Class View | The Class View window is a view into a solution that is organized based on similar type properties. For instance, all the classes within your C# project will be placed within the Classes tree view item. You can also browse your project's struct declarations, defined macros, global variables and functions, and even base classes and interfaces. |
Command Window | The Command Window is used to control the Visual Studio .NET IDE by invoking the objects and methods of its automation object model by using a command-line interface. |
Contents | The Contents window is a tree-view–based window that displays the contents of MSDN documentation. This is a departure from Visual C++ 6.0, which required the use of an external application to view documentation. |
Document Outline | The Document Outline tool window is used to view the organization of the tags contained within an HTML document. |
Dynamic Help | Dynamic Help, which is discussed later in this chapter, is a smart context-aware Help window that displays links to Help documentation relevant to the current task you are working on. |
Favorites | The Favorites tool window displays the contents of your Internet Explorer Favorites folder. Selecting a link within this window will open the corresponding website within the integrated browser window contained within the Visual Studio .NET IDE. |
Find Results | The Find Results window displays the results of a search operation. The search may be within the current document, the current solution, or within the file system of the operating system. Clicking an item within the Find Results window will open that document to the location where the search found the item it was looking for. |
Find Symbol Results | The Find Symbol Results window is similar to the Find Results window, but is the result of searching for symbols such as namespaces, class names, and variables within your current project. |
Index | The Index tool window contains the index view of the MSDN documentation. Typing a partial name within the Look For field will scroll the index window to the appropriate index result. |
Index Results | Some links within the Index window might point to multiple documentation links. The Index Results window displays each of these documents as well as the section where each is included in the documentation. |
Macro Explorer | The Macro Explorer window is a tree view that contains the defined Visual Studio .NET macros. By selecting a macro within the tool window, you can run, edit, rename, or delete that macro. |
Object Browser | The Object Browser should be familiar to Visual Basic developers. This window is actually a document window due to its complex feature set. It enables you to view not only the different objects contained within your current project, but also the objects defined within the current operating system, such as the various installed COM components and .NET assemblies. |
Output | The Output window displays the output that is generated from running various command-line tools within the IDE. This window would, for example, display the results of running the compiler on a source file or the output of the linker as you link several object files. |
Pending Checkins | This window is used for the source code control integration feature of Visual Studio .NET. The Pending Checkins window displays any files that are currently checked out in source code control and are contained within your current solution. |
Properties | The Properties window displays the properties of the object you are currently working on. In the past, this was usually reserved for dialog or ActiveX control properties, but has been expanded to include the properties for such things as a source code file and even the properties for the current project you are working on. |
Resource View | The Resource View window displays a hierarchical collection of resources that are used within your solution. Resources can include such things as bitmap files, assembly manifests, icons, and string tables, to name a few. |
Search Results | This window displays the results of doing a search within the documentation. Each item that appears within the Search Results window contains the name of the document where the item being searched for was found as well as which section of the documentation that item was found in. |
Server Explorer | The Server Explorer is an exciting addition to Visual Studio .NET. This tool window enables you to browse not only the local machine you are working on but remote servers as well. With this tool, you can navigate and edit databases, explore system services, view event logs, interact with the message queue, and query performance counters. |
Solution Explorer | The Solution Explorer replaces the File View window that was present in Visual C++ 6.0. You can view all the projects contained within your solution as well as each of the associated files within that project. Furthermore, you can organize the files within this view by creating folders and dragging files into those folders. By default, several folders are created and their subsequent files are organized automatically for you. |
Task List | The Task List serves many purposes. First, it enables you to create to-do items to remind you to complete certain tasks. You can also associate an importance level with the task. Second, the IDE scans your source code and places any comments that begin with certain keywords, such as TODO, as an item in the task list. It also includes the file and line number for that task so that you can double-click the item to open the file at the appropriate location. |
Toolbox | The Toolbox window contains all the controls necessary for graphical user interface design. The included controls consist of HTML controls, ActiveX controls, Windows Forms controls, XML schema elements. A clipboard history is maintained within the Clipboard Ring tab. |