I've been looking into into MEF (Managed Extensibility Framework), but I am not entirely sure if it is something that I need and can help me accommplish what I need to do.
Can someone provide an easy to understand description of MEF, provides good resources and tutorials (aside from MSDN), and/or know if it can do the task I am trying to do under Visual Studio?
The task I am trying to do is to "log" a string of text to a text file whenever the user selects a string of text. I also need this functionality to run passively and real-time, which Visual Studio Add-in's do not support this functionality, as their behavior is "click the button to work".
It looks like the docs here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd885240(v=VS.100).aspx
may be one useful starting point.
See my response to a similar question.
The answer is "yes", this is possible/supported. Look for the following in samples/documentation/walkthroughs:
IWpfTextViewCreationLister - for detecting when editor instances are created.
ITextView.Selection - the selection object
ITextSelection.SelectionChanged - raised whenever the selection changes (though not for the empty-selection tracking the caret)
I'm sure this is possible in .NET without going 'close to the metal', probably a reference to 'lower level code'. The .NET Method TextPattern.GetSelection Method will help you to accomplish your task if combined with a MouseEvent Handler.
Related
I am interested in writing an extension for Visual Studio 2013+ that enhances the current code review functionality available in TFS. This extension would add an additional control next to each comment in the Team Explorer - Code Review window. It would also need to hook into the event that saves a comment, and update the text of the comment based on the value of the control.
I have already written some extensions for Visual Studio that create tool windows and the like, so this is not an entirely new area for me. However, I am unclear how to go about adding content of hooking into events for an existing window (such as the code review window), and the documentation seems to be very light on how to approach this. My questions are:
-Is it possible to add controls to existing windows with Visual Studio extensions? Or is the extension functionality limited to adding new tool windows with custom UI? Would this be possible as an extension on top of the existing code review functionality, or would it have to completely re-implement the code review functionality, as extensions like Review Assistant appear to do?
-Is there anything documented specifically about the code review windows within the Visual Studio IDE, or any classes that allow extensions to interface with them? If there are any events documented in the IDE related to code reviews (ie: an event that fires upon saving a comment) that would be especially helpful.
Thanks for any help!
A few months back we were also in the same situation but for disabling a control in the CodeReviewPage.
What we did was added a hidden section to the CodeReviewPage. When this section Initialize(object sender,...), and from the sender object received as an argument we used Reflection to reveal the CodeReviewPage object and then further explored the control inside that we wanted to disable. This object was then type cased to the Control class and then we had all the properties exposed for that control and then simply we applied the ctrlObj.IsEnable = false.
For your case you can expose the Section from the CodeReviewPage object from sender object and then modify the section or add a new control and bind some events to it.
I'd like to create an extension for Visual Studio 2010. The functionalities I need are these:
Add a context menu item for Project (when user right clicks project name in his solution, he'll get my context item in the list).
When he clicks, a new WinForms form appears, where he can input some data, and an option to save that data for future reuse.
When he clicks OK on that Form I'll generate some files and add those files to be a part of his project that he rightclicked.
The WSCF.blue is exactly the kind of behaviour I want to immitate in VS, but it's source was written in VS2008, and I'd like to use VS2010 Extension options which are quite changed as I understand...
I found some resources on the msdn, but I found it confusing with incomplete info (e.g. MenuAndCommands example).
Can anyone shed some light on how to achieve what I'm after?
I really don't know where to point out so you can get specific examples of what you are trying to achieve. However, in the following resources you will find complete and detailed information about the overall process, and some help to achieve 1. and 2.
VS 2010 Package Development – Chapter 1: Visual Studio Packages
VS 2010 Package Development – Chapter 2: Commands, Menus and Toolbars
I would like to create a setup with three basic dialogs (one input dialog):
Browse (next + exit button)
Progress
Finish
No welcome dialog or any other unnecessary dialog. Maybe even combine 1&2, but I would like to stick to predefined dialogs for the moment.
I looked at WixUI_Minimal, but couldn't figure out how to modify the sequence of dialogs so that my specification is met.
Links or informations are much appreciated.
Maybe you could use SharpSetup to create such minimal installer (dialogs can be graphically edited in Visual Studio designer). It requires .NET at runtime - not sure if it is acceptable in your case.
Disclaimer: I'm the author of SharpSetup.
When you type the override keyword in a C# file in VS and press Space, you get a second menu offering the method to override. Can I extend this behavior with my own custom code that would use another keyword to pop up my own list of actions?
Yes it is possible to augment the list with more keywords or to even create your own list entirely. The interface you are looking for in Visual Studio 2010 is ICompletionSource. This isn't a simple interface though and it's hard to give a full sample in a stackoverflow answer but there are plenty of samples online to take a look at.
I think the best place to start is the editor samples available on codeplex
http://editorsamples.codeplex.com/
What other keyword do you want to use? If it's C#, pressing ctrl+space will open the auto-complete/intellisense menu.
If this is for writing another language using Visual Studio, perhaps this video is of use.
Here's the extending Visual Studio start page, in case it's helpful.
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.