Awesome Visual Studio Macros [closed]

Answer 1

Collapse all nodes of the Solution panel, very useful especially for big projects:

    Public Module CollapseAllNodes
    Sub RunCollapseAllNodes()
        Dim UIHSolutionExplorer As UIHierarchy
        UIHSolutionExplorer = DTE.Windows.Item(Constants.vsext_wk_SProjectWindow).Object()

        ' Check if there is any open solution 
        If (UIHSolutionExplorer.UIHierarchyItems.Count = 0) Then
            Return
        End If

        ' Get the top node (the name of the solution) 
        Dim UIHSolutionRootNode As UIHierarchyItem
        UIHSolutionRootNode = UIHSolutionExplorer.UIHierarchyItems.Item(1)

        CloseRecursif(UIHSolutionRootNode)

        ' Select the solution node, or else when you click 
        ' on the solution windows scrollbar, it will synchronize the open document 
        ' with the tree and pop out the corresponding node which is probably not 
        ' what you want. 
        UIHSolutionRootNode.Select(vsUISelectionType.vsUISelectionTypeSelect)
    End Sub

    Function CloseRecursif(ByRef element)
        For Each UIHChild In element.UIHierarchyItems()
            CloseRecursif(UIHChild)

            If (UIHChild.UIHierarchyItems.Expanded = True) Then
                UIHChild.UIHierarchyItems.Expanded = False
            End If

        Next
    End Function
End Module

Answer 2

I used to employ a lot of macros in VS 2002/2003. One example would be Region creation - I always like my classes to be divided into the following regions - "Private members", "Public Properties", "Public Methods" and "Private methods". So, I have a macro mapped to a shortcut key that creates these regions in any new class file.

Refactoring support in VS 2005/2008 (and the facility of adding common code snippets) as well as the use of Addins like DXCore and SlickEdit allow me to work without having to create too many macros anymore.

Answer 3

I mapped ctrl-shift-G to a macro that generates a GUID in registry format - this is useful for editing IDL

Answer 4

I add buttons on the toolbar for the following 3 macros. Each will take the currently selected text in any file and google it (or MSDN-it, or spell-check-it). Make up a nifty icon for the toolbar for extra style-points.

Private Const BROWSER_PATH As String = "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

Sub SearchGoogle()
    Dim cmd As String
    cmd = String.Format("{0} http://www.google.com/search?hl-en&q={1}", BROWSER_PATH, DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text)
    Shell(cmd, AppWinStyle.NormalFocus)
End Sub

Sub SearchMSDN()
    Dim cmd As String
    cmd = String.Format("{0} http://www.google.com/search?hl-en&q={1}+site%3Amsdn.microsoft.com", BROWSER_PATH, DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text)
    Shell(cmd, AppWinStyle.NormalFocus)
End Sub

Sub SpellCheck()
    Dim cmd As String
    cmd = String.Format("{0} http://www.spellcheck.net/cgi-bin/spell.exe?action=CHECKWORD&string={1}", BROWSER_PATH, DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text)
    Shell(cmd, AppWinStyle.NormalFocus)
End Sub

Answer 5

I work with dual monitors, and I find Sharon's layout-switching macro (from a 1 monitor to a 2 monitor layout) totally invaluable. When you need to be referencing a web page or other program while typing a bit of code, Ctrl-Alt-1 to switch to a one monitor layout for your Visual Studio windows. Once you're done, Ctrl-Alt-2 to switch to your two monitor layout and get all your windows back. Awesome!

http://www.invisible-city.com/sharon/2008/06/workstation-hack-visual-studio-on-2.html

Answer 6

Insert GUID, great for WiX work, add to menu as button or as key shortcut.

Sub InsertGuid()
    Dim objTextSelection As TextSelection
    objTextSelection = CType(DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection(), EnvDTE.TextSelection)
    objTextSelection.Text = System.Guid.NewGuid.ToString.ToUpper(New System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en", False))
End Sub

Organise usings for all .cs files in a solution - Original Author: djpark.

Sub OrganizeSolution()
    Dim sol As Solution = DTE.Solution
    For i As Integer = 1 To sol.Projects.Count
        OrganizeProject(sol.Projects.Item(i))
    Next
End Sub

Private Sub OrganizeProject(ByVal proj As Project)
    For i As Integer = 1 To proj.ProjectItems.Count
        OrganizeProjectItem(proj.ProjectItems.Item(i))
    Next
End Sub

Private Sub OrganizeProjectItem(ByVal projectItem As ProjectItem)
    Dim fileIsOpen As Boolean = False
    If projectItem.Kind = Constants.vsProjectItemKindPhysicalFile Then
        'If this is a c# file             
        If projectItem.Name.LastIndexOf(".cs") = projectItem.Name.Length - 3 Then
            'Set flag to true if file is already open                 
            fileIsOpen = projectItem.IsOpen
            Dim window As Window = projectItem.Open(Constants.vsViewKindCode)
            window.Activate()
            projectItem.Document.DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.RemoveAndSort")
            'Only close the file if it was not already open                 
            If Not fileIsOpen Then
                window.Close(vsSaveChanges.vsSaveChangesYes)
            End If
        End If
    End If
    'Be sure to apply RemoveAndSort on all of the ProjectItems.         
    If Not projectItem.ProjectItems Is Nothing Then
        For i As Integer = 1 To projectItem.ProjectItems.Count
            OrganizeProjectItem(projectItem.ProjectItems.Item(i))
        Next
    End If
    'Apply RemoveAndSort on a SubProject if it exists.         
    If Not projectItem.SubProject Is Nothing Then
        OrganizeProject(projectItem.SubProject)
    End If
End Sub