1. Chapter 1 Master Projects and Solutions

   1. Hacks 1-5

   2. Manage Projects and Solutions

   3. Master Assembly and Project References

   4. Organize Projects and Solutions

   5. Hack the Project and Solution Files

   6. Remove SourceSafe Bindings

2. Chapter 2 Master the Editor

   1. Hacks 6-15

   2. Master the Clipboard

   3. Make Pasting into Visual Studio Easier

   4. Master IntelliSense

   5. Master Regions

   6. Add Guidelines to the Text Editor

   7. Select the Best Editor

   8. Customize Syntax Coloring

   9. Edit the Most Recent File and Project Lists

   10. Refactor Your Code

   11. Use and Share Code Snippets

3. Chapter 3 Navigating Visual Studio

   1. Hacks 16-23

   2. Take Control of Your Workspace

   3. Find Files Quickly

   4. Search Files Quickly

   5. Search for Patterns in Your Files

   6. Navigate Your Source Code

   7. Never Forget a TODO Again

   8. Hack the Mouse

   9. Enhance the Tabs in Visual Studio

4. Chapter 4 Customizing Visual Studio

   1. Hacks 24-35

   2. Create Your Own Shortcuts

   3. Customize Menus and Toolbars

   4. Create Custom Window Layouts

   5. Customize the Toolbox

   6. Package Your Toolbox Settings

   7. Add Support for Nonstandard File Extensions

   8. Hack the Registry

   9. Save and Move Your IDE Settings

   10. Enable IntelliSense for HTML and XML Documents

   11. Add an External Tool

   12. Customize Your Project Build Process

   13. Modify the Build Output and Navigate the Results

5. Chapter 5 Debugging

   1. Hacks 36-43

   2. Set Breakpoints

   3. Troubleshoot Breakpoints

   4. Customize Visual Studio's Reaction to Exceptions

   5. Debug Scripting Code

   6. Debug SQL Server

   7. Debug a Running Process

   8. Debug a Failing Application

   9. Write a Custom Visualizer

6. Chapter 6 Speed Hacks

   1. Hacks 44-58

   2. Speed Up Visual Studio

   3. Load Files from the Command Prompt

   4. Master the Command Window

   5. Build a Custom Tool

   6. Extend the Application Configuration File

   7. Generate Strongly Typed DataSets

   8. Define Templates for Generating Code

   9. Create a Macro

   10. Generate Code with Macros

   11. Create Connection Strings Quickly

   12. Quickly Sign Assemblies

   13. Update Project References Quickly

   14. Automatically Add using and Imports Statements

   15. Insert Commonly Used Code Automatically

   16. Move Quickly Between Source Control Providers

7. Chapter 7 Help and Research

   1. Hacks 59-67

   2. Get Help

   3. Search the Internet from Visual Studio

   4. Redirect Help to Google

   5. Use P/Invoke with Ease

   6. Examine the IL Generated by Your Code

   7. Examine the Innards of Assemblies

   8. Follow the Rules with FxCop

   9. Generate Statistics on Your C# Code

   10. Profile Heap Allocations

8. Chapter 8 Comments and Documentation

   1. Hacks 68-72

   2. Master C# XML Comments

   3. Create Comments Faster

   4. Create XML Comments with VB.NET

   5. Create Documentation from XML Comments

   6. Integrate Your Own Documentation into Visual Studio

9. Chapter 9 Server Explorer Hacks

   1. Hacks 73-76

   2. Access Performance Counters

   3. Diagram and Modify a Database

   4. Script Your Database

   5. Enumerate Processes, Drives, Shares, and More

10. Chapter 10 Work with Visual Studio Tools

    1. Hacks 77-82

    2. Master the Visual Studio Command Prompt

    3. Launch Visual Studio from the Command Prompt

    4. Stress Test Web Applications

    5. Obfuscate Your Code

    6. Generate Code from UML

    7. Generate UML Design Documents from Code

11. Chapter 11 Visual Studio Tools for Office

    1. Hacks 83-85

    2. Install Visual Studio Tools for Office 2003

    3. Create a Command Bar in Word 2003

    4. Display a Windows Form from Excel 2003

12. Chapter 12 Extending Visual Studio

    1. Hacks 86-91

    2. Automate Visual Studio

    3. Access Visual Studio from Standalone Applications

    4. Create a File Template

    5. Writing a Visual Studio Add-in

    6. Find the Name of That Command Bar

    7. Change the Icon for Your Add-in

13. Chapter 13 Enhancing Visual Studio

    1. Hacks 92-100

    2. Manage Add-ins

    3. Run Unit Tests Inside Visual Studio

    4. Spellcheck Your Code and Comments

    5. View an Outline of Your Controls

    6. Blog Code from Visual Studio

    7. Collapse and Expand Your Code

    8. Combine the Visual Studio Command Prompt and the Command Window

    9. Generate Web Services Code

    10. Test Regular Expressions in Visual Studio

1. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The tool on the cover of Visual Studio Hacks is a voltmeter. Voltmeters, which were originally produced in 1888, are instruments used to measure differences of electric potential, commonly called voltage. An ideal voltmeter is an open circuit and therefore has infinite resistance. Although it is not actually possible to make a physical voltmeter with infinite resistance, a well-designed voltmeter has a very high resistance so that it does not have an appreciable affect on the current or voltage it is measuring. To accomplish this, a large resistor is placed in series with the galvanometer. The resistor controls the current produced by the galvanometer, which is quite small to begin with. Most voltmeters are based on the d'Arsonval galvanometer and are of the analog type, meaning they use moving coils to give voltage readings that can vary over a continuous range as indicated by a scale and pointer. Modern digital mechanisms give readings as numerical displays and generally have a higher order of accuracy than analog instruments. This type of voltmeter provides outputs that can be transmitted over distance, can activate printers or typewriters, and can feed into computers.

Mary Brady was the production editor, and Norma Emory was the copyeditor for Visual Studio Hacks. Katherine T. Pinard was the proofreader. Matt Hutchinson and Mary Anne Weeks Mayo provided quality control. Ellen Troutman-Zaig wrote the index. Lydia Onofrei provided production assistance.

Hanna Dyer designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is an original photograph by DJ Soft Tools V39 CD. Karen Montgomery produced the cover layout with InDesign CS using Adobe's Helvetica Neue and ITC Garamond fonts.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Joe Wizda to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Helvetica Neue Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. This colophon was written by Lydia Onofrei.