Responding to Automation Events

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.

When events occur in elements of the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE), you can use objects from the automation model to respond to them.

You can use the objects, for example, to respond when:

• A build is initiated or completed.

• Someone clicks a Command Bar button.

• A document is opened, closed, or saved.

• Items are added, renamed, or removed from a solution or project.

• A line is changed in the Code Editor.

• A window is created, selected, moved, or closed.

The tasks below demonstrate how to respond to events in Visual Studio.

Task	Description
Automation Event Objects	Includes a complete list of automation event objects to which you can respond.
How to: Handle Automation Events (Visual Basic)	Explains how to respond to events in Visual Basic.
How to: Handle Automation Events (Visual C#)	Illustrates how to respond to events in Visual C#.
How to: Respond to Events in a Specific Project (Visual Basic)	Illustrates how to use automation to respond to events in Visual C# and Visual Basic projects.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Add and Handle Commands

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