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What are your recommended extensions for Visual Studio 2010?
(Please indicate if its free or not And also its purpose / function too)
Free:
VsCommandBudy - Extend VS with external commands where really need them (Free)
PowerCommands - useful extensions for the Visual Studio 2010 adding additional functionality to various areas of the IDE.
DevExpress CodeRush Xpress - Coding assistance, Intellisense navigation,etc.
AnkhSVN - Subversion Support for Visual Studio.
Ghost Doc - Simplify your XML Comments.
Visual Studio Color Theme Editor - make your VS2010 look pretty with themes.
VsVim - VIM emulation layer for Visual Studio.
DPack - FREE collection of Microsoft Visual Studio tools.
VSFileNav - fast searcher with wildcards + camel case searches.
Sonic file finder - fast and convenient search.
AllMargins
tangible T4 Editor plus modeling tools for VS2010 adds IntelliSense and Syntax Coloring to T4 Text Templates
Word Wrap with Auto-Indent
Indentation Matcher Extension
Structure Adornment
BlockTagger
BlockTaggerImpl
SettingsStore
SettingsStoreImpl
Source Outliner - not available on this link.
Triple Click - Makes triple click select an entire line.
ItalicComments
Go To Definition - Make ctrl+click perform a "Go To Definition" on the identifier under the cursor
Spell Checker - not available on this link.
Remove and Sort Using - Adds a context menu entry to Solution Explorer that sorts and removes using statements on every file in the solution, project, or on the individual file.
Format Document - Adds a context menu entry to Solution Explorer and the code window that executes the Edit-Advance-Format Document command on every file in the solution, project, or current code window.
Open Folder in Windows Explorer - Extends the Open Folder in Windows Explorer context menu option to the code editor and to all files in solution explorer.
Find Results Highlighter - Highlights the search text in the find results windows.
Regular Expressions Margin - A margin which exposes .Net Regular Expressions search and replace capabilities on a given code window.
VSCommands - not available on this link.
HelpViewerKeywordIndex - Visual Studio Extension for the Microsoft Help Viewer
StyleCop - StyleCop analyzes C# source code to enforce a set of best practice style and consistency rules.
Extension Analyzer - Extension Analyzer helps debug issues with VSIX Components, Visual Studio Packages, PkgDef Files and MEF Components.
CodeCompare - Code Compare is an advanced file and folder comparison tool. This programming languages oriented diff tool can be used as a Visual Studio add-in and as a standalone application.
Team Founder Server Power Tools - not available on this link
VS10x Selection Popup - not available on this link
Color Picker Completion - not available on this link
Numbered Bookmarks - Numbered Bookmarks allows users to create and recall bookmarks by using numbers. User can create 10 bookmarks (starting from 0 to 9).
Mouse Zoom - Mouse zoom at the mouse's cursor instead of at the top of the visible document. See VS options...
Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools - A set of extensions to Visual Studio Professional (and above) which improves developer productivity.
JSEnhancements - provides outlining and matching braces highlighting features for Visual Studio JavaScript editor; provides fantastic #region collapsing in JS and CSS files, making long files much easier to handle;
Code Contracts Editor Extensions - Displays Code Contracts (when editing C#) in code, Intellisense, and in metadata files.
WoVS Quick Add Reference - Add missing assembly references right from the code editor
JScript Editor Extensions -
Align By
T4 Editor
Quick Open File for Visual Studio 2010 - quick opening any solution file
CleanProject - Cleans Visual Studio Solutions
PhatStudio - fast file navigation and quickly opening files
VsVim - Vim style keyboard shorcuts
Chutzpah - Open source JavaScript test runner
I Hate #Regions - makes expanded regions less disturbing by making the font smaller
Not Free:
Resharper
Visual Assist X
JustCode
ViEmu
CodeRush with Refactor! Pro
VisualSVN
VS10x Code Map - displays a graphical nested representation of the current editor window code
VS10x Editor View Enhancer
NuGet
NuGet (formerly NuPack) is a free, open source developer focused package management system for the .NET platform intent on simplifying the process of incorporating third party libraries into a .NET application during development.
PowerCommands (free)
AnkhSVN (free)
Even if you use other SVN shells outside VS (like TortoiseSVN), I recommend to install this Source Control Provider to automatically keep track of file renames, deletions and the like.
Visual Assist X(not free)
Ghost Doc (Free)
It takes a while to configure it properly, but it can be quite useful.
From my blog post (all free):
Word Wrap with Auto-Indent
Indentation Matcher Extension
Structure Adornment
This also installs the following extensions:
BlockTagger
BlockTaggerImpl
SettingsStore
SettingsStoreImpl
Source Outliner
Triple Click
ItalicComments
Go To Definition
Spell Checker
Remove and Sort Using
Format Document
Open Folder in Windows Explorer
Find Results Highlighter
Regular Expressions Margin
VSCommands
HelpViewerKeywordIndex
StyleCop
Visual Studio Color Theme Editor
PowerCommands for Visual Studio 2010
Extension Analyzer
CodeCompare
Team Founder Server Power Tools
VS10x Selection Popup
Color Picker Completion
Numbered Bookmarks
DevExpress CodeRush/Refactor! Pro (not free, $249.99)
It's way better than Resharper (which by the way always slowed down my VS to a crawl), it works with C# and VB.NET (including refactoring) and the support and community is excellent. Worth the price tag. And yes, it does support 2010 (in RC at the time of this writing).
Visual Studio Color Theme Editor (free)
I can't code unless my VS2010 has a StackOverflow-like theme.
VisualSVN (not-free)
I personally prefer this over AnkhSVN since its not an SCC provider and doesn't add extra files to my repository.
VisualHG is a Mercurial Source control plugin that drives TortoiseHG from VS. I'm a big fan of Mercurial & DVCS. VisualHG makes it nice n integrated. Git fans - I'm not asking for a flame war. Hg is just my brand.
VSCommands is simply one of the best FREE plugins ot there!
(visual studio gallery link)
DevExpress CodeRush Xpress (free)
tangible T4 Editor plus modeling tools for VS2010 adds IntelliSense and Syntax Coloring to T4 Text Templates (Free)
If you are a Vim aficionado...
VsVim - free
ViEmu - not free (also not yet released)
CodeMaid seems to be pretty useful - it AutoFormats on save which saves a lot of time between developers and code-diffs. (Are there other tools that can use the VS AutoFormat document?)
VS10x Code Map
That is very cool. Easy jumping to property, method. And easy expand collapse region and more.
ReSharper (not-free)
World of VS Default Browser Switcher for easily switching browser in web projects.
Code Contracts Editor Extensions, a free extension which provides information about inherited contracts for the method you're currently working on, and a list of contracts for any methods that you're calling. Unfortunately, the latter feature conflicts with Resharper, but the former still works fine.
RockScroll (free) - Double-click on a word/symbol highlights all occurrences of that word/symbol. Also replaces the scroll bar with a preview of your code, with edit spots and "all occurences" lines highlighted.
Example of use: want to see whether a variable is used anywhere else in current source file? Double-click variable, look at scroll bar for any red highlights.
AtomineerUtils Pro (not free, $9.99 USD) is, in my opinion, better than Ghost Doc. But, just like Ghost Doc or any automatic documentation generator, the generated documentation is meant to be edited to be of any real value.
devColor (Free)
Small tool which underlines hex colors in stylesheets with the correct color. I really like how it integrates into the editor.
CleanProject - Cleans Visual Studio Solutions
How many times have you wanted to send a project to a friend or upload
it to a web site like MSDN Code Gallery only to find that your zip
file has lots of stuff that you don't need to send in it making the
file larger than it needs to be.
bin folder obj folder TestResults folder Resharper folders And then if
you forget about removing Source Control bindings whoever gets your
project will be prompted about that. As someone who does this process
a great deal I decided to share with you my code for cleaning a
project.
I can't live without DPack - especially when working on large projects, makes navigating between files and members much easier. And it's free.
Favorite shortucts:
Alt+U : file browser, filters files as you type
Alt+G : code browser, filters all members as you type
Alt+M : code browser, filters methods in the current file as you type
...and so on. Much easier for me then finding my way around Project Explorer.
Vingy (Free)
Vingy 1.0 is simple, but effective add in for Visual Studio 2010 so that you can search the web in a non intrusive way, and can filter results based on sources.
Vingy http://lh4.ggpht.com/__Mw4iY-4nuY/TKic0LcfKgI/AAAAAAAAA7s/OR82RFQFSU8/s1600-h/image%5B14%5D.png
You can bring up Vingy either by clicking View->Other Windows –> Vingy Search Window from the Visual Studio IDE, or just by high lighting some text in the document and then clicking Tools –> Search Selected Text (Ctrl + 1).
Searching with Vingy is pretty straight forward. You can initiate a Search in two ways.
By typing the text in the Vingy search box and pressing ‘Enter’ or by clicking the ‘Go’ button
By highlighting some text in the editor when you type in Visual Studio, and then pressing Ctrl + 1
This is my list of extensions.
The list on this is pretty comprehensive, so I spent sometime to find the extensions that I need. Here is the snapshot. Hope it will help someone.
I tried installing Codemaid, and it appeared to be a nifty addon, but my Visual Studio response became very slow. Felt like some threads were doing some work all the time when Codemaid was on.
So uninstalling for now.
VSFileNav - (Free) A Find File in Solution tool (cross between SonicFileFinder and Resharper). Lightweight, easy to use and fast (I got sick of the huge startup time with Sonic).
Disclaimer : I wrote this tool.
Plugin to quickly go to any file in solution
Sonic file finder (free)
Fast switching between .h and .cpp file
Macro available here (free)
And that's it =)
WoVS Quick Add Reference
The “Quick Add Reference” extension augments the smart tag that VS shows for unrecognized types giving you a chance to add the corresponding assembly reference for that type plus corresponding “using” clause if needed in a single shot.
Related
I'm a big fan of the Navigate to window (Ctrl + Comma) to navigate to classes and files.
Problem for me is that it also shows Properties, Fields and Methods that match your keyword.
In a large codebase that means the navigate to window is flooded with members while I'm mainly using this to look for Classes.
Question:
Is it possible to hide Properties and other Members in the 'Navigate to' window?
I've looked into Settings but with no luck to this moment.
Note: I'm not using Resharper and looking for a Visual Studio native solution
In Visual Studio 2017 they've added a really useful feature where you can type an 'f' in front of your search to only look for files.
Like: f banana pancakes searches for only files with banana pancakes. You can also use t for types and there are some other really good new options.
This is available also for the community edition. If you're using an older version of Visual Studio I recommend taking the effort to upgrade.
I installed Coderush express and I can see that it is installed. (I can see that Camel Case Navigation works). But I can see any other feature works. Based on this page: http://community.devexpress.com/blogs/markmiller/archive/2009/06/25/coderush-xpress-for-c-and-visual-basic-2008.aspx
I cannot see any of these feature to works:
Tab to Next Reference : no effect when I put caret on a variable and press tab ( a tab inserted at the middle of my variable name!)
Highlight All References: pressing ctrl+alt +u add a ascii character to source code.
Quick Navigation: Ctrl +Shift + Q has no effect.
Quick File Navigation : Ctrl +Alt +F brings up F# interactive
Selection Increase and Selection Reduce doesn't work: generate a beep
Declare: ctrl +` has no effect.
and ...
Any idea why this is happening? I am using VS2010.
Presumably due to your using a different version of Visual Studio.
The page you linked to is pretty clear about it being for Visual Studio 2008, but you've included the visual-studio-2010 tag.
CodeRush Xpress fully supports all language features of Visual Basic and C# in Visual Studio 2008.
Edit
Version of Visual Studio wasn't the problem after all.
It appears to just be that the tool makes very little visible change to the Visual Studio user interface, so it looks like it hasn't loaded.
It seems that your installation is corrupt. I would recommend you contact DevExpress Support directly. The support team is better equipped to resolve any issues you face with their products. They offer a very short response time and high qualification. I would also recommend that you reinstall the product.
The features you are asking about, were removed on purpose from VS2010 version of Coderush XPress. More info here:
Experience with Coderush XPress and Visual Studio 2010?
Resharper has some commands I just can't live without (keybindings are given for the Visual Studio template):
Open by filename (Ctrl+Shift+T)
Locate in solution explorer (alt-shift-T, useful only when solution explorer is configured not to track the current file already)
Does visual studio have alternatives to these that don't require Resharper? I know VS2010 adds the "Edit.NavigateTo" command (Ctrl+,) but it is slow and shows every useless symbol that might be what you want (too noisy).
Is anything similar offered by other perhaps free addons?
You might want to try the Solution Navigator feature that is bundled with the free Visual Studio Productivity Power Tools extension. It appears to have more powerful support for searching for files and symbols all combined within the Solution Explorer.
My website has several nested folders and sometimes long file names, so sometimes only 4 tabs can be opened at a time.
Can vs2010 be made to show only file names and leave out any path information?
Can the max displayed length for tabs be set?
I know the window can be split so top and bottom both have their own tabs.
For example (using the "Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools"):
Showing the files:
...r.aspx.cs
...s.aspx.cs
...s.aspx.cs
...s.aspx.cs
...s.aspx.cs
For example (not using the Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools):
Showing the files:
Adminstration/...quests.aspx.cs
Adminstration/...tUsers.aspx.cs
Adminstration/...ctions.aspx.cs
Adminstration/...eBanks.aspx.cs
Try installing the "Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools" extension from the Extension Manager in VS. It adds a new section to the standard option dialogue that allows you to customise what they call the "Document Tab Well."
It doesn't let you truncate the filename, but you can change the way they draw and scroll, which might be enough to help.
It does allow more tabs at a time, but it severly shortens the amount of file name you see. So while it allows editing more files, you won't know what file you are editing.
For now I'm using the trial version of Tab Studio
In VS2010, go to Tools - Extension Manager. Go to the online gallery and search for this extension:
Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools
This extension, once installed, gives you extensive control over the document well, including setting a max tab width and much more. I love this extension, and have had zero issues customizing tab behavior to suit my preferences. Hope this helps.
Fixed in Visual Studio 2012
This has finally been fixed in Visual Studio 2012:
So i see:
PendingRequests.aspx (rather than ...r.aspx.cs)
ImportUsers.aspx.cs (rather than ...s.aspx.cs)
SearchTransactions.aspx.cs (rather than ...ctions.aspx.cs)
ImportTimeBanks.aspx.cs (rather than eBanks.aspx.cs)
Now if we could just get the entire Visual Studio ecosystem to:
return to the use of Left, Right arrows to navigate overflow tabs
open new tabs on the right
just like Windows has been doing in 1994, and Visual Studio would start to almost become a user-friendly Windows application.
I have been using this excellent extension for VS2010 that solve your problems: Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools.
It is a bundle of several extensions, but the most notable for you is the Document Well 2010 Plus. It allows you to configure the document tabs: to be the constant width, colour-coded by project, pinned, etc...
You can toggle the extensions that you do not want by editing the manifest file in:
~\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\Extensions\Microsoft\Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools\
#IanBoyd: I agree, it doesn't solve the problem 100% however it helps (which is why most of the answers to this question suggest it). With the Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools add-on you can a) set the maximum tab width using one tab options, b) setup some colour categorizing rules to help differentiate between projects/file types.
In VS2010, my workflow relies upon several add-ons and keyboard shortcuts to manage my workspace; for example I use CTRL + Tab to switch between active documents, use the pin-tab feature and colour coding from Power Pro Tools, the open solution file dialog from Visual Assist X, and re-open last edited file from Resharper.
This has been answered already here:
Remove path from tab name in Visual Studio 2010
Install the productivity power tools extension and it should do it by default!
Cheers.
The Eclipse IDE has a neat little feature that I really miss in Visual Studio.
If I place the cursor on a variable or method name, the IDE will automatically highlight all references to it in the current document within the relevant scope.
I can't seem to find an option to turn on similar behaviour in VS2008 or Resharper 4. I know VS has a Find Usages function, but I'd like to do it automatically on the fly.
Does anyone know of a free addin which will add this functionality?
If you're using ReSharper, you can highlight the usages in the file with Shift-Alt-F11. Place your cursor on the variable you want to find usages of, and press the Shift-Alt-F11 combination.
There is an add-in for Visual Studio that will do something similar called RockScroll.
When you double click on something, it will highlight all occurrences of the item you double clicked. It also changes the vertical scrollbar to a "syntax highlighted thumbnail view" showing an overview of where the item occurs in the file.
I know you mentioned ReSharper, but CodeRush has a nice references window that you can dock and let it search for things on-the-fly or on demand. As a bonus, you can select each usage and it will show you the context surrounding the usage. It also works for methods.
I mentioned CodeRush since they have an express edition, which looks like it includes that feature, but I haven't tried that edition.
Visual Studio 2010 has sorta implemented this, but the feature is somewhat lacking. There is a non-configurable delay between placing the cursor and highlighting.
The RockScroll Addin is not available for Visual Studio 2010 and above.
As a replacement, the free "Highlight all occurrences of selected word" plugin will highlight all occurences of the selected string after a doubleclick. There is no delay as with the native vs2010 highlighter.
It is string-based, which means it works inside comments and string literals.
Microsoft published a tool that sort of does what you want.
Some of my favourite features:
Enhanced Scrollbar
Auto Brace Completion
Ctrl + Click Go To Definition
Open Containing Folder
and the list goes on.
For Visual Studio 2010 and for Visual Studio 2012