The text editor user interface has several visual constructs that help you with common problem areas encountered during the code-writing process. These basic aids provide support for determining what has changed within a code document and what compile problems exist in a document. Additionally, the discrete syntax elements for each individual language are visually delineated for you using colored text.
Change Tracking
When you are in the midst of editing a source code file, it is tremendously useful to understand which lines of code have been committed (that is, saved to disk) and which have not. Change tracking provides this functionality: A yellow vertical bar in the text editor’s selection margin will span any lines in the editor that have been changed but not saved. If content has been changed and subsequently saved, it will be marked with a green vertical bar in the selection margin.
By looking at the yellow and green tracking bars, you can quickly differentiate between:
• Code that hasn’t been touched since the file was loaded (no bar)
• Code that has been touched and saved since the file was loaded (green bar)
• Code that has been touched but not saved since the file was loaded (yellow bar)
Change tracking is valid only for as long as the editor window is open. In other words, change tracking is significant only for the current document “session”; if you close and reopen the window, the track bars will be gone because you have established a new working session with that specific document.
Coding Problem Indicators
The Visual Studio compiler works in conjunction with the code editor window to flag any problems found within a source code document. The compiler can even work in the background, enabling the editor window to flag problems as you type (as opposed to waiting for the project to be compiled).
Coding problems are flagged using “squiggles”: wavy, color-coded lines placed under the offending piece of code. These squiggles are the same mechanism Microsoft Word uses to flag spelling and grammar problems. The squiggle colors indicate a specific class of problem. The below shows how these colors map to an underlying problem.
• Red - Syntax error; the code will not compile because of the syntax requirements and rules of the language.
• Blue - Semantic error; this is the result of the compiler not being able to resolve the type or code construct within the current context. For instance, a type name that doesn’t exist within the compiled context of the current project is flagged with a blue squiggle. Typically, these are good indicators for typos (for example, misspelling a class name).
• Purple - Warning; the purple squiggle denotes code that has triggered a compiler warning.
Active Hyperlinking
Text editors support clickable hyperlinks within documents; clicking on a link launches a browser redirected at the URL. One great use of this feature is to embed URLs for supporting documentation or other helpful reference information within code comments.
Syntax Coloring
The text editor can parse and distinctly color different code constructs to make them that much easier to identify on sight. As an example, the code editor window, by default, colors any code comments green. Code identifiers are black, keywords are blue, strings are colored red, and so on.
In fact, the number of unique elements that the text editor is capable of parsing and coloring is immense: The text editor window recognizes more than 100 different elements. And you can customize and color each one of them to your heart’s content through the Fonts and Colors section, under the Environments node in the Options dialog box. Do you like working with larger fonts? Would a higher contrast benefit your programming activities? How about squeezing more code into your viewable screen real estate? These are just a few reasons you might stray from the defaults with this dialog box.
Source of Information : Sams Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed
Change Tracking
When you are in the midst of editing a source code file, it is tremendously useful to understand which lines of code have been committed (that is, saved to disk) and which have not. Change tracking provides this functionality: A yellow vertical bar in the text editor’s selection margin will span any lines in the editor that have been changed but not saved. If content has been changed and subsequently saved, it will be marked with a green vertical bar in the selection margin.
By looking at the yellow and green tracking bars, you can quickly differentiate between:
• Code that hasn’t been touched since the file was loaded (no bar)
• Code that has been touched and saved since the file was loaded (green bar)
• Code that has been touched but not saved since the file was loaded (yellow bar)
Change tracking is valid only for as long as the editor window is open. In other words, change tracking is significant only for the current document “session”; if you close and reopen the window, the track bars will be gone because you have established a new working session with that specific document.
Coding Problem Indicators
The Visual Studio compiler works in conjunction with the code editor window to flag any problems found within a source code document. The compiler can even work in the background, enabling the editor window to flag problems as you type (as opposed to waiting for the project to be compiled).
Coding problems are flagged using “squiggles”: wavy, color-coded lines placed under the offending piece of code. These squiggles are the same mechanism Microsoft Word uses to flag spelling and grammar problems. The squiggle colors indicate a specific class of problem. The below shows how these colors map to an underlying problem.
• Red - Syntax error; the code will not compile because of the syntax requirements and rules of the language.
• Blue - Semantic error; this is the result of the compiler not being able to resolve the type or code construct within the current context. For instance, a type name that doesn’t exist within the compiled context of the current project is flagged with a blue squiggle. Typically, these are good indicators for typos (for example, misspelling a class name).
• Purple - Warning; the purple squiggle denotes code that has triggered a compiler warning.
Active Hyperlinking
Text editors support clickable hyperlinks within documents; clicking on a link launches a browser redirected at the URL. One great use of this feature is to embed URLs for supporting documentation or other helpful reference information within code comments.
Syntax Coloring
The text editor can parse and distinctly color different code constructs to make them that much easier to identify on sight. As an example, the code editor window, by default, colors any code comments green. Code identifiers are black, keywords are blue, strings are colored red, and so on.
In fact, the number of unique elements that the text editor is capable of parsing and coloring is immense: The text editor window recognizes more than 100 different elements. And you can customize and color each one of them to your heart’s content through the Fonts and Colors section, under the Environments node in the Options dialog box. Do you like working with larger fonts? Would a higher contrast benefit your programming activities? How about squeezing more code into your viewable screen real estate? These are just a few reasons you might stray from the defaults with this dialog box.
Source of Information : Sams Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed
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