Insert a new GUID to Visual Studio 2012

Question

Is it possible to create a code snippet or something similar to automate the process of generating and inserting GUIDs in to the text editor in Visual Studio 2012? I frequently

Answer 1

You could write a Visual Studio 2012 extension to accomplish this!
If you've never written an Add-in before, this is a simple one to get you started!

Here are the steps to create this type of add-in:

1. Create a New Project in Visual Studio 2012
2. Choose Templates -> Other Project Types -> Extensibility -> Visual Studio Add-in
3. Name your project, click OK.
4. Follow the Add-in wizard steps. When prompted, check the box for: "Yes, create a 'Tools' menu item." Optionally, I also check "My Add-in will never put up modal UI..."

5. Finish the wizard and implement the follow code in Exec(...)

   public void Exec(string commandName, vsCommandExecOption executeOption, ref object varIn, ref object varOut, ref bool handled)
   {
       handled = false;
       if(executeOption == vsCommandExecOption.vsCommandExecOptionDoDefault)
       {
           if (commandName == this.GetType().Namespace + ".Connect." + this.GetType().Namespace)
           {
               if (_applicationObject.ActiveDocument != null)
               {
                   TextSelection objSel = (EnvDTE.TextSelection)(_applicationObject.ActiveDocument.Selection);
   
                   objSel.Insert(Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
               }
   
               handled = true;
               return;
           }
       }
   }
   

6. Build the project, and deploy AddInName.dll, AddInName.AddIn, and AddInName.xml to c:\users\username\documents\Visual Studio 2012\Addins. [If the Addins folder doesn't exist, create it]

7. In Visual Studio 2012, under Tools -> Addin Manager, Check the box on the left next to AddInName.
8. Restart Visual Studio 2012
9. You should now see the AddInName listed under Tools. [probably with a Smiley face!]
10. When you click on this, it should insert a new GUID at your cursor's location.
11. Map this to a hotkey by navigating to Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard, search for AddInName, and bind a hotkey to it.

Voila! Hotkey GUID generation and a little bit of Visual Studio Add-in know how. :)