Display solution/file path in Visual Studio IDE

Question

I frequently work with multiple instances of Visual Studio, often working on different branches of the same solution.

VC6 used to display the full path of the current source file in its title bar, but Visual Studio 2005 doesn't appear to do this. This makes it slightly more awkward than it should be to work out which branch of the solution I'm currently looking at (the quickest way I know of is to hover over a tab so you get the source file's path as a tooltip).

Is there any way to get the full solution or file path into the title bar, or at least somewhere that's always visible so I can quickly tell which branch is loaded into each instance?

Answer 1

I wish! :S I haven't been able to find it. Please post it here if you do.

Answer 2

There is not a native way to do it, but you can achieve it with a macro. The details are described here in full: http://www.helixoft.com/blog/archives/32

You just have to add a little VB Macro to the EvironmentEvents macro section and restart VS.

Note: The path will not show up when you first load VS, but will whenever you change which file you are viewing. There is probably a way to fix this, but it doesn't seem like a big deal.

Answer 3

Related note: As an alternative, for Visual Studio 2005 you can use the command File -> Advanced Save Options. The dialog displays the full path of the current file, and you are able to copy the text.

Answer 4

It's awkward indeed. Hovering on the tab is indeed one of the few things useful. Alternatives: right click on the file tab : http://weblogs.asp.net/piseth/archive/2008/11/08/find-your-file-path-in-visual-studio.aspx Seems we have to do with that