.aspx
But some of my favourites are Code Snippets, Ctrl + . to add a using <Namespace> or generate a method stub.
I can't live without that.
Check out a great list in the Visual Studio 2008 C# Keybinding poster: http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=E5F902A8-5BB5-4CC6-907E-472809749973&displaylang=en
CTRL-K, CTRL-D
Reformat Document!
This is under the VB keybindings, not sure about C#
How many times do you debug an array in a quickwatch or a watch window and only have visual studio show you the first element? Add ",N" to the end of the definition to make studio show you the next N items as well. IE "this->m_myArray" becomes "this->m_array,5".
Incremental search: While having a source document open hit (CTRL + I) and type the word you are searching for you can hit (CTRL + I) again to see words matching your input.
You can use the following codes in the watch window.
#err - display last error
#err,hr - display last error as an HRESULT
#exception - display current exception
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-C to comment a block of text with // at the start
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-U to uncomment a block of text with // at the start
Can't live without it! :)
Stopping the debugger from stepping into trivial functions.
When you’re stepping through code in the debugger, you can spend a lot of time stepping in and out of functions you’re not particularly interested in, with names such as GetID(), or std::vector<>(), to pick a C++ example. You can use the registry to make the debugger ignore these.
For Visual Studio 2005, you have to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio \8.0\NativeDE\StepOver and add string values containing regular expressions for each function or set of functions you wish to exclude; e.g.
std::vector.*::.*
TextBox::GetID
You can also override these for individual exceptions. For instance, suppose you did want to step into the vector class’s destructor:
std::vector.*::\~.*=StepInto
You can find details for other versions of Visual Studio at http://blogs.msdn.com/andypennell/archive/2004/02/06/69004.aspx
Ctrl-F10: run to cursor during debugging. Took me ages to find this, and I use it all the time;
Ctrl-E, Ctrl-D: apply standard formatting (which you can define).
TAB key feature.
If you know snippet key name, write and click double Tab. for example:
Write
foreach
and then click tab key twice to
foreach (object var in collection_to_loop)
{
}
2. If you write any event, write here
Button btn = new Button();
btn.Click +=
and then click tab key twice to
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Button btn = new Button();
btn.Click += new EventHandler(btn_Click);
}
void btn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
throw new Exception("The method or operation is not implemented.");
}
btn_Click function write automatically
in XAML Editor, Write any event. for example:
MouseLeftButtonDown then click tab
MouseLeftButtonDown="" then click tab again
MouseLeftButtonDown="Button_MouseLeftButtonDown" in the code section Button_MouseLeftButtonDown method created.
Sara Ford has this market cornered.
http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/default.aspx
More Visual Studio tips and tricks than you can shake a stick at.
Some others:
The Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 3-month trial editions are fully-functional, and can be used indefinitely (forever) by setting the system clock back prior to opening VS. Then, when VS is opened, set the system clock forward again so your datetimes aren't screwed up.
But that's really piracy and I can't recommend it, especially when anybody with a .edu address can get a fully-functional Pro version of VS2008 through Microsoft Dreamspark.
You can use Visual Studio to open 3rd-party executables, and browse embedded resources (dialogs, string tables, images, etc) stored within.
Debugging visualizers are not exactly a "hidden" feature but they are somewhat neglected, and super-useful, since in addition to using the provided visualizers you can roll your own for specific data sets.
Debugger's "Set Instruction Pointer" or "Set Next Statement" command.
Conditional breakpoints (as KiwiBastard noted).
You can use Quickwatch etc. to evaluate not only the value of a variable, but runtime expressions around that variable.
T4 (Text Template Transformation Toolkit). T4 is a code generator built right into Visual Studio
Custom IntelliSense dropdown height, for example displaying 50 items instead of the default which is IMO ridiculously small (8).
(To do that, just resize the dropdown next time you see it, and Visual Studio will remember the size you selected next time it opens a dropdown.)
Discovered today:
Ctrl + .
Brings up the context menu for refactoring (then one that's accessible via the underlined last letter of a class/method/property you've just renamed - mouse over for menu or "Ctrl" + ".")
A lot of people don't know or use the debugger to it's fullest - I.E. just use it to stop code, but right click on the red circle and there are a lot more options such as break on condition, run code on break.
Also you can change variable values at runtime using the debugger which is a great feature - saves rerunning code to fix a silly logic error etc.
Line transpose, Shift-Alt-T
Swaps two line (current and next) and moves cursor to the next line. I'm lovin it. I've even written a macro which changed again position by one line, executed line transpose and changed line position again so it all looking like I swapping current line with previous (Reverse line transpose).
Word transpose, Shift-Ctrl-T
When developing C++, Ctrl-F7 compiles the current file only.
Document Outline in the FormsDesigner (CTRL + ALT + T)
Fast control renaming, ordering and more!
To auto-sync current file with Solution Explorer. So don't have to look where the file lives in the project structure
Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> "Track Active Item in Solution Explorer"
Edit: If this gets too annoying for you then you can use Dan Vanderboom's macro to invoke this feature on demand through a keystroke.
(Note: Taken from the comment below by Jerry).
I'm not sure if it's "hidden", but not many people know about it -- pseudoregisters. Comes very handy when debugging, I've #ERR, hr in my watch window all the time.
Ctrl-Minus, Ctrl-Plus, navigates back and forward where you've been recently (only open files, though).
I don't use it often, but I do love:
ctrl-alt + mouse select
To select in a rectangular block, to 'block' boundaries.
As noted in comments,
alt + mouse select
Does just a plain rectangular block.
Here's something I learned (for C#):
You can move the cursor to the opening curly brace from the closing curly brace by pressing Control + ].
I learned this on an SO topic that's a dupe of this one:
“Hidden Secrets” of the Visual Studio .NET debugger?
CTRL + Shift + U -> Uppercase highlighted section.
CTRL + U -> Lowercase the highlighted section
Great for getting my SQL Statements looking just right when putting them into string queries.
Also useful for code you've found online where EVERYTHING IS IN CAPS.
Middle Mouse Button Click on the editor tab closes the tab.
To display any chunk of data as an n-byte "array", use the following syntax in Visual Studio's QuickWatch window:
variable, n
For example, to view a variable named foo as a 256-byte array, enter the following expression in the QuickWatch window:
foo, 256
This is particularly useful when viewing strings that aren't null-terminated or data that's only accessible via a pointer. You can use Visual Studio's Memory window to achieve a similar result, but using the QuickWatch window is often more convenient for a quick check.