Visual Studio Hacks

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Chapter 2, Master the Editor

#8 Master IntelliSense

HACK

instance, if you typed in HttpR, it would automatically complete the rest of

the object name (HttpRequest). If there are a number of objects that match

what you have typed in, it will display the full list of members with the first

match highlighted. Figure 2-7 shows what the listbox would look like if you

only typed in the letter P.

You can also press Ctrl-Space on a blank line and be shown a complete list

of members in the current context. This is a great way to find a variable

name that has slipped your mind. Figure 2-8 shows an example of this.

This shortcut can be even more useful if you name all of your private mem-

ber variables with a common prefix; for instance, if all of your variables are

prefixed with “_”, by typing

_ and then pressing Ctrl-Space, you would dis-

play a list of all of your variables to choose from.

Parameter Info

Another useful form of IntelliSense is the parameter information that is

shown after you type the opening parenthesis of a method (it goes away

when the parentheses are closed). When editing an already existing method,

it would be nice to have this information again without having to delete and

then reenter the opening parenthesis, wouldn’t it? As long as the cursor is

Figure 2-7. IntelliSense listbox, brought to you by the letter P

Figure 2-8. IntelliSense listbox showing all members