The solution I work on is quite big so it can require a lot of clicks to get to the desired file. I spend 90% of the time working with 8-10 files from this solution so it would be really convenient to have some kind of "Favorites" in my solution so I could jump to the most used files quickly. "Recent files" doesn't cut it, so maybe you know some extensions for VS2010 that do that? Google didn't provide any good options so I decided to give it a shot here and ask what do you use.
Thanks in advance
It's not quite what you asked for, but it'll help endlessly:
In vanilla VS2010, hit Ctrl-Comma (by default) for the "Navigate To" window. You can type a partial file, class or method name and it'll show you a list of where that appears in your solution, and you can open directly from there.
The DevExpress plugins also have a "Recently Used File" window (Ctrl-Shift-Period by default, I think) that does similar, but only shows files you've recently used (not classes or methods). I have to say, though, I've not used that since I've had VS2010.
Wow! A question since 2011 that is still valid to date.
From View Menu click Bookmark Window
open your favorite file
click any line - preferably the beginning of the file
from the Bookmarks Window, click the icon "Toggle a bookmark on the current line."
Very convenient!
Haven't tried this particular feature of the PowerTools myself, but it could do the trick:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2010/08/03/quick-access-extension.aspx
Related
Anyone know how to make the document well act like vs2010? Every time I open a file in the solution I lose the previous file unless I pin it. I want it to act like a stack.
Thanks
Nick
I you double click a file you have the same behavior as in VS10. You can deactivate the preview function in solution explorer (i believe one of the right buttons - unfortunately I have no VS12 by the hand at the moment, so I can tell the exact position).
If there are lots of projects in one solution and each of them has lots of .cs file.
Also, there might be one more classes in one file.
So, what I want to ask is: How can I find a file or a class quickly?
I really don't like use the ctrl+F every time.
Is there any plugin like if I click the CTRL+SHIFT+R it will open a window of show a class list or a file list and I can input the keyword what I'd like to find.
Then, when I double click the result, the file will be opened for me.
In VS2010 at least, there is the Navigate To feature. It indexes file names, classes, and methods for quick searching. Hit Ctrl+, (comma) to bring up the dialog:
Also, if you don't mind paying (and getting additional features), there is Visual Assist X and ReSharper, both of which I believe support VS2008/VS2010 and have source navigation features.
You can try out the "Productivity Power Tools" extension for VS2010.
It adds a new menu called "Solution Navigator", which has a search box with autosuggest, that enables searching your solution.
it has lots of other features and I highly recommend it.
I am going to be doing the codekata defined on Roy Osherove's blog HERE.
One of the rules is that you cannot use the mouse while doing the kata.
Today, my first attempt at doing the kata I have spent the whole time trying to better understand how to use VS without the mouse. I have learned that CTL-ALT-A will be my friend because I can type commands there.
Does somebody have a pointer to a complete reference to the VS Commmands. I want the command name (Edit.ToggleBookmark), command keystroke (like Ctl-K,K), and any arguments required by the command.
Some specific questons I have.
Does someone know a keystroke for pinning the active window without using the mouse.
Also, I cannot figure out how to add a reference without using the keyboard.
If you can help with those two then I will be significantly farther along.
Thanks.
Seth
edit
Just figured out how to add references. I was working on a project that was not saved and Add References command (Project.AddReference) was returning an error...and I thought it was because I was using the command...but it was actually because I had not saved the project yet.
SO.... if you could help me with the window pinning that would be great.
Seth
EVEN WITH ALL THE HELPS FIGURING OUT COMMANDS...I still cannot figure out how to
- pin a Visual Studio window so it stays open.
- And how do you trigger the context menu any a window. For example, solution explorer?
- How do you delete or remove a file?
EDIT
This StackOverflow question answers the context menu question.
Now...if someone can tell me how to pin a window. That would be awesome.
Seth
Does somebody have a pointer to a complete reference to the VS Commmands. I want the command name (Edit.ToggleBookmark), command keystroke (like Ctl-K,K), and any arguments required by the command.
Because it's entirely user definable, I don't think any online reference for keystrokes will do you any good -- I personally have my own keyboard shortcut profile that works best for me.
Therefore, here's the best way to learn every command and its keyboard shortcuts:
Load Visual Studio
Go to the Tools -> Options menu.
Select "Keyboard" in the options list on the left.
Et Voila! Every possible command in VS and its keyboard shortcut (if it's assigned), along with the ability to assign your own. Oh, and search, too!
Kind of an old question here, but for ye olde Googlers/Bingers/SearchaMaTronickistas I thought it might be worth posting the link to the Keyboard Bindings Poster from Microsoft.
I find the solution explorer is a bit slow to get around in sometimes, and think that there might be a better UI solution out there. I like Ctrl+T but sometimes a visual cue is better than remembering the class name?
I think it would be nice you had a second, similar window, that only shows files that have been opened during the current session? Any other suggestions
If you want to upgrade your experience to the next level, you need to have Visual AssistX.
It enables links between your code and the files it comes from. And it's also light-weight. You will forget the Solution Explorer quite rapidly.
http://www.wholetomato.com
In the toolbar's search box, you can type ">of ". It will give you an intellisense-like dropdown of files in your solution as you type out the filename (e.g. ">of def" will show "default.aspx" and "default.aspx.vb" if those two files are in your solution).
I'm not sure if this any more/less cryptic than ctrl+t, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, visit the help center.
Closed 10 years ago.
How do you feel about VS making you hunt for a tab that you used just minutes ago when you have a bazillion open tabs? What about constantly dragging tabs around to keep the ones you use close together?
Oh, so you think AARGH, too? Then read on.
I work on a piece of software with dozens of projects and hundreds of files. It's really easy to get the tab bar to fill up - like when debugging, which can open a lot of files, most of which are just boilerplate, or not really interesting for the task at hand.
This makes the few files that are relevant to 'fall off' the tab bar, or a pain to find by skimming the visible tabs.
There are some solutions, some more widely known than others. Here's my top 3:
III. This works if you can exactly remember the file name (or at least the first letters): use the 'find box':
type: Ctrl-D >of yourFileName
As you type the file name, you get autocomplete on the file names in the solution. More details here.
II. The most obvious one: using the 'active files' drop-down on the right of the tab bar which is alphabetically ordered.
Lesser known fact: use Ctrl-Alt-DownArrow to open that drop-down, then start typing the file name. You get the added benefit of visualizing the available choices. [info shamelessly stolen from here]
I. <drum roll/> This one is my personal favourite, and it's based on an undocumented feature of VS 2005/2008. When activated, it does one simple thing: clicking a tab moves it to the left-most side of the window. This basic action usually lets me find the tab I'm looking for in the first 3 to 5 tabs.
It goes like this:
removed dead ImageShack link - sample animation
In order to enable this functionality, you have to get your hands dirty with the Windows registry.
Compulsory edit-registry-at-your-own-risk warning: Editing the registry may make your network card drop packets on the floor. You have been warned.
Add this key to the registry for VS 2005:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0]
"UseMRUDocOrdering"=dword:00000001
or this for VS 2008:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0]
"UseMRUDocOrdering"=dword:00000001
You don't even have to restart VS to see it work! [plagiarized from here]
Now go on, give it a try!
Update:
This trick no longer works in VS2010 Pro :(
This wraps up my part. Now it's your turn to share how you deal with tab hunting!
You can use Productivity Power Tools extension for VS.
Once installed go to Tools -> Options -> Productivity Power Tools -> Document Tab Well -> General -> then check "Show tabs vertically".
This will give you a list of open files on your left.
Hold Ctrl, press Tab, and keep Ctrl held. Now you can use the arrow keys to choose any open file (right column) or tool window (left column.)
ReSharper and its Recent Files feature works a lot better for me.
I mostly use Ctrl-TAB to cycle through the tabs I have most recently been working on. I can seem to manage a stack of 4 or 5 files without thinking in this way. If the file is out of the stack then I usually settle for reopening it again using Ctrl-O.
Or if the file I want is related to a piece of code I am looking at, so highlighting a variable, method, etc that is defined in that file and hitting F12 works.
I've created Tabs Studio add-in for Visual Studio exactly for this purpose - to comfortably work with a lot of opened files. Tabs Studio add-in offers multiple rows of tabs and tab grouping.
See Tabs Studio home page for more information.
My company uses Visual Assist X. This provide numerous great features in Visual Studio, first and foremost a better "intellisense" capability. However, it also has an "Open File in Solution" dialog which allows me to type substrings of the file I'm looking for and filters the list accordingly. I highly recommend this software to any developer working with Visual Studio.
I ran into the same problems described here, so I created a visual studio addin to manage open documents in "sessions", it's free and open source, you can find more information on the codeplex project here
Control-Tab and the ">of" trick are both useful. Neither of them quite work for me, though, especially when I've got a lot of open files or I want quicker access.
I like the free DPack collection of tools. There's a lot of neat stuff in there, some of which is built in to more recent versions of VS. I haven't seent anything like the file browser, though. It sits as a tool window (or dialog, if you prefer), and gives you an incrementally-filtered list of files in your solution. You can limit the list to open files if you use it as a modal dialog, apparently, though I haven't tried that.
(source: usysware.com)