Visual Studio.NET: Tips, Tricks, & Toys

by Kevin Grossnicklaus

Agenda

• Introduction• General Tips• Code Editor Tricks• Searching• Layout and Navigation• Advanced Design-Time Tips• Debugging Tips• VS.NET Plug-Ins• External Development Tools• Additional Resources• Questions?

Introduction

• Kevin Grossnicklaus– ArchitectNow- www.ArchitectNow.net (2009-Present)

• President

– Washington University - CAIT Program (2003-Present)• Instructor

– SSE - www.SSEinc.com (1999-2009)• Chief Architect• Software Development Practice Leader

• Email: kvgros@architectnow.net • Twitter: @kvgros

Expectations

• What are we going to cover?• Why is this something I should be aware of?• Who can use this stuff?• How detailed are we going to get?

GENERAL TIPS

Managing Shortcuts

• Keyboard vs. Mouse

• Verify your current environment settings– This talk assumes “General Development”

• Manage keyboard shortcuts here:– Tools->Options->Environment->Keyboard

• All settings (including shortcuts) can be imported and/or exported from:– Tools->Import and Export Settings

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Standard Shortcuts:– Ctl-K– Ctl-Shift-O

• “Chords” = Two character shortcuts– Written as:• Ctl-K,D or Ctl-K, Ctl-D

Shortcut Reference Posters

• Visual Studio 2010 Keybinding Posters– http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/detai

ls.aspx?id=13189

Top Level Shortcuts

• Ctl-Shift-N = New Project• Alt-Shift-N = New Website• Ctl-Shift-O = Open Project• Alt-Shift-O = Open Website• Ctl-Shift-A = Add New Item• Alt-Shift-A = Add Existing Item

CODE EDITOR

Cut/Copy/Paste

• Copy or Cut = Ctl-C or Ctl-X (respectively) – If no selection, cuts or copies the current line to the clipboard– If there is a selection, cuts or copies the selection to the

clipboard• Tools->Options->Text Editor->All Languages->General• Uncheck the “Apply Cut or Copy Commands to Blank Lines When

There is No Selection” option

• Current Line– Ctl-L to cut the current line to the clipboard (including EoL)– Ctl-Shift-L to delete the current line

Cut/Copy/Paste (Cont.)

• Paste = Ctl-V– Pastes the last item cut or copied into the editor at the

current cursor location• Clipboard “Ring” = Ctl-Shift-V– Cycles through the previous 20 items cut to the

clipboard and pastes them at the current cursor location

– Accidentally cut or copy something you didn’t mean to? • Cycle through pasting until you get to the item you overwrote

Misc Selection/Insertion Commands

• Ctl-Enter to insert a blank line above current line

• Ctl-Shift-Enter to insert a blank line below current line

• Ctl-W to select current word• Ctl-Delete to delete next word• Ctl-Backspace to delete previous word

Drag/Drop Code

• Selections of code can be dragged around a code file or to different files– Hold Shift to “Copy”

• Code can be dragged onto the Toolbox dock-window in the “General” section and then dragged back onto other editors– These can be renamed to be more readable– This is a handy way to reuse sections of code

Weird Editor Shortcuts

• Ctl-T to transpose a character• Ctl-Shift-T to transpose a word• Alt-Shift-T to transpose a line• Ctl-U to make current selection or character

lowercase• Ctl-Shift-U to make current selection or

character uppercase

Undo/Redo

• Ctl-Z to Undo• Ctl-Y to Redo• Use the dropdowns for more granular control

and information

Scrolling

• Use the scroll bars or mouse wheel• Press mouse wheel to allow for 4-way

navigation

“Go-Back” Markers and Navigation

• What is a “Go-Back” marker?• Ctl-Minus to navigate backwards• Ctl-Shift-Minus to navigate forwards• Optionally use the toolbar buttons and

dropdown boxes for more info

Navigation Bar

• What is the navigation bar?• Ctl-F2 to select the navigation bar• Tab or Shift-Tab to switch between combo

boxes once selected• Arrow keys to navigate down and enter to select• To enable/disable per language:– Tools->Options->Text Editor->All languages (or

specific language)->General– Set the “Navigation Bar” option

Splitting Editor Windows

• Window->Split to split • Window->Remove Split to remove• Splitter can be resized via mouse• F6 to switch between split panes

Line Numbers

• Enable line numbers here:– Tools->Options->Text Editor->All languages (or

specific language)->General– Check “Line Numbers”

Track Changes

Tools->Options->Text Editor->General Check “Track Changes”

What does this do? Yellow – Lines were edited since last save. Green – Lines were edited prior to last save.

Yellow becomes Green after one save, close and re-open a file and Green is gone

Code Selection

• Click and drag to select code via the common “stream” mode

• Hold Alt-Shift and click and drag to select in “box” mode

• Shift-Arrow Keys to manually select code in “stream” mode

• Alt-Shift-Arrow Keys to manually select in “box” mode

Formatting

• What does code formatting do?• Where can I adjust the settings?– Tools->Options->Text Editor->(Language)-

>Formatting• Ctl-K,D to format the current document• Ctl-K,F to format the current selection

Outlining

• Ctl-M,M to toggle outlining around cursor• Ctl-M,L to toggle all outlining in current file• Ctl-M,P to turn off outlining• Edit->Outlining->Start Automatic Outlining to

turn back on• Ctl-M,O to collapse to definitions• Selecting a collapsed definition allows you to

cut and paste it as a whole

Remove Unused Usings

• Right click in editor and select:– Organize Usings->Remove Unused Usings

Bookmarks

• Ctl-K,K to toggle bookmarks on current line

• Ctl-K,N to go to the next bookmark• Ctl-K,P to go to the previous bookmark• Ctl-K,L to clear all bookmarks• Ctl-K,W to view the bookmarks window• Organizing Bookmarks

Commenting

• Handy Shortcuts:– Ctl-K,C = Comment Block– Ctl-K,U = Uncomment Block

• XML Comments• Task List Comments– //TODO– //HACK– //UNDONE

Intellisense

• Ctl-J to invoke statement completion (i.e. bring up Intellisense)

• Ctl-Space or Alt-Right Arrow for statement completion

Smart-Tags

• Ctl-Period to drop down a Smart-Tag menu– Enter to select the first item

• Resolve Context Menu

Code Snippets

• Ctl-K,X to bring up Code Snippet menu– Type-ahead supported– Or enter the snippet shortcut keyword and press Tab-Tab

• Ctl-K,S to insert a code snippet around a selected block of code

• Tab and Shift-Tab to switch between “tokens”

• Ctl-K,B to bring up the Code Snippet Manager

Refactoring

• Ctl-R,R to rename current item• Ctl-R,M to extract the currently selected code

into a new method• Ctl-R,E to encapsulate field into a property• Ctl-R,I to extract interface from current class• Ctl-R,P to promote selected local variable to a

parameter• Ctl-R,V to remove parameters• Ctl-R,O to reorder parameters

Call Hierarchy Window

• To display: Ctl-K,T• Nice navigation between calling methods and

methods called from the current method

SEARCHING

Searching - 1

• Incremental Search– Ctl-I– Start typing– Ctl-I again to jump to next occurrence

• Current Word Search– Ctl-F3 to search for the currently selected word– Ctl-Shift-F3 to search for the current word looking

backwards• Quick Find

– Ctl-F to bring up Quick Find with current word as the default– Use Regular Expressions

Searching - 2

• Quick Replace– Ctl-H brings up the Quick Replace window with

the current word as the default• Find Symbol– Alt-F12 brings up the Find Symbol dialog– Shift-Alt-F12 searches for the current word

using the Find Symbol functionality but skips the UI

Searching - 3

• Find in Files– Ctl-Shift-F opens the Find in File dialog

• Replace in Files– Ctl-Shift-H opens the Replace in Files dialog

• Find in Files options

LAYOUT AND NAVIGATION

Document Windows

• Document Windows = Tabbed Documents• Ctl-Alt-Down Arrow to drop down file tab

channel• Tab Context Menu– Close All But This– Copy Full Path– Open Containing Folder

• Tab Groups– Horizontal or Vertical

• Windows Menu

Document Navigation

• Ctl-Tab to display the IDE navigator– Ctl-Tab again to scroll through open documents– Ctl-Shift-Tab to scroll in reverse– Arrow keys or mouse to select a document or dock-

window• Ctl-F6 and Ctl-Shift-F6 to jump between

currently open documents without using the IDE navigator (forwards and backwards)

• Ctl-F4 to close the current document

Dock/Tool Windows• Docking Targets• Five “States”

– Dockable– Floating– Tabbed– Hide– Auto-Hide

• Alt-F7 and Alt-Shift-F7 to scroll (forwards or backwards) through all opened tool windows using the IDE navigator

• Alt-F6 and Alt-Shift-F6 to scroll (forwards or backwards) through all opened tool windows without the navigator

Dock/Tool Windows (Cont.)

• Tool windows that are hidden can be shown via their shortcut key or most are found under one of the following menu locations:– View– View->Other Windows– Debug->Windows

Window Layouts

• Four Layouts:– Design View– Full Screen– Debugging View– File View

• Shift-Alt-Enter to toggle between Full Screen mode and Design View

Toolbars

• Drag and drop customization• Visible based on current context• Right click to display any toolbar at any time• Customization dialog– “Show Shortcut Keys in Screen Tips”– Full customization of all toolbars while this dialog

is visible

Context Menu Customization

• Complete editing of any context menus• Tools->Customize• Select Toolbars tab• Check “Context Menus”

ADVANCED DESIGN TIME TIPS

Quick Launch

• In Title Bar• Ctl-Q to place cursor

Command Window

• Ctl-Alt-A to open the command window• Enter a > to run any VS command from the

command prompt– Full Intellisense for commands, arguments, and

even file paths– Command aliasing• ? = Debug.Print• Enter “alias” by itself to see current aliases

Task Window

• Custom Tasks• Task Shortcuts• Comment Tasks

External Tools

• How to add external tools?– Redirecting console output to Output Window– Passing arguments

Code Definition Window

• Ctl-\,D to show the Code Definition Window• This window is a read-only source view of any

symbol currently selected in the live editor. – Code can be copied from this window– Breakpoints can be set

DEBUGGING

Common Shortcuts

• F5 to start debugging• Ctl-F5 to start without debugging• F11 to step into the current line• F10 to step over the current line• Shift-F5 to stop debugging

Breakpoints

• F9 to toggle a breakpoint – Or, simply click in the left border of the code

editor• Ctl-Shift-F9 to delete all breakpoints• Ctl-B to show Break at Function dialog

Breakpoints - Advanced

• Breakpoint Context Menu– Location– Condition– Hit Count– Filter– When Hit

Next Statement Manipulation

• Yellow arrow = “NEXT” statement to execute• Can be dragged to new location– Within Limits– Be careful

Debugging Threads

• Ctl-Alt-H brings up the Threads tool window

• At breakpoints all threads break together• Threads can be frozen/thawed from the

Threads tool window – This keeps them paused when execution

continues• Threads toolbar also exposes functionality

Break On All Exceptions

• Ctl-Alt-E to bring up Exceptions dialog• It is common to break when a CLR exception is

“thrown” – This will break even when the exception is caught

by a try/catch block

Variables Windows

• They Are:– Locals (Ctl-Alt-V,L)– Autos (Ctl-Alt-V,A)– Watch (Ctl-Alt-W,1-4)– Quick Watch (Ctl-Alt-Q)

• All have similar functionality– All display values of variables and allow for in-

place editing• Provides access to debugging visualizers

Runtime Variable Tooltips

• Provides ability to view all of an objects properties and manipulate the values directly in the tooltip

• Provides access to debugging visualizers

Debugging Visualizers

• Special user interfaces used to view the values of specific data types in variable windows or runtime tooltips

• Noted by the magnifying glass icon near the value– Click to open visualizer

• Notable visualizers:– Datasets– Test– XML– HTML

Immediate Window

• Ctl-Alt-I to bring up the Immediate Window• The immediate window can be used to execute

statements and evaluate expressions in the context of the current statement– Access to any variable in scope is granted– Can assign values to variables, read values, execute

methods, etc• Use the “>” character to allow entry and use of any VS

commands (as in the Command window)• Command window has much of the same functionality

Son of Strike (SoS)

• SoS is a debugger extension that is loaded with VS.NET and available from within the IDE from the Immediate Window

• To load SoS:– Edit your project properties and, under the Debug tab,

check the “Enable Unmanaged Code Debugging”– Open the Immediate Window and enter:

• .load sos

– For help, enter:• !help

Debugging The BCL

• Microsoft has made many of the debug symbols for the Base Class Libraries available for public use– What does this mean?– Does this mean .NET is open source?

Debugging into the BCL

• How can I hook this up?– Options->Debugging->General– CHECK “Enable .NET Framework Source Stepping”

• Loading Symbols– From the Modules window or the Call Stack, right

click on a BCL DLL and select “Load Symbols”

VISUAL STUDIO EXTENSIONS

Extension Manager

• Extensions and Updates• Common Ones I Use:– Microsoft Web Developer Tools– NuGet Package Manager– Productivity Power Tools 2012– VSCommands for Visual Studio 2012– Web Essentials 2012

President

kvgros@architectnow.net

Kevin Grossnicklaus

http://architectnow.net or @kvgros

800.362.3919 x 101

636.236.3279

Conclusion

Thank you for coming!