In my Visual Studio extensibility project, I'm attempting to make my tool window visible upon launch after package installation.
The dotneteers describe a way of doing this that involves adding the following line to the package header (i.e. MyPackage.VSPackage.cs):
[ProvideToolWindowVisibility(typeof(MyToolWindow), Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Interop.UIContextGuids80.NoSolution)]
Unfortunately, this doesn't work. It seems that Visual Studio doesn't pay attention to the "NoSolution" tool visibility directive (I can confirm that it does work for some of the other enumeration items, like Debugging, but this doesn't fit my use case).
If there's no way to make this auto-show the tool window on VS load, has anyone come up with any alternate (i.e. novel :)) solutions?
Alternatively, you can try making you package as auto load using ProvideAutoLoad and once at the Initialize() try to create this tool window. Use the Package.FindToolWindow() method.
Related
So today I decided to take a look at the Graduate feature in small basic, I discovered that it allows you to convert your small basic code to a format for Visual Studio, Great I thought.
Until when I later tried it, Visual Studio reported that there were over 102 errors with the code, I found that this was because the compiler couldn't understand most of the small basic functions like GraphicsWindow, TextWindow, Mouse, Shapes etc. So, have I done wrong? As Visual Studio is my main programming language I couldn’t wait for the small basic code to be magically converted to work with VS. Some of the code could be manually translated such like TextWindow to Console, but what do you do with code that is specific to Small Basic like GraphicsWindow?
You are using the Graduate feature correctly, and you haven't done anything wrong; the reason you're getting errors is because Visual Studio doesn't seem to automatically import SmallBasicLibrary.dll correctly. The last time I used Graduate (~2 years ago) this wasn't a problem, so I imagine this issue is a result of Visual Studio updates.
Thankfully, this issue is easy to fix. You simply need to import SmallBasicLibrary.dll manually and then add a single line to the top of your Visual Basic code. Note that these instructions are for Visual Studio Community 2013, but I would imagine they're the same for most recent versions.
In Visual Studio, go to Project > [Project Name] Properties.
In the tab that opens, go to References on the side panel. Select SmallBasicLibrary in the list and click Remove.
Click the Add button (next to Remove), then in the window that opens select Browse in the side panel. Now click the Browse button at the bottom of the window.
Find SmallBasicLibrary.dll in your Small Basic installation folder (for me this was C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Small Basic) and double-click it. When you are taken back to the Reference Manager window, ensure that SmallBasicLibrary.dll has its checkbox checked, then click OK.
Select Application in the side panel and ensure that the targeted version of the .NET framework is 4.5.
Finally, open your Visual Basic code using the Solution Explorer and add this line to the top of it:
Imports Microsoft.SmallBasic.Library
The resulting code should look something like the following:
Imports Microsoft.SmallBasic.Library
Module UntitledModule
Sub Main()
TextWindow.WriteLine("Test")
TextWindow.Pause()
' Your Small Basic code here...
End Sub
End Module
All your build errors should be gone, as the Small Basic commands are now available.
Once you've done this, Graduate is ideal for using VB-exclusive commands or libraries along with your Small Basic code.
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.
I was wondering if there is a plugin that allows me to jump directly to the test for the current class (Or create it if it doesn't exist).
I guess this should be based on the convention that the test project is named like the project being tested + "test" and the test class is named like the class being tester + "test".
A feature like that would really help in projects with many files and foldes, where scrolling the solution explorer to find the associated test project can be quite annoying.
how about NCrunch? This tool will show you, per method, which and how many tests are covering it:
I did manage to find a few extensions on visualstudiogallery.com, but ended up writing my own plugin for this. Its not perfect, but i does what I needed.
If anyone else would like, its available for free at testlocator.eqa.dk
In Visual Studio you can Shift+F12 on any class or method definition to find all references. Although the resulting list Studio is not very convenient, but a starting point. Using a tool like DevExpress CodeRush or ReSharper lets you sort and filter by namespace, project, file, etc.
If you happen to use ReSharper, it has a TestLinker plugin.
It does the job pretty well.
Basic shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+F7.
Goto Related Files is extended with navigation points to production/test classes.
New shortcuts ReSharper_GotoAllLinkedTypes and ReSharper_GotoLinkedTypesWithDerivedName (assignable via keyboard options) that jumps between linked types. In case of multiple linked types, a dedicated popup menu is shown, which can also be displayed in Find Results window.
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.
Background
I have a macro AttachToRemoteProcess that I use to attach the debugger to a running process on a remote computer. The macro use hard coded names for the process and the computer. I use the macro from a toolbar button on a custom toolbar. I consider this a sub par solution and I don't really like to have such a macro in my Visual Studio environment since it only works for the specific program/environment it was hard coded for.
I am using Visual Studio 2008.
Solutions
I can imagine two solutions but I do not know if they are possible to implement.
Alternative 1
I would like to either have the macro AttachToRemoteProcess being part of the solution (.sln) or one of the projects (.csproj) and have the toolbar appear when the solution or project has been loaded into Visual Studio. In this case it is OK to have hard coded settings such as process and computer name.
Alternative 2
The macro AttachToRemoteProcess is made reusable by taking process and computer as parameters.
The custom toolbar, button and the macro are always available in Visual Studio. This is just like my current solution, except for the parameterized macro.
When the button is clicked the computer name and process name is looked up from somewhere in the solution or the current project.
Questions
Would any of the alternative work and how can I go about doing it?
Are there any other alternative solutions for what I want to achieve?
The second alternative seems to work. Instead of retrieving the parameters from the solution (perhaps using VBA and the class EnvDTE.DTE.Solution), you could display a small form to select the process and computer and use this input as parameters to your macro. The button would be displayed in a personal toolbar all the time.
I'm not sure whether you can "attach" macros to particular solutions. If that's not possible, you will have no way to implement alternative 1.