Contextual code generation in Visual C# 2008?

Question

I type

ArrayList memberNames = new ArrayList() { "Jim", "John", "George" };

and Visual Studio tells me "ArrayList" cannot be found so I have to manually go to the top of the file and type

using System.Collections;

Is there a way to get Visual Studio to do this automatically?

In FlashDevelop, for instance, you press CTRL-SHIFT-1 and it automatically generates these missing references, a nice feature.

Answer 1

SHIFT-ALT-F10 Will activate the Smart Tag on the class, which will give you the options "using System.Collections", and "System.Collections.ArrayList". It's typically two keystrokes to add a using.

Edit: Seems I had a mangled keyboard profile. Updated the key combo to the default. Thanks to Alan for pointing it out.

Answer 2

Alt-Shift-F10 brings up a pop-up menu with "using System.Collections", and "System.Collections.ArrayList".

If you want to find a keyboard shortcut, choose Tools: Options and navigate down to Environment: Keyboard. However, it can be a challenge to figure out what they've called the thing you're looking for. (The one you asked about is obviously View.ShowSmartTag, right?)

Update: From comments and other posts, I just learned that Ctrl-. also brings up the same menu. I guess not all the keyboard shortcuts appear in the keyboard options dialog.

Answer 3

CTRL+. also activates the Smart Tag, which might be more intuitive.