Go to Start> All Programs > Visual Studio 2008 > Visual Studio Tools > Click Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt. Type the below command and press enter.
devenv.exe /resetskippkgs
It opens Visual Studio 2008 IDE and finally everything was OK .A. Introduction: What is Code Snippet??
B. Can we create our own code snippet ??
Create a .snippet file (Step by Step)
C. How to Manage Code Snippets inside VS Editor ??
Add/Register a snippet
Remove a snippet
Modify an existing snippet
D. Code Snippet Functions
GenerateSwitchCases( EnumerationLiteral )
ClassName()
SimpleTypeName( TypeName )
E. Is it possible to share it with all of my team mates ??
Create a vsi installer (Step by Step)
F. An example
Singleton Pattern Example: 1
Singleton Pattern Example: 2
Code snippets are ready-made snippets of code we can quickly insert into our code.
We can use code snippets to type a short alias, and then expand it into a common programming construct.
For example, the prop code snippet creates an empty property block.
Step 1. In the Code Editor by typing a short name for the alias or a code snippet shortcut
Step 2. Press two times Tab key. It will generate a Property block automatically
Step 3. Once a code snippet has been chosen, the text of the code snippet is inserted automatically at the cursor position. At this point, any editable fields in the code snippet are highlighted in light green, and the first editable field is selected automatically.
When a field is selected, users can type a new value for the field. Pressing TAB cycles through the editable fields of the code snippet; pressing SHIFT+TAB cycles through them in reverse order. Clicking on a field places the cursor in the field, and double-clicking on a field selects it.
Only the first instance of a given field is editable; when that field is highlighted, the other instances of that field are outlined. When you change the value of an editable field, that field is changed everywhere it is used in the code snippet.
Yes we can create and utilize custom code snippets, in addition to the code snippets that are included with Visual Studio by default.
IntelliSense Code Snippets are XML files with a .snippet file name extension that adhere to the IntelliSense Code Snippet XML schema.
Now we have an XML file, we need to write the XML code that makes up our code snippet.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>Note : This is the standard defined by VS that every snippet file must start with the CodeSnippets tag, identifying the namespace that defines the code snippet schema. Within these tags, each snippet is defined using the CodeSnippet tag, which will in turn contain the definition of the snippet itself:
Header and Snippet, respectively. The Header area mainly contains three tags:Title: The name of the snippet Description: The description of the snippet Shortcut: Shortcut names provide a way for us to insert IntelliSense Code Snippets into our code by typing a shortcut name and then pressing Tab. Apart from these Tags we can also use Author , SnippetTypes tags like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Property</Title>
<Shortcut>propcs</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet to define a property .</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>
What is what : A snapshot of Code Snippet Manager – Uses of Header Tag elements
What is what : A snapshot of VS Editor – Uses of Header Tag elements
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Property</Title>
<Shortcut>propcs</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet to define a property .</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Code Language="csharp">
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets><![CDATA[ and ]]> brackets. For example<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Property</Title>
<Shortcut>propcs</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet to define a property .</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Code Language="csharp">
<![CDATA[
/// <summary>
/// Property to set a $property$
/// </summary>
private $type$ $defaultValue$;
public $type$ $property$
{
get
{
return $defaultValue$;
}
set
{
$defaultValue$ = value;
}
}
$end$]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>The Literal element is used to identify a replacement for a piece of code that is entirely contained within the snippet, but will likely be customized after it is inserted into the code. For example, literal strings, numeric values, and some variable names should be declared as literals. The optional <Declarations> section is used to define replaceable sections in the snippet. Replaceable sections are denoted with $name in the <Code> section and are the sections displayed green and configurable by the developer using the snippet.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Property</Title>
<Shortcut>propcs</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet to define a property .</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Declarations>
<Literal>
<ID>type</ID>
<ToolTip>Property type</ToolTip>
<Default>int</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal>
<ID>property</ID>
<ToolTip>Property name</ToolTip>
<Default>Value</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal>
<ID>defaultValue</ID>
<ToolTip>The default value for this property.</ToolTip>
<Default>intValue</Default>
</Literal>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="csharp">
<![CDATA[
/// <summary>
/// Property to set a $property$
/// </summary>
private $type$ $defaultValue$;
public $type$ $property$
{
get
{
return $defaultValue$;
}
set
{
$defaultValue$ = value;
}
}
$end$]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>
What is what : A snapshot of VS Editor – Generated code using snippet
The Object element is used to identify an item that is required by the code snippet but is likely to be defined outside of the snippet itself. For example, Windows Forms controls, ASP.NET controls, object instances, and type instances should be declared as objects. Object declarations require that a type be specified.
Example :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Property</Title>
<Shortcut>getcustomer</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet to interact with database .</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<!-- Add additional Snippet information here -->
<Declarations>
<Literal>
<ID>SqlConnString</ID>
<ToolTip>Replace with a SQL connection string.</ToolTip>
<Default>"SQL connection string"</Default>
</Literal>
<Object>
<ID>SqlConnection</ID>
<Type>System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection</Type>
<ToolTip>Replace with a connection object in your application.</ToolTip>
<Default>dcConnection</Default>
</Object>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="CSharp">
<![CDATA[
daCustomers = new SqlClient.SqlDataAdapter();
selectCommand = new SqlClient.SqlCommand($SqlConnString$);
daCustomers.SelectCommand = selectCommand;
daCustomers.SelectCommand.Connection = $SqlConnection$;
]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>The Code Snippets Manager allows us to set the directories and individual snippets that we want available to insert into your code.
Key ctrl + KB
This will open a code snippet manager dialog box like
Select the location for code snippet and click on finish
IntelliSense Code Snippets are XML files with a .snippet file name extension that can be easily modified using any XML editor, including Visual Studio 2005.
There are three functions available to use with Visual C# code snippets,
Generates a switch statement and a set of case statements for the members of the enumeration specified by the EnumerationLiteral parameter. The EnumerationLiteral parameter must be either a reference to an enumeration literal or an enumeration type.
For example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>myswitch</Title>
<Shortcut>myswitch</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet for switch statement</Description>
<Author>Microsoft Corporation</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Declarations>
<Literal>
<ID>expression</ID>
<ToolTip>Expression to switch on</ToolTip>
<Default>switch_on</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal Editable="false">
<ID>cases</ID>
<Function>GenerateSwitchCases($expression$)</Function>
<Default>default:</Default>
</Literal>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="csharp">
<![CDATA[
switch ($expression$)
{
$cases$
}
]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>Usage example :
What is what : A snapshot of VS Editor – To select a snippet
Replace swich_on ( Highlighted in green) with our enum and press two times enter.
What is what : A snapshot of VS Editor – End result using snippet
Returns the name of the class that contains the inserted snippet.
For example to write a constructor for a class with an input parameter,
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Common constructor pattern</Title>
<Shortcut>myconstructor</Shortcut>
<Description>Code Snippet for a constructor</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan Pandey</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Declarations>
<Literal>
<ID>type</ID>
<Default>int</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal>
<ID>name</ID>
<Default>field</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal Editable="false">
<ID>classname</ID>
<ToolTip>Class name</ToolTip>
<Function>ClassName()</Function>
<Default>ClassNamePlaceholder</Default>
</Literal>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="CSharp" Kind="CData">
<![CDATA[
public $classname$ ($type$ $name$)
{
this._$name$ = $name$;
}
private $type$ _$name$;
]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>Usage Example :
What is what : A snapshot of VS Editor – End result using snippet
It reduces the TypeName parameter to its simplest form in the context in which the snippet was invoked.
For example : below example shows how to use the SimpleTypeName function. When this snippet is inserted into a code file, the $SystemConsole$ literal will be replaced with the simplest form of the Console type in the context in which the snippet was invoked.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Console_WriteLine</Title>
<Shortcut>mycw</Shortcut>
<Description>Code snippet for Console.WriteLine</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan Pandey</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Declarations>
<Literal Editable="false">
<ID>SystemConsole</ID>
<Function>SimpleTypeName(global::System.Console)</Function>
</Literal>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="csharp">
<![CDATA[
$SystemConsole$.WriteLine();
]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>Usage example :
What is what : A snapshot of VS Editor – End result using snippet
Yes, To get a code snippet to appear in the code editor, it must be placed on a user's computer and imported with the Code Snippet Manager. To make this process easier, we can place our snippet file inside of a Visual Studio Installer (.vsi) file and use the Visual Studio Content Installer to place the file in the correct location. The .vsi file can then be easily shared with other developers throughout the community.
Visual Studio Content Installer (.vsi) files are used to exchange Visual Studio content in the developer community. A .vsi file is a renamed .zip file that contains these components:
Step 1: File è New è File
Step 2: Select XML file type from Template
Step 3: Add the files/files inside the <FileName> Tag as per given Schema. For schema information, see Visual Studio Content Installer Schema Reference
In my case the .vscontent file has included all the above examples:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<VSContent xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vscontent/2005">
<Content>
<FileName>getCustomer.snippet</FileName>
<FileName>myconstructor.snippet</FileName>
<FileName>mycw.snippet</FileName>
<FileName>myswitch.snippet</FileName>
<FileName>propcs.snippet</FileName>
<FileName>singletonts.snippet</FileName>
<FileName>singletontswl.snippet</FileName>
<DisplayName>Sample Code Snippet</DisplayName>
<Description>A code snippet created for this example</Description>
<FileContentType>My Code Snippet</FileContentType>
<ContentVersion>1.0</ContentVersion>
<Attributes>
<Attribute name="language" value="csharp"/>
</Attributes>
</Content>
</VSContent>Step 4: Save the file with extension .vscontent like MyCodeSnippet.vscontent
Step 5: keep the .vscontent file in the same directory as the other files that are related to the community component
Step 6: Select the folder right-click, select Send To, and click Compressed (zipped) Folder. The selected files are compressed into a single .zip file.
Step 7: Rename the extension of the .zip file to .vsi
Step 8: Go to C:\...\My Documents\Visual Studio <version>\Addins\
Step 9: Paste the early created .vsi file into this folder. In my case I am using Visual
Studio 2008
Step 10: Now your newly created Code Snippets is ready to use inside Visual Studio
2008 Editor.
Let us take an example of Singleton class which is almost used in every project. In this example I will create a code snippet, which will generate the code using the concept of Singleton class.
In this code snippet the implementation is thread-safe. The thread takes out a lock on a shared object, and then checks whether or not the instance has been created before creating the instance. This takes care of the memory barrier issue (as locking makes sure that all reads occur logically after the lock acquire, and unlocking makes sure that all writes occur logically before the lock release) and ensures that only one thread will create an instance (as only one thread can be in that part of the code at a time - by the time the second thread enters it, the first thread will have created the instance, so the expression will evaluate to false). Unfortunately, performance suffers as a lock is acquired every time the instance is requested.
File name: singletontswl.snippet
Code :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Thread safe Singleton Pattern with Lock</Title>
<Shortcut>singletontswl</Shortcut>
<Description>Code Snippet for a singleton class : Thread-safe with locks</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan Pandey</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Declarations>
<Literal>
<ID>instancename</ID>
<Default>instance</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal>
<ID>instanceobject</ID>
<Default>Instance</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal>
<ID>lockobject</ID>
<Default>padlock</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal Editable="false">
<ID>classname</ID>
<ToolTip>Class name</ToolTip>
<Function>ClassName()</Function>
<Default>ClassNamePlaceholder</Default>
</Literal>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="CSharp" Kind="CData">
<![CDATA[
static $classname$ $instancename$ =null;
static readonly object $lockobject$ = new object();
$classname$()
{
}
public static $classname$ $instanceobject$
{
get
{
lock ($lockobject$)
{
if ($instancename$==null)
{
$instancename$ = new $classname$();
}
return $instancename$;
}
}
}
]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>Now we register this snippet using Code Snippet Manager and used in our singleton class as
After pressing Tab the end result is :
In this code snippet the implementation is thread-safe without using lock.
File name: singletonts.snippet
Code :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
<Title>Thread safe Singleton Pattern</Title>
<Shortcut>singletonts</Shortcut>
<Description>Code Snippet for a singleton class : Thread-safe without using locks</Description>
<Author>Anand Ranjan Pandey</Author>
<SnippetTypes>
<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
</SnippetTypes>
</Header>
<Snippet>
<Declarations>
<Literal>
<ID>instancename</ID>
<Default>instance</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal>
<ID>instanceobject</ID>
<Default>Instance</Default>
</Literal>
<Literal Editable="false">
<ID>classname</ID>
<ToolTip>Class name</ToolTip>
<Function>ClassName()</Function>
<Default>ClassNamePlaceholder</Default>
</Literal>
</Declarations>
<Code Language="CSharp" Kind="CData">
<![CDATA[
static readonly $classname$ $instancename$=new $classname$();
// Explicit static constructor to tell C# compiler
// not to mark type as beforefieldinit
static $classname$()
{
}
$classname$()
{
}
public static $classname$ $instanceobject$
{
get
{
return $instancename$;
}
}
]]>
</Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>Now we register this snippet using Code Snippet Manager and used in our singleton class as
After pressing Tab the end result is :
That’s all for Code Snippets. Hope you will enjoy it.
Note: To use the sample example follow these steps:
Note: All above mentioned examples are included in MyCodeSnippets.zip file which you can download Here
From past months I've been researching in Spring.net framework to maximize the consistency, maintainability, reusability, and performance of any application while minimizing the repetitive boilerplate development tasks that can plague enterprise development.
For the .NET Framework platform, I've have found these 4 well known frameworks Castle Project, Spring.NET, Enterprise Library, and CSLA.
The Castle Project is perhaps best known for its Rails-inspired MVC framework, MonoRail. That being said, it has grown to include a full feature set of components useful at all levels of development. The Castle Project appears to be a popular and well-tested choice. If we compare Spring.Net and Castle things get trickier there is a lot of overlap in functionality between the frameworks, but they both do things a bit differently. Each one has some things that the other one doesn't. Both Spring.Net and Castle are modular and non-invasive so we can use only the modules that we are interested in and ignore others.
Enterprise Library is a set of integrated libraries produced by the Microsoft Patterns and Practices team or we can say, is simply a collection of useful "blocks”, where each block encapsulates best design practices. EntLib blocks do not overlap with Spring in any way, because they focus on things such as caching, logging, etc. where Spring focuses on providing a solid programming model and architectural foundation for your application. One area where might be quite abit of overlap is EntLib Data Acces Block and Spring.Data module, because they both provide an easier and more consistent way to write data access code. In cases like this, you really need to evaluate both options for yourself and decide which one works better for you. This would be a good choice for creating robust base class libraries while sticking with standard Windows Forms or Web Forms development for the UI.
CSLA is more about designing your applications using business objects (or domain model) and providing a patterns for persistence and location transparency of those objects. It is strongly focused on the business object layer and for that reason may not have quite the feature list of the others but is very mature, refined, and well tested. Unless we absolutely require some features not found here, this is one to strongly consider. The only negative I find is that it takes a long time to learn…. J and that it does require some fine tuning of the business objects at the end which is not really documented anywhere…. :(
Spring.NET is a reimplementation of Java's Spring Framework for .NET. It seems to be most strongly suited for full-stack development of web applications and while it may not yet have all the features of the Java version it has a very impressive feature set. This .NET version is relatively new but is quickly gaining notoriety. It is suitable for building enterprise .NET applications easier. Providing components based on proven design patterns that can be integrated into all tiers of any application architecture, Spring helps increase development productivity and improve application quality and performance.
Feature Summary:
Below is a feature summary. Please keep in mind that I am not an expert in any of these technologies so there may be some errors or omissions.
| | Spring.NET | Castle Project | | CSLA |
| Dependency Injection | yes | yes | yes | |
| Object-Relational Mapping | yes | yes | | yes |
| Transaction Services | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Logging Services | yes | yes | yes | |
| ASP.NET Web Framework | yes | yes | | |
| Component Caching | yes | yes | yes | |
| Component Remoting | yes | | | yes |
What differentiates Spring.Net from many others is that it exists for both J2EE and .NET, and supports the same programming model on both platforms. This is very valuable in the enterprise environment because it makes developer transition from Java to .NET and vice-versa much easier.
With the blessing of my parents, I try to express my creativity and feelings in front of the electronic world and want to create something innovative and challenging, hope you are the next person who encourage me in every manner for my bright and prospective future.
My name is Anand Ranjan Pandey and I am your chosen host.
Anand Ranjan Pandey
+91 94391 98772+91 97767 97053
