Strings Element
Applies to: 
Visual Studio 
Visual Studio for Mac
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
The Strings element must contain at least a ButtonText child element. All other child elements are optional. Invalid XML characters such as '&' and '<' must be coded as entities ('&' and '<' and so on).
An ampersand in the text string specifies the keyboard shortcut for the command.
Syntax
<Strings>
<ButtonText>... </ButtonText>
<CommandName>... </CommandName>
</Strings>
Attributes and Elements
The following sections describe attributes, child elements, and parent elements.
Attributes
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| language | Optional. Language=".". |
Child Elements
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| ButtonText | This field and the five following text fields in a command definition let you specify the text that appears in various menus. By default, the ButtonText field appears in menu controllers. The ButtonText field also becomes the default if the other text fields are blank. The ButtonText field cannot be blank even if the other text fields are specified. |
| ToolTipText | The ToolTipText field specifies the text that appears in the tooltip for a menu item.If the ToolTipText field is blank, the ButtonText field is used. |
| MenuText | The MenuText field specifies the text that is displayed for a command if it is on the main menu, a toolbar, in a shortcut menu, or in a submenu. If the MenuText field is blank, the integrated development environment (IDE) uses the ButtonText field. The MenuText field can also be used for localization.For shortcut menus, the MenuText field is the name that is displayed in the Shortcut Menus toolbar, which enables customization of shortcut menus in the IDE. Therefore, be specific in what you name your shortcut menu; for example, use "Widget Package Shortcut Menu" instead of "Shortcut".If the MenuText field is not specified, the ButtonText field is used. |
| CommandName | The CommandName field specifies the text that appears in the keyboard category in the Commands tab in the Customize dialog box (available by clicking Customize on the Tools menu). |
| CanonicalName | The English CanonicalName field specifies the name of the command in English text that can be entered in the Command window to execute the menu item. The IDE strips out any characters that are not letters, digits, underscores, or embedded periods. This text is then concatenated to the ButtonText field to define the command. For example, New Project on the File menu becomes the command, File.NewProject.If the English CanonicalName field is not specified, the IDE uses the ButtonText field, and strips out all except letters, digits, underscores, and embedded periods. For example, the Button Text "&Define Commands..." becomes DefineCommands, where the ampersand, the space, and the ellipsis are removed.If the TextChanges flag is specified and the text of the command is changed, the corresponding command recognized by the Command window does not change; it remains the canonical form of the original ButtonText or English CanonicalName fields. |
| LocCanonicalName | The LocCanonicalName field behaves identically to the English CanonicalName field but enables localized command text to be specified. Both canonical fields can be specified. Because the IDE just parses text entered in the Command window and associates it with a command, both English and non-English text can be associated with the same command. |
Parent Elements
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Button Element | Defines an element that the user can interact with. |
| Menu Element | Defines a single menu item. |
| Combo Element | Defines commands that appear in a combo box. |