Background
I am working with VB6 legacy code and I am using an external editor because of the features that it has. Unfortunately, those changes aren't refreshed in the IDE because VB6 doesn't monitor loaded code for changes.
I have done some extensive searching on the subject including looking for alternative editors, a fairly exhaustive internet search including following all of the links on this StackExchange link and haven't found a way to refresh the code window to reflect the external file changes.
My company doesn't have access to the latest edition of Visual Studio and will not be purchasing it anytime in the near future. Until then, there is code to fix.
Question
Aside from restarting the program are there any methods that can be used to refresh the code displayed in the VB6 editing window?
Check out vbAdvance add on. It will prompt you to reload source file in case of external modification.
I think a found one possible solution.
The MZ-Tools set has an function called Reload file from Disk. It also allowed me to create a shortcut for this function through the MZ-Tools options menu, so I assigned it to the shortcut keys of my choosing.
It's a solution, but I'm still looking for anything that might be better.
Related
When an app stops in debugging mode and I make changes to the code
Is there a way to save the code with the changes, without stop the app?
Although the VB6 IDE does not provide this natively, an add-in for the IDE called MZTools has been around for ages which adds this feature.
Personally I've used MZTools 3.0 for many years, and this works really well.
This is what its help system says:
Shortcut To Save File At Debug-Time
The Shortcut To Save File At Debug-Time feature allows you to define a keyboard shortcut (Options
window, Shortcuts tab) to save the selected file at debug-time. The
Visual Basic IDE does not allow to save files at debug-time, but often
it is useful to save the modifications that you have made to the
source code at debug-time.
Remarks:
This feature is not available in the VBA version of MZ-Tools. This
feature only works at debug-time. Since Visual Basic disables buttons
or menus of add-ins at debug-time, the only way to save a file at
those times is through a keyboard shortcut. The file must be
previously saved at design-time, that is, MZ-Tools does not prompt for
a name to save the file (it shows an error message instead).
This is the options window for how I have it configured locally:
Note that originally MZTools was free in version 3 and later they switched to a paid version; if I hadn't gotten v3 originally however it would be well worth paying for, not only for this feature.
The short answer is you can't.
If you make the project before the crash, maybe this piece of code can be found in a ".tmp" file. But searching in .tmps is often a waste of time.
I particularly always force myself to stop the debug and save my progress.
And I always use this setting which forces me to remember to save:
I am trying to create an extension for Team Explorer window in VS2017.
I want to put another button on the changes screen, or even hook into the commit method, so that I can take the comments, and integrate with a Kanbanize board.
It seems like it should be possible to but a button onto the Team Explorer window, but there doesn't seem to be any documentation I can find, or examples.
I have looked around and can only really find this link below, which I tried but doesn't seem to work, but isn't really what I am wanting to do.
https://hamidshahid.blogspot.com/2017/09/extending-team-explorer-in-vs2017.html
The Team Explorer extensibility is designed to enable adding new sections to an existing page, but altering the existing sections to change their UI/behavior is not allowed. Given this design constraint, you can add your own UI, but it'll need to be in a separate section. You should be able to read the selection data from other sections on the Git Changes page via IChangesExt.
Hope this helps.
Do you wish to reload the project? Where's the Reload All option.
Vote for this question and hopefully MS will implement a fix in VS2020.
With pleany of projects in a solution I for one dread doing an svn update.
This has been an issue from VS2003 but after a decade of clicking mindlessly on buttons it's getting on my wick.
Does anyone have a hack / registry entry / secret way of saying yes short of saying ignore (quick), closing and reloading the solution?
There are a couple of options you can tweak for this scenario. Both are under the Documents Options
Tools -> Options
Environment -> Documents
The first option is to just uncheck "Detect when files changed outside the environment". This will stop the reload dialog but will force you to manually reload.
The second option just below it is a bit better "Auto-load changes, if saved". This will just automatically load the changes without prompting you for every project.
Personally though I would go a slightly different route here. The problem is occuring because your managing your source code control outside of Visual Studio. If you switched to using an addin to manage within Visual Studio it would remove these problems altogether. For svn there are several free packages available including Ankhsvn which is fairly popular
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165643(VS.80).aspx
DetectFileChangesOutsideIDE
Get/Set (Boolean)
Determines whether the environment automatically reloads files opened in the IDE when the operating system notifies the IDE that the files have been modified on disk.
EDIT:
Some clarification, as that page isn't immediately obvious.
Tools Menu->Options -> Environment->Documents->Uncheck Detect when file is changed outside the Environment
Oftentimes I want to bring up a system class in a source view, so that I can browse the properties and methods exposed by the class. Below is the screenshot of what I mean:
Srting from metadata http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/940/stringfrommetadata.png
Usually I do this by selecting the class name and pressing F12 (or right click>Go To Definition). However, if I haven't got it anywhere ready, i have type it up and then do Go To Definition. Most of the time I have to delete what I typed later on.
Is there a way to bring up this view without having to type the class name? The VS2010 Navigate To dialog doesn't support this.
EDIT: When I posted the question I didn't use any Visual Studio plugins. Now that I realised that I have full CodeRush license (thanks to StackOverflow promotion for users with 10K rep) I will accept answers that use CodeRush or Refactor!.
EDIT: At this stage I haven't really got anywhere with trying to answer this question. I am going to leave it open and let the bounty auto-award itself to Rory as he explained what's happening the best. In the meantime(schedule allowing) I will investigate doing this with DXCore as I think it should be possible.
The view you're looking at appears to have been built by some sort of analysis of the IL of the framework. Without knowing the type you intend to look at, no deconstruction can be done. Therefore I feel that, you are unlikely to find exactly what you have said you are looking for.
Allow me to suggest a few alternatives though.
Disclaimer: I work for DevExpress as a CodeRush Community Evangelist.
The Object Browser (Ctrl+Alt+J) This screen will load without attempting to show you any particular type, it will therefore be down to you to find the type in question. However all types are available and full search functionality is provided. once the type you're looking or is found, all members are listed and available.
Update: If you use the (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+R) shortcut to launch the object browser, then it will launch focused on the Search box. This is invaluable.
There are a number of CodeRush features which can prove useful when trying to locate code.
TabToNextReference (Tab) Whilst the caret is positioned within a type, strike the tab key and the next reference to that type will be located. More Details
References ToolWindow (Shift+F12) When activated the References ToolWindow will show you any references to the current type or member. This toolwindow can also be used to navigate said references. The References Toolwindow can be used in both on demand and Live mode. this allows you to have the window update as you navigate your code (via mouse or keyboard) and locate all references of any symbol the caret lands upon.
QuickNav (Ctrl+Shift+Q): This feature is closest in style to VS2010's NavigateTo feature. QuickNav will locate symbols matching whatever you type into it's filter box. This facility also supports Camel Case search. More details
QuickNav is also much more configurable than it's VS counterpart
Finally
Please also keep in mind that CodeRush is build upon the DXCore, a framework which allows users to create their own plugins for use alongside each other and CodeRush.
This framework has been repeatedly been leveraged by the community to add additional functionality. So even if you don't see any thing quite to your needs, consider suggesting something to the community by way of the forums or even contact me directly RoryB at DevExpress dot Com
I'm sure there's something we can do to help you out :)
I was not aware of that new "Navigate To" feature, but I used to use Reflector for this sort of things. The pro version offers some integration with Visual Studio (Right clicking the method and selecting "Open In .NET Reflector"). It will open the reflector window and won't show the code in the VS itself. You can watch the demo that shows this feature and some others.
This is not the best answer that I'd expect but is a good option to know.
There is no way that I know of to do this in Visual Studio 2010. However, you can do this in ReSharper via the 'navigate to' menu. I suggest you try the 30 day trial from them, then if you really do need this then purchase it.
A number of add-ins allow you to browse objects (though usually in an object-browser treeview manner rather than in a "header" file form - I believe Resharper, CodeRush and Visual Assist X all have variations on this theme).
However, one add-in to consider (as it's free) is the VS Productivity Power Tools. It adds a Solution Navigator window that gives a view onto your solution just like Solution Explorer, but (among other enhancements):
can search & filter the files listed, e.g. show only those files that are named Test.
can "expand" any file entry to show the types and members within it.
I still have to use the VB6 IDE.
Unfortunately every time I start the IDE one of the buttons of the toolbar disappears. Almost always it's the Run button which goes first. Sometimes also items from the menu bar or the context menus are missing.
I have to reset the toolbars almost every time I start the IDE (Which is quite often during a typical work day). Recently I bought an IDE plugin which modifies the menu bar and requires a restart after every reset of the menu bar. (Otherwise it would crash)
I could live with just the resetting, but the restart is really annoying.
Is there something I can do?
To solve this problem:
Unload all add-ins.
Right-click on a toolbar and select the Customize... menu.
For each toolbar click the Reset... button (6 times in total).
Reload the add-ins.
For me action 3 was enough.
cf. MZTools faq (thanks to Andrea Bonafini), but these steps are originally from MSDN
It sounds like you recently bought a bad add-in. Can you get your money back? Every time I've had problems with disappearing controls in the IDE it has been due to a bad add-in. You can find out which one it is by disabling them, one by one, each time using the IDE for a while, then re-enable it and disable the next one, until the problem stops.
I still use one problematic add-in. It exhibits behavior similar to yours in that it makes the run button disappear. I avoid the problem by only loading the add-in when I need it, use it (it formats code), then I immediately unload it. If you don't use the functionality of the add-in that often, this could be an acceptable workaround.
Yea, i have this same problem with one of the add-in. But if you reset it. Shut the IDE down and open it back up again without doing anything, the IDE shouuld be able to retain the previous clean setup.
It's just guest, but:
Each graphical element on IDE (like button) is kind of resource (i.e. GDI handle).
Maybe your VB app doesn't manage these resources good enough and after sometime VB IDE cannot redraw elements like buttons (run is used often).
Also, maybe some IDE add-in is in conflict with some other add-in/application and breaks something -- I have this problem with Clip-X and MZ-Tools.
I had a similar problem when I was setting up the IDE to use for the first time, though it may not be helpful if you've been using the same IDE for a while. When I first started using the IDE, I would modify the toolbars and then close the IDE. When prompted if I wanted to save the open file I always said No, since the file was just a dummy file I was using to open the IDE with. Turns out the IDE was saving the toolbar preferences with that file, so they never got saved.
Try opening a file, customizing the UI, saving the file, then closing without modifying the code. This was the solution for me.
I've tracked down the problem and as suggested it was an add-in.
The problem went away as soon as I disabled the Visual Basic 6 Resource Editor.
How to restore your VB6 IDE without reinstalling:
Run Regedit
Find the entry for Visual Basic 6.0
Export your settings in case things
go wrong
Delete the 'UI' setting
Run VB and you will have your popup
menus back
The 'Find' button disappeared from my VB6 toolbar forcing me to select the Edit menu to use Find. I had two add-ins enabled: vbCodePrint and ResourceEditor; so I did away with both of them, turned VB6 off and back on, then put both add-ins back in and my button returned.
If you're still using the VB6 IDE, and I do amongst others, then this problem is not likely to have gone away. I use VB6 in Windows 10, and the problem is still there. But it doesn't affect me anymore.
I have had this problem a few years into using VB5 and VB6. Today, if I start VB6 directly, it may work fine the first time, but buttons will go missing the second time -- ALWAYS.
My solution, which I developed from day one:
Do whatever needs to be done to restore all your buttons. Save the Visual Basic 6.0 registry settings to a file, as suggested previously, and only keep the UI entry. Sometimes, you have to exit VB6 for it to post changes to the registry. So if this doesn't work the first time, try exiting before saving the settings.
I use my own program to launch VB6, which automatically copies my VB6 registry backup back into the registry -- by calling "RegEdit.exe /S D:\VB\IDE_Fix.reg" -- before I launch the IDE . This works every single time, and requires no action on my part.
If you read this, that means you are a programmer. You can make this work by yourself.
Mike
Reinstall,clean registry and update with SPacks etc....