Is there any way to define several view configuration in visual studio 2008?

Question

Hi , Is there any way to define an IDE Layout in visual studio 2008?

Lets say that when I code in C# , I have the properties windows disabled and the output window at the bottom. Now Lets say that when I am in the visual editor of a window , I want the tools and the properties windows on the left and the output window disabled.

the problem is that If i want to work that way I have to manually rearrange the IDE layout each time I switch from code edit to visual edit.

I would like to have an option to define several IDE layout and for each assign a hotkey. So I can quickly change between the layouts.

Is there a feature like this in visual studio 2008?

Answer 1

Visual Studio has a notion of layouts but they are applied automatically depending on the current mode (design, debug, etc). You could create IDE macros to show / hide your tool windows though:

Enable properties:

Sub PropertiesOn()
    DTE.ExecuteCommand ("View.PropertiesWindow")
End Sub

Disable properties:

Sub PropertiesOff()
    DTE.Windows.Item(Constants.vsWindowKindProperties).Close
End Sub

You can use the macro recorder (Ctrl+Shift+R) to see what commands are needed to display or hide the other tool windows. Build up your macros (using the Macros IDE - Alt+F11 or Tools | Macros | Macros IDE) to enable / disable groups of tool windows. Then you can bind the macros to your own keybinding or simply invoke them from the commands window. Alternatively, you can execute macros using the Macros Explorer (Alt+F8 or Tools | Macros | Macro Explorer).