Ctrl + M, P expands the whole document. But after doing this I can't collapse back specific methods or pieces of code. It's not possible via shortcut keys (for example: Ctrl + M, M) neither via the menu:
As you can see, only Ctrl + M, O is possible which collapses the whole document
Also the + en - signs disappear when I do Ctrl + M, P
In VS2012 toggling outline expansion is [CTRL] + M, M. I presume this hasn't changed from previous version. Don't have VS2010 to check...
Old question, and some of this is in the comments, but I'll tie it all together in an official answer since I recently did the same thing accidentally in Visual Studio 2015 and it took me a while to figure out what I had done.
The CTRL+M, CTRL+P combination turns off outlining for the current document. It is possible to turn it back on by closing and re-opening the document as long as the "Enter outlining mode when files open" option is checked under Tools|Options|Text Editor|C#|Advanced. (there are similar options for other editor types - you can search on "outline" in the options dialog to see them all).
If you find yourself doing this often, there is a command to turn outlining back on, however, it is not assigned a keyboard shortcut by default. You can assign one though.
Open the Tools|Options|Environment|Keyboard dialog.
Enter "outli" under "Show commands containing" and look through the list below for the one named "Edit.StartAutomaticOutlining".
When you click on it, it will either show you what keys are currently assigned if a shortcut is already assigned, or will indicate nothing is assigned.
If there isn't anything listed, select "Editor" from "Use new shortcut in", then in the "Press shortcut keys" box, press the key combination you want to assign it to. For example, I used CTRL+M, CTRL+[.
Now if you accidentally hit CTRL-M, CTRL-P and turn off outlining, you can quickly re-enable outlining with CTRL-M, CTRL-[.
I would like to know if there exists some way to collapse and unfold by levels in Visual Studio. I already know these keys:
CTRL-M, O: collapse all
CTRL-M, O: unfold all
CTRL-M, M: toggle
They work, but they collapse and unfold to the maximum possible level. I want for example unfold at lvl 2, lvl 3 depth, then collapse to lvl 1, etc.
An example of this functionality exists in Notepad++ editor:
ALT-n: collapse level n
SHIFT-ALT-n: unfold to level n
If this functionality is provided by an extension, it'd be good to know the name of this extension.
I have created an extension to provide "level folding" functionality for Visual Studio.
Please note, that it is still quite raw.
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mwilski.CollapseLevel
It's useful to note that, if you first do Collapse All Outlining (Ctrl+M, A), then you can expand/collapse regions one level at a time, for example by using the mouse or the Toggle Outlining Expansion shortcut (Ctrl+M, M). Not as good as expanding/collapsing by n levels, but better than nothing.
For VS2010 used with cpp : [Tools > Options ... > Text Editor > C/C++ > Formatting > Outline Statement Blocks] set at True.
It seems to do what you expect and certainly what i was looking for when i met your post.
VS code can control fold level by default nowadays.
fold by :
commandk command + 1 to 7
unfold all by : commandk commandj
Check more in 'Keyboard shortcuts setting' (commandk commands)
We generally minimize or shrink a function or class by clicking
-
symbol on left corner of every function in Visual Studio.
I want do with keyboard instead of mouse.
How can that be done.
CTRL-M CTRL-M
Alternatively, you can open up Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard and assign "Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion" to any keyboard combo you like.
You just hit Ctrl-M, Ctrl-M to toggle outlining.
I think you want ctrl-M, O and ctrl-M, L. These keys will close and open all regions in VS.
Ctrl M + Ctrl M does the trick
It should also be mentioned that you don't have to click on the - itself...anywhere in the vertical bar below will do it. That makes it easy to quickly shrink successive methods since the next method's vertical bar tends to come up under your mouse pointer after you shrink the one above it.
Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
Visual Studio is such a massively big product that even after years of working with it I sometimes stumble upon a new/better way to do things or things I didn't even know were possible.
For instance-
Crtl + R, Ctrl + W to show white spaces. Essential for editing Python build scripts.
Under "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\Text Editor"
Create a String called Guides with the value "RGB(255,0,0), 80" to have a red line at column 80 in the text editor.
What other hidden features have you stumbled upon?
Make a selection with ALT pressed - selects a square of text instead of whole lines.
Tracepoints!
Put a breakpoint on a line of code. Bring up the Breakpoints Window and right click on the new breakpoint. Select 'When Hit...'. By ticking the 'Print a message' check box Visual Studio will print out a message to the Debug Output every time the line of code is executed, rather than (or as well as) breaking on it. You can also get it to execute a macro as it passes the line.
You can drag code to the ToolBox. Try it!
Click an identifier (class name, variable, etc) then hit F12 for "Go To Definition". I'm always amazed how many people I watch code use the slower right-click -> "Go To Definition" method.
EDIT: Then you can use Ctrl+- to jump back to where you were.
CTRL+SHIFT+V will cycle through your clipboard, Visual Studio keeps a history of copies.
Sara Ford covers lots of lovely tips: http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/tags/Visual+Studio+2008+Tip+of+the+Day/default.aspx
But some of my favourites are Code Snippets, Ctrl + . to add a using <Namespace> or generate a method stub.
I can't live without that.
Check out a great list in the Visual Studio 2008 C# Keybinding poster: http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=E5F902A8-5BB5-4CC6-907E-472809749973&displaylang=en
CTRL-K, CTRL-D
Reformat Document!
This is under the VB keybindings, not sure about C#
How many times do you debug an array in a quickwatch or a watch window and only have visual studio show you the first element? Add ",N" to the end of the definition to make studio show you the next N items as well. IE "this->m_myArray" becomes "this->m_array,5".
Incremental search: While having a source document open hit (CTRL + I) and type the word you are searching for you can hit (CTRL + I) again to see words matching your input.
You can use the following codes in the watch window.
#err - display last error
#err,hr - display last error as an HRESULT
#exception - display current exception
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-C to comment a block of text with // at the start
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-U to uncomment a block of text with // at the start
Can't live without it! :)
Stopping the debugger from stepping into trivial functions.
When you’re stepping through code in the debugger, you can spend a lot of time stepping in and out of functions you’re not particularly interested in, with names such as GetID(), or std::vector<>(), to pick a C++ example. You can use the registry to make the debugger ignore these.
For Visual Studio 2005, you have to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio \8.0\NativeDE\StepOver and add string values containing regular expressions for each function or set of functions you wish to exclude; e.g.
std::vector.*::.*
TextBox::GetID
You can also override these for individual exceptions. For instance, suppose you did want to step into the vector class’s destructor:
std::vector.*::\~.*=StepInto
You can find details for other versions of Visual Studio at http://blogs.msdn.com/andypennell/archive/2004/02/06/69004.aspx
Ctrl-F10: run to cursor during debugging. Took me ages to find this, and I use it all the time;
Ctrl-E, Ctrl-D: apply standard formatting (which you can define).
TAB key feature.
If you know snippet key name, write and click double Tab. for example:
Write
foreach
and then click tab key twice to
foreach (object var in collection_to_loop)
{
}
2. If you write any event, write here
Button btn = new Button();
btn.Click +=
and then click tab key twice to
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Button btn = new Button();
btn.Click += new EventHandler(btn_Click);
}
void btn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
throw new Exception("The method or operation is not implemented.");
}
btn_Click function write automatically
in XAML Editor, Write any event. for example:
MouseLeftButtonDown then click tab
MouseLeftButtonDown="" then click tab again
MouseLeftButtonDown="Button_MouseLeftButtonDown" in the code section Button_MouseLeftButtonDown method created.
Sara Ford has this market cornered.
http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/default.aspx
More Visual Studio tips and tricks than you can shake a stick at.
Some others:
The Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 3-month trial editions are fully-functional, and can be used indefinitely (forever) by setting the system clock back prior to opening VS. Then, when VS is opened, set the system clock forward again so your datetimes aren't screwed up.
But that's really piracy and I can't recommend it, especially when anybody with a .edu address can get a fully-functional Pro version of VS2008 through Microsoft Dreamspark.
You can use Visual Studio to open 3rd-party executables, and browse embedded resources (dialogs, string tables, images, etc) stored within.
Debugging visualizers are not exactly a "hidden" feature but they are somewhat neglected, and super-useful, since in addition to using the provided visualizers you can roll your own for specific data sets.
Debugger's "Set Instruction Pointer" or "Set Next Statement" command.
Conditional breakpoints (as KiwiBastard noted).
You can use Quickwatch etc. to evaluate not only the value of a variable, but runtime expressions around that variable.
T4 (Text Template Transformation Toolkit). T4 is a code generator built right into Visual Studio
Custom IntelliSense dropdown height, for example displaying 50 items instead of the default which is IMO ridiculously small (8).
(To do that, just resize the dropdown next time you see it, and Visual Studio will remember the size you selected next time it opens a dropdown.)
Discovered today:
Ctrl + .
Brings up the context menu for refactoring (then one that's accessible via the underlined last letter of a class/method/property you've just renamed - mouse over for menu or "Ctrl" + ".")
A lot of people don't know or use the debugger to it's fullest - I.E. just use it to stop code, but right click on the red circle and there are a lot more options such as break on condition, run code on break.
Also you can change variable values at runtime using the debugger which is a great feature - saves rerunning code to fix a silly logic error etc.
Line transpose, Shift-Alt-T
Swaps two line (current and next) and moves cursor to the next line. I'm lovin it. I've even written a macro which changed again position by one line, executed line transpose and changed line position again so it all looking like I swapping current line with previous (Reverse line transpose).
Word transpose, Shift-Ctrl-T
When developing C++, Ctrl-F7 compiles the current file only.
Document Outline in the FormsDesigner (CTRL + ALT + T)
Fast control renaming, ordering and more!
To auto-sync current file with Solution Explorer. So don't have to look where the file lives in the project structure
Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> "Track Active Item in Solution Explorer"
Edit: If this gets too annoying for you then you can use Dan Vanderboom's macro to invoke this feature on demand through a keystroke.
(Note: Taken from the comment below by Jerry).
I'm not sure if it's "hidden", but not many people know about it -- pseudoregisters. Comes very handy when debugging, I've #ERR, hr in my watch window all the time.
Ctrl-Minus, Ctrl-Plus, navigates back and forward where you've been recently (only open files, though).
I don't use it often, but I do love:
ctrl-alt + mouse select
To select in a rectangular block, to 'block' boundaries.
As noted in comments,
alt + mouse select
Does just a plain rectangular block.
Here's something I learned (for C#):
You can move the cursor to the opening curly brace from the closing curly brace by pressing Control + ].
I learned this on an SO topic that's a dupe of this one:
“Hidden Secrets” of the Visual Studio .NET debugger?
CTRL + Shift + U -> Uppercase highlighted section.
CTRL + U -> Lowercase the highlighted section
Great for getting my SQL Statements looking just right when putting them into string queries.
Also useful for code you've found online where EVERYTHING IS IN CAPS.
Middle Mouse Button Click on the editor tab closes the tab.
To display any chunk of data as an n-byte "array", use the following syntax in Visual Studio's QuickWatch window:
variable, n
For example, to view a variable named foo as a 256-byte array, enter the following expression in the QuickWatch window:
foo, 256
This is particularly useful when viewing strings that aren't null-terminated or data that's only accessible via a pointer. You can use Visual Studio's Memory window to achieve a similar result, but using the QuickWatch window is often more convenient for a quick check.