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Stack OverflowMissing features in Visual Studio?
[+4] [12] Sean Kearon
[2009-09-22 11:00:20]
[ visual-studio wishlist ]
[ http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1459403] [DELETED]

What features do you want to see in Visual Studio that are not included out of the box? I'd like to be able to:

Although the second can be achieved with a macro [1].

PS: R# is does not count as a feature!

(2) If you right click on the solution, there is an option, "Collapse All", it's the third choice from the bottom. Unless it's a Resharper feature and not a Visual Studio feature. - Chris
@Chris - I can't believe that I have not seen this in all the years I've been using VS! Thanks for pointing that out :) BTW, it is a R# feature, but I'm happy to have found it nonetheless. - Sean Kearon
[+7] [2009-09-23 17:40:04] Matt [ACCEPTED]

Fixing "add reference" - it takes forever and a day to load because it defaults to the .NET tab. They should either cache the assembly list and refresh in the background, or start it on a different tab.


I guess this one drains most of my time...great to hear it's fixed in 2010 too! - Sean Kearon
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[+3] [2009-09-22 11:23:05] Adriaan

Support for C99. MS Visual Studio is not compatible with this 10-year old standard. I find C99 very strong in variadic macro's etc; the lack of this prevents code for embedded targets (often C) to be developed and tested on PC.


No kidding! Such a great environment -- for the current crop of MS products, that is. - Bob Kaufman
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[+3] [2009-09-22 11:34:32] Clement Herreman

Automatically put the running application on "hold" when you try to write some code while debugging, instead of saying :

"Oh, I'm sorry but can you please click on the hold button if you want to add code while your application is running."

Oh yeah, please make my dream comes true...


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[+3] [2009-09-23 14:12:05] MadKeithV

Intellisense that isn't better turned off than on, for C++.


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[+2] [2009-09-23 14:21:20] Johannes Rudolph

For the .NET world:

  • Be able to edit functions containing lambdas during debug (applies to .net)
  • Modify lambdas during debug
  • execute linq queries in immediate window during debug
  • tighter Integration with MSBuild, BuildScript editor support (besides xml)

For the C world:

  • better Intellisense
  • A "conform to standard" mode for the compiler
  • A working, bug free boost implementation

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[+2] [2009-09-23 14:10:46] Fen
  • Be able to edit and continue methods with lambda expressions in.
  • Be able to edit and continue x64 targets
  • Fix the optimise usings refactor when you have code in conditional compilation blocks that render current usings obsolete. (the refactoring will delete the using which will then fail when the conditional compilation is activated)

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[+1] [2009-09-27 17:39:43] tster
  • Unit testing framework in the standard edition, not the expensive Team Suite
  • Profiling in the same
  • Metrics in the same
  • More secure obfuscation
  • Ability to launch WebService server and client and debug straight from client to server.

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[+1] [2009-09-22 23:58:55] Peter Mortensen

Much more versatile display of values in Watch windows.

E.g.:

  1. binary (e.g. bit pattern of an (IEEE) double displayed as binary, hex, hex-byte, interpreted as divided into mantissa / exponent)

  2. raw memory (e.g. to see padding in structs),

  3. strings (Unicode, BSTR, different code pages, etc.)

  4. display of doubles as exact value in mixed base (e.g. base 10 and base 2 respectively: 453022317 * 2^-43)

Or in general: ability to display a value of some type as any other type in different bases and display formats. If a particular combination really does not make sense (e.g. a double displayed as a Unicode string) then there could be some colour as warning, but it should be possible.


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[+1] [2009-09-22 11:31:13] lethek

To allow user-definable filtering of projects and files that are displayed in the Solution Explorer.


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[+1] [2009-09-22 11:13:05] Jan

Determine and insert correct #includes / usings for complete file automatically.


Like in Eclipse, yes ! - Clement Herreman
What about "Resolve..." ? (Thinking I'm missing out on the "automatically" part of this.) - Bob Kaufman
I'd rather not have completely automatic resolving, since I'd like control over things. I've seen so much points where things have been ambiguous. Now, if it would be "removing unused #includes/usings", this would be what I'd like to see... - OregonGhost
What about Organize Usings -> Remove and Sort ? - Bob Kaufman
What I mean is not only a feature to remove unused usings/#includes, but also the possibility to add all missing ones (on demand, I also like to control this stuff). Especially for C++ this is handy because your code may compile with missing #includes in some scenarious and won't in others (depending on where your files is used from). - Jan
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[+1] [2009-09-22 11:21:58] Bob Kaufman

Easier integration with standard/third party version control systems, and I include "Visual SourceSafe" in that list.


(1) I recommend VisualSVN! - nikie
I prefer ankhSVN, but it's just a question of taste. - Clement Herreman
I like what I see what ankhSVN -- but for whatever reason, it's just not working for me :( - Bob Kaufman
(1) Visual SourceSafe. :: shudder :: - JasCav
i hate using integrated source control plugins, it feel it breaks my workflow - Johannes Rudolph
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[0] [2009-09-23 14:05:42] Sean Kearon

Be able to run Linq-to-object queries in the watch/immediate windows.


(1) A post about why this isn't currently available in the debugger: blogs.msdn.com/jaredpar/archive/2009/08/26/… - Timothy Carter
@yshuditelu - interesting article. Hope this project gets going: extendedimmediatewin.codeplex.com. - Sean Kearon
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