Productivity Power Tools (Extended Version) : A set of extensions to Visual Studio Professional (and above) which improves developer productivity.
New Improvement/Feature in this tool For VS 2012
1. Quick Tasks
Related Articles
2. Power Commands
3. Color Printing
Quick Tasks
The Quick Launch Tasks extension provides easy access to commonly used options (like: toggling line numbers) as well as popular functionality to Visual Studio (like: collapsing/expanding regions).
To activate Quick Tasks, access Quick Launch and write @tasks followed by one of the following options:
| Option | Description |
| CollapseRegions | Collapses all #region tags in the current document |
| ExpandRegion | Expands all #region tags in the current document |
| TxtFont- | Decreases the text editor’s font size by 2 (min 6) |
| TxtFont0 | Resets the text editor’s font size to the default 10 |
| TxtFont+ | Increases the text editor’s font size by 2 (max 60) |
| TxtFontReset | Resets all text editor font settings to their default values (based on current theme) |
| EnvFont- | Decreases the environment’s font size by 2 (min 5) |
| EnvFont0 | Resets the environment’s font size to the default 9 |
| EnvFont+ | Increases the environment’s font size by 2 (max 59) |
| EnvFontReset | Resets all environment font settings to their default values (based on current theme) |
| InsTabsOff | Inserts spaces instead of a tab whenever a tab is inserted (all languages) |
| InsTabsOn | Keeps the tab that is inserted instead of inserting spaces (all languages) |
| LineNumOff | Turns off line numbers in the text editor (all languages) |
| LineNumOn | Turns on line numbers in the text editor (all languages) |
| PresentOff | Turns off presenter mode and returns the environment and text editor fonts to their pre-presentation values |
| PresentOn | Turns on presenter mode which increases environment and text editor font sizes, and sets them to certain font families, so that VS is easier to see and read on a projector |
| ResetToBasic | Resets VS to Visual Basic development settings |
| ResetToC++ | Resets VS to Visual C++ development settings |
| ResetToC# | Resets VS to Visual C# development settings |
| ResetToF# | Resets VS to Visual F# development settings |
| ResetToGeneral | Resets VS to General development settings |
| ResetToJavaScript | Resets VS to JavaScript for Windows 8 Apps development settings |
| ResetToLightSwitch | Resets VS to LightSwitch development settings |
| ResetToSQL | Resets VS to SQL Server development settings |
| ResetToWeb | Resets VS to Web development settings |
| ResetToWebCode | Resets VS to Web (Code Only) development settings |
| SwitchCode | Switches between designer/code behind or header/source files, opening the file if Necessary |
| TabSize- | Decreases the tab and indent size by 2 (all languages) |
| TabSize0 | Resets the tab and indent size to the default 4 (all languages) |
| TabSize+ | Increases the tab and indent size by 2 (all languages) |
| WordWrapOff | Turns off the text editor’s word wrap (all languages) |
| WordWrapOn | Turns on the text editor’s word wrap (all languages) |
Power Commands is a set of useful extensions for the Visual Studio 2012 adding additional functionality to various areas of the IDE.
Individual power commands can be enabled or disabled from the Power Commands page in Tools -> Options in Visual Studio. It can be found under the Productivity Power Tools category. Most Power Commands are enabled by default. Below is a list of the commands included in Power Commands for Visual Studio 2012.
Format document on save
Enables formatting of tabs, spaces and other characters in a document to be saved. It is equivalent to using Format Document command under the Edit->Advanced menu. Disabled by default.
Remove and Sort Usings on save
Removes unused using statements and sorts the remaining using statements in the C# document being saved. Disabled by default.
Clear All Panes
Adds a button on the toolbar of the Output window that enables the user to clear all output panes at once.
Copy Path
Enables the file path of solutions, projects, folders and projects items to be copied from Solution Explorer via right-click menu.
Email CodeSnippet
Creates an email with the currently selected text. Available via right-click menu in the source code editor.
Insert Guid Attribute
Adds a Guid attribute to the selected class via right-click menu when the current selection is in class scope.
Show All Files
Shows the hidden files in all projects displayed in Solution Explorer when the solution node is selected. It enhances the Show All Files button, which would otherwise show the hidden files in the selected project node.
Undo Close
Reopens a closed document, returning the cursor to its last position. Recently closed documents can be reopened through the Edit menu and clicking Undo Close or by using the CtrlShiftZ shortcut.
Reopening any other recently closed document by opening the Undo Close window through View->Other Windows->Undo Close Window. Double-clicking any document in the list will reopen it.
Collapse Projects
Collapses a project or projects in the Solution Explorer starting from the root selected node. This option resides in three different places on the Solution Explorer: Solution, Solution folders and Project nodes respectively.
Copy/Paste Class
Copies/Pastes a selected class entire content to/from the clipboard. When pasting a class, it is renamed to avoid a compilation error. It can be executed from a single project item or a project item with dependent sub items.
Copy/Paste References
Copies/Pastes one or more references to/from the clipboard. It can be executed from the references node, a single reference node or set of reference nodes.
Copy As Project Reference
Copies a project as a project reference to the clipboard. It can be executed from a project node.
Edit Project File
Opens the MSBuild project file for a selected project inside Visual Studio. It combines the existing Unload Project and Edit Project commands.
Open Containing Folder
Opens a Windows Explorer window pointing to the physical path of a selected item. It can be executed from a project item node.
Open Command Prompt
Opens a Visual Studio command prompt pointing to the physical path of a selected item. It can be executed from four different places: solution, project, folder and project item nodes respectively.
Unload Projects
Unloads all projects in a solution. This can be useful in MSBuild scenarios when multiple projects are being edited. This command can be executed from the solution node.
Reload Projects
Reloads all unloaded projects in a solution. It can be executed from the solution node.
Remove and Sort Usings
Removes and sort using statements for all classes given a project. It is useful, for example, in removing or organizing the using statements generated by a wizard. This command can be executed from a solution node or a single project node.
Extract Constant
Creates a constant definition statement for a selected text. Extracting a constant effectively names a literal value, which can improve readability. This command can be executed from the code editor by right-clicking selected text.
Clear Recent File List
Clears the Visual Studio recent file list. The Clear Recent File List command brings up a Clear File dialog which allows any or all recent files to be selected.
Clear Recent Project List
Clears the Visual Studio recent project list. The Clear Recent Project List command brings up a Clear File dialog which allows any or all recent projects to be selected.
Transform Templates
Executes a custom tool with associated text templates items. It can be executed from a DSL project node or a DSL folder node.
Close All
Closes all documents. It can be executed from a document tab.
Color Printing
Adds support for printing code in color.
