Extending Visual Basic and Visual C# Projects

Visual Studio includes a programmable, project-neutral object model that provides access to the underlying components and events of the integrated development environment (IDE). This "general extensibility" model has components that represent solutions, projects, tool windows, code editors, debuggers, code objects, documents, and events. This general extensibility model is discussed in Extending the Visual Studio Environment.

Visual Studio also includes a programmable object model that exposes the Visual Basic and Visual C# projects and the project items they contain. This model contains several objects that can be used to automate tasks in the IDE and extend project types and project items.

In This Section

• Introduction to Project Extensibility
  Outlines the concept and object model for extending Visual Basic and Visual C# projects in Visual Studio.

• Accessing Project Type Specific Project, Project Item, and Configuration Properties
  Contains links to topics that describe how to access the project, project item, and configuration properties of Visual Basic and Visual C# projects.

• How to: Use a Macro to Add Text in a Visual Basic or C# Code Editor
  Illustrates how to add text to a Visual Basic or Visual C# code editor by using a macro.

• How to: Create a New Windows Application Using Extensibility
  Illustrates how to create a Visual Basic or Visual C# windows application.

• Introduction to the VSProject2 Object
  Describes the properties and methods of the VSProject2 object.

• Responding to Events (Visual Basic and Visual C# Projects)
  Provides links to topics that describe how to respond to project neutral and project type-specific events by using add-ins and macros.

• Introduction to the BuildManager Object
  Describes the BuildManager object.

• The Macro Project Object Model
  Describes how to access the extensibility objects of a macro project, and addresses differences in general extensibility and accessing the VSProject2 and other VSLangProj80 objects in macros.

• FileCodeModel Object and CodeModel Object in Visual Basic and C# Extensibility Applications
  Provides links to topics that discuss the FileCodeModel and CodeModel objects.

• Troubleshooting Visual Basic and Visual C# Extensibility
  Provides details about how to troubleshoot some of the more common extensibility problems when you are developing an extensibility application for a Visual Basic or Visual C# project.

Related Sections

• Automation and Extensibility for Visual Studio
  Contains links to topics about general extensibility in Visual Studio.

• Visual Basic and Visual C# Extensibility Object Model for Projects
  Describes the object model for extending

  Visual Basic and Visual C# projects in the IDE.