[Tip: VS find combo box]Fun with the Visual Studio Find Combo Box
[From MSDN Blog:http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnfa/archive/2004/02/27/81338.aspx]
It's interesting to note all the power of the find combo box in the Visual Studio command bar (shortcut is: ctrl + /). It's easily one of the more useful controls I've ever used, yet it just sits there all quiet and unassuming. I've run into a lot of people who know one of two tricks that can be done in this box, so I thought I'd summarize them here.
Of course there's the basic find functionality:
- Find a string -- type the string and press Enter
- Find the next occurance of the string -- press Enter again
But then things get a little more interesting:
- Goto a line -- type the line number and press Ctrl + G
- Goto a file (either in your project or on the INCLUDE path) -- type the name of the file and press Ctrl + Shift + G
- Set a breakpoint on a function -- type the name of the function and press F9
- Get help -- type the keyword you want help on and press F1
And my personal favorite:
Mini command window -- If you type > as the first character in the combo box, it will turn into a mini command window, complete with Intellisense! To get the list of alias commands, you can use > alias to get the list.
Aliases provide a means for entering a command into the Find/Commandbox or Commandwindow by shortening the text needed to execute the command. For example, instead of entering >File.OpenFile
to display the Open File dialog box, you can use the pre-defined alias >of
. To see MSDN alias list, visit here.
Common to use:
Open file: > of/open