Visual Studio Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 45. Load Files from the Command Prompt

If you're a command-line
junkie, the command prompt can cut down on your mousing.
Here's a way to open your files without taking your
hands off the keyboard.

VSEdit is a freely available Visual Studio power
toy that adds the ability to load files from the command prompt
directly into a current instance of Visual Studio. This is definitely
a hack for people who still love the command prompt. If you would
rather use the mouse and menus, this is not for you.

First, you will need to download and install the VSEdit power toy
from:

http://workspaces.gotdotnet.com/vsedit

The installation for this power toy will add a help file and command
prompt shortcut to your Start menu, but you really
don't need either of these to start using this tool
right away.

You can use VSEdit via the shortcut installed in the Start menu or
simply open a normal command prompt (Start Run
type cmd), or just use the Start
Run command to open the Run dialog. You can then type
vsedit followed by the name of an existing
file (e.g., vsedit Form1.cs). Figure 6-1 shows an example of loading a file using
VSEdit.

Figure 6-1. Using VSEdit

After you execute this command, VSEdit will then look and see if an
instance of Visual Studio is open. If an instance is open, it will
load this file into that existing instance of Visual Studio. If not,
it will open a new instance and then load this file.

If the file you specify cannot be found, VSEdit will still open an
instance of Visual Studio and then report in the command prompt that
the file cannot be found. Normal command prompt rules applyyou
either need to be in the same directory as the file you want to open
or must specify a relative or absolute path to the file.

VSEdit allows you to open multiple files by simply adding them one
after another separated by a space. You could type Vsedit
Form1.cs Form2.cs
Form3.cs, and all of these files
would be opened in Visual Studio.

VSEdit also has a couple of different
switches that can be useful. The first switch is
/?, which will provide a brief
description on the usage of VSEdit. The second is
/c , which can
be used to specify the command line that will be used to open
Visual Studio. For instance, you
could type vsedit /c
"devenv.exe /nosplash"
Form1.cs, and the /nosplash
switch would be used when launching Visual Studio. Even when
specifying the command, VSEdit will open a new instance only if there
is not an already open instance of Visual Studio.

The VSEdit power toy is simple to useif you are the kind of
developer who lives inside the command prompt, then it is right up
your alley.