How to: Add and Handle Commands

Visual Studio add-ins are deprecated in Visual Studio 2013. You should upgrade your add-ins to VSPackage extensions. For more information about upgrading, see FAQ: Converting Add-ins to VSPackage Extensions.

The following objects allow you to create, handle, and manipulate commands on Visual Studio menus and toolbars.

Object Name	Description
IDTCommandTarget	Provides methods to determine the status of, or execute, a command added to the integrated development environment (IDE) by using the AddNamedCommand2 method.
Commands2	Represents all commands in the IDE.
Command	Represents a command in the IDE.
CommandEvents	Provides command events for add-ins.
CommandBarEvents	Provides a Click event for when a control on a command bar is clicked.

Note

If your command no longer appears on the appropriate command bar, or if you add a new command or modify an existing command, or if you would like to recreate the command, close all instances of Visual Studio and double-click the file named ReCreateCommands.reg in the folder containing the source code for your Add-in.

Using these objects, you can:

• Add or remove a command bar in the Visual Studio IDE (AddCommandBar and RemoveCommandBar methods).

• Add a new named command to a toolbar or menu (AddNamedCommand2 method).

• Invoke a command or named command (Raise and Exec methods).

• Obtain the status of a command (CommandInfo and QueryStatus methods).

  Note

  You cannot connect a CommandBarEvents event for CommandBar controls that were created for a new command added through AddNamedCommand2.

Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. These procedures were developed with the General Development Settings active. To change your settings, choose Import and ExportSettings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.

Example

The following example uses:

• The Command object.

• The AddNamedCommand method.

• The AddControl method.

• The IDTCommandTarget interface.

• The IDTCommandTarget.Exec method.

• The IDTCommandTarget.QueryStatus method.

The procedure demonstrates how to make an add-in appear as a command on the Tools menu in Visual Studio. Add the first section of code to the OnConnection method of the add-in you create. In the Exec and QueryStatus methods, make sure that the line, If cmdName = "MyAddin1.Connect.MyAddin1" Then, reflects the name of your add-in.

Public Sub OnConnection(ByVal application As Object, _
  ByVal connectMode As ext_ConnectMode, ByVal addInInst _
  As Object, ByRef custom As Array) Implements _
  IDTExtensibility2.OnConnection
    _applicationObject = CType(application, DTE2)
    _addInInstance = CType(addInInst, AddIn)
    If connectMode = ext_ConnectMode.ext_cm_UISetup Then
        Dim commands As Commands2 = CType(_applicationObject. _
          Commands, Commands2)
        Dim toolsMenuName As String
        Try
            Dim resourceManager As System.Resources. _
              ResourceManager = New System.Resources. _
              ResourceManager("MyAddin1.CommandBar", _
              System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly())

              Dim cultureInfo As System.Globalization. _
                CultureInfo = New System.Globalization. _
                CultureInfo(_applicationObject.LocaleID)
              toolsMenuName = resourceManager.GetString _
                (String.Concat(cultureInfo. _
                TwoLetterISOLanguageName, "Tools"))
        Catch e As Exception
            toolsMenuName = "Tools"
        End Try

        Dim commandBars As CommandBars = CType(_applicationObject _
          .CommandBars, CommandBars)
        Dim menuBarCommandBar As CommandBar = commandBars. _
          Item("MenuBar")
        Dim toolsControl As CommandBarControl = _
          menuBarCommandBar.Controls.Item(toolsMenuName)
        Dim toolsPopup As CommandBarPopup = CType(toolsControl, _
          CommandBarPopup)

        Try
            Dim command As Command = commands.AddNamedCommand2 _
              (_addInInstance, "MyAddin1", "MyAddin1", _
              "Executes the command for MyAddin1", True, 59, _
              Nothing, CType(vsCommandStatus. _
              vsCommandStatusSupported, Integer) + CType _
              (vsCommandStatus.vsCommandStatusEnabled, Integer), _
              vsCommandStyle.vsCommandStylePictAndText, _
              vsCommandControlType.vsCommandControlTypeButton)
            command.AddControl(toolsPopup.CommandBar, 1)
        Catch argumentException As System.ArgumentException
            MsgBox(argumentException.ToString)
        End Try
    End If
End Sub

'Code for the QueryStatus method.
Public Sub QueryStatus(ByVal commandName As String, _
  ByVal neededText As vsCommandStatusTextWanted, _
  ByRef status As vsCommandStatus, ByRef commandText _
  As Object) Implements IDTCommandTarget.QueryStatus
    If neededText = vsCommandStatusTextWanted. _
      vsCommandStatusTextWantedNone Then
        If commandName = "MyAddin1.Connect.MyAddin1" Then
            status = CType(vsCommandStatus. _
              vsCommandStatusEnabled + vsCommandStatus. _
              vsCommandStatusSupported, vsCommandStatus)
        Else
            status = vsCommandStatus.vsCommandStatusUnsupported
        End If
    End If
End Sub

' Code for the Exec method.
Public Sub Exec(ByVal commandName As String, ByVal executeOption _
  As vsCommandExecOption, ByRef varIn As Object, ByRef varOut _
  As Object, ByRef handled As Boolean) Implements IDTCommandTarget.Exec
    handled = False
    If executeOption = vsCommandExecOption. _
      vsCommandExecOptionDoDefault Then
        If commandName = "MyAddin1.Connect.MyAddin1" Then
            handled = True
            Exit Sub
        End If
    End If
End Sub

public class Connect : Object, IDTExtensibility2, IDTCommandTarget
{
    public Connect()
    {
    }

public void OnConnection(object application, ext_ConnectMode 
  connectMode, object addInInst, ref Array custom)
{
    _applicationObject = (DTE2)application;
    _addInInstance = (AddIn)addInInst;
    if(connectMode == ext_ConnectMode.ext_cm_UISetup)
    {
        object []contextGUIDS = new object[] { };
        Commands2 commands = (Commands2)_applicationObject.Commands;
        string toolsMenuName;
        try
        {
            ResourceManager resourceManager = new
            ResourceManager("MyAddin4.CommandBar", 
            Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
            CultureInfo cultureInfo = new 
              System.Globalization.CultureInfo
             (_applicationObject.LocaleID);
            string resourceName =  
            String.Concat(cultureInfo.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, 
              "Tools");
            toolsMenuName = resourceManager.GetString(resourceName);
        }
        catch
        {
            toolsMenuName = "Tools";
        }

        CommandBar menuBarCommandBar = 
            ((CommandBars)_applicationObject.CommandBars)["MenuBar"];
        CommandBarControl toolsControl = 
          menuBarCommandBar.Controls[toolsMenuName];
        CommandBarPopup toolsPopup = (CommandBarPopup)toolsControl;
        try
        {
            Command command = commands.AddNamedCommand2(_addInInstance, 
              "MyAddin4", "MyAddin4", "Executes the command for 
              MyAddin4", true, 59, ref contextGUIDS, 
              (int)vsCommandStatus.vsCommandStatusSupported+
              (int)vsCommandStatus.vsCommandStatusEnabled, 
              (int)vsCommandStyle.vsCommandStylePictAndText,  
              vsCommandControlType.vsCommandControlTypeButton);

            if((command != null) && (toolsPopup != null))
            {
                command.AddControl(toolsPopup.CommandBar, 1);
            }
        }
        catch(System.ArgumentException)
        {
        }
    }
}

public void QueryStatus(string commandName, vsCommandStatusTextWanted 
  neededText, ref vsCommandStatus status, ref object commandText)
{
    if(neededText == 
      vsCommandStatusTextWanted.vsCommandStatusTextWantedNone)
    {
        if(commandName == "MyAddin4.Connect.MyAddin4")
        {
            status = (vsCommandStatus)vsCommandStatus.
              vsCommandStatusSupported|vsCommandStatus.
              vsCommandStatusEnabled;
            return;
        }
    }
}

public void Exec(string commandName, vsCommandExecOption executeOption, 
  ref object varIn, ref object varOut, ref bool handled)
{
    handled = false;
    if(executeOption == 
      vsCommandExecOption.vsCommandExecOptionDoDefault)
    {
        if(commandName == "MyAddin4.Connect.MyAddin4")
        {
            handled = true;
            return;
        }
    }
}

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create an Add-In

Walkthrough: Creating a Wizard

Concepts

Controlling Projects and Solutions

Automation Object Model Chart

Other Resources

Creating and Controlling Environment Windows

Creating Add-ins and Wizards

Automation and Extensibility Reference