Improving Your Visual Studio Workspace - The Tools
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We will split this category into two sections. There are the little add-ons that accomplish some trivial -- yet so useful -- jobs that you wonder why Microsoft did not add it when they created Studio. Secondly, there are the ones that try to automate and redefine the way you code. These tend to cost some heavy sum of money, as they require a much greater investment of time and effort. The earlier ones are free to download, as most of the time fellow community members offer their own time to create it.
Let's get started. Aware of the importance of offering continuous support for extending the software and the capabilities of your software, Microsoft offers two places for these kinds of services/extensions at the MDSN download center. Loot to Visual Studio Gallery for the tools directly related to the Studio, and you can find open source projects over the CodePlex.
The Visual Studio Gallery contains more than 800 extensions grouped into 16 sections. The CodePlex offers close to 600 work items closed. With so many tools on offer, it's hard to believe that a tool you might want to use has not yet been made; however, if that is the case, you can add your own tool at CodePlex as long as you pair it with the source code.
The CodePlex features several programs related to different areas. The good thing is that here, all programs are published along with their source code. This is a perfect starting place to learn how to make professional applications. Text editors; extensions for software; a little tool allowing WOW players to optimize their cat, Bear, whatever -- you name it, you will find a good example of how to do it here.
Now let's see a couple of prime examples among the most useful items. PowerCommands is a collection of handy little commands that should already be in Studio out of the box. We all know the solution explorer, and ever since I got my first glance at it, I've been asking myself where an open folder inside explorer command is. Capabilities similar to this are added to Studio with this add-on.
Collapse the entire solution, copy references from a project and paste them into another one, eliminating the precious time needed to do this for multiple solutions, is also a remarkable thing. Clear the recent project list, edit the project file on the fly or just undo the close pane; these are further options added to Studio once you install PowerCommands.
There are many cooler features, like the ability to format the document on save to a clearer, more readable output. You can copy and paste classes and do a number of additional things, for which you will have to download PowerCommands and see for yourself. As a down side, many users complained of a few bugs -- for example, some said that Studio closes for no apparent reason once you start to work with aspx and/or xaml files.
Another great addition is the Flat Solution Explorer. This will create files from inside the solution and allow you to sort them according to the names or the path. Additionally you can filter them through the text you enter into a textbox, making it a lot easier to manage large projects.
Is it hard for you to find the dependencies inside a solution? It should be no problem once you install the Dependency Visualizer, which will draw a nice diagram of these. You can even take it one step further and install the Project Description. This will allow you to graphically design .Net Configuration Settings and generate the code along with the schema definitions for them.
I found it fun to build the relation UML between my coded classes with just a click.
Ora is a tool that intends to redefine the concept of regions, or even better, eliminate the need for them. This works only with C# projects, of course; nevertheless, that makes sense, because regions have not yet been introduced for other languages.
The tool in its basics provides an instant grouped overview of the class, interface or struct you are viewing or editing. Because you choose the order of the items, you can see instantly whatever attracts your interest. You can order the items by Interface, Polymorphism, access and kind.
If you are in the business of C#, VB.Net and Managed C++ coding you may also want to try out TytanNET. It offers a good collection of tools for capturing debug logs and editing/visualizing the system variables right from the IDE. Code generation, known under the name of refactoring, and a nice registry viewer with search option inside Studio will get your attention.
Finally, there are extensions that may redefine the resources you use for creating applications. These offer an entire package of already-made graphic GUI segments, and you can create your application by simply editing an XML file and doing a little script writing, as is the case with the DirectUI GUI Library. Alternatively, you can use a built-in tool with which you can create with the mouse -- modern looking software, as is the case with the SkinFeature GUI library.
For those of you who like to compress and do everything inside the IDE even more, a sticky note add-on may be just the thing. For a fast start-up of your project from the Vista Side-bar, you can pin your solutions once you install this extra. You are encouraged to eliminate even the last sign of duplicated code snippets with the Clone Detective.
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