ToolWindows Interface

Improves discoverability and usability of tool windows in the object model by providing easy access to the shell’s tool windows in their native types.

Namespace:  EnvDTE80
Assembly:  EnvDTE80 (in EnvDTE80.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<GuidAttribute("19AC6F68-3019-4D65-8D98-404DFB96B8E2")> _
Public Interface ToolWindows

[GuidAttribute("19AC6F68-3019-4D65-8D98-404DFB96B8E2")]
public interface ToolWindows

[GuidAttribute(L"19AC6F68-3019-4D65-8D98-404DFB96B8E2")]
public interface class ToolWindows

[<GuidAttribute("19AC6F68-3019-4D65-8D98-404DFB96B8E2")>]
type ToolWindows =  interface end

public interface ToolWindows

The ToolWindows type exposes the following members.

Properties

	Name	Description
	CommandWindow	Gets the CommandWindow object.
	DTE	Gets the top-level extensibility object.
	ErrorList	Gets the list of errors displayed in the IDE.
	OutputWindow	Gets the OutputWindow object.
	SolutionExplorer	Gets a UIHierarchy object representing Solution Explorer.
	TaskList	Gets the TaskList object.
	ToolBox	Gets the ToolBox object.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	GetToolWindow	Allows the user to retrieve a window by its title.

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Remarks

Visual Studio tool windows may be accessed through member properties. Other tool windows may be located with the GetToolWindow function.

Examples

This example adds an Output Window, titled "My output", activates it, and displays all the tool windows reached through the Collection object of the parent ToolWindows object. For more information about how to run this example as an add-in, see How to: Compile and Run the Automation Object Model Code Examples.

Imports EnvDTE
Imports EnvDTE80
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)
    OutputToolWindow(_applicationObject)
End Sub
Public Sub OutputToolWindow(ByVal dte As DTE2)
    Dim myOut As OutputWindow
    myOut = _applicationObject.ToolWindows.OutputWindow
    Dim myPane As OutputWindowPane
    Dim txt As String
    txt = ""
    MsgBox("Creating an output window.")
    myPane = myOut.OutputWindowPanes.Add("My output")
    myPane.Activate()
    MsgBox("Adding some text to the output window...")
    myPane.OutputString("This is the collection of tool windows, _
 reached through the Output Window object:" & vbCr)
    For Each tempWindow As EnvDTE80.Window2 In myOut.Parent.Collection
        txt = txt & (tempWindow.Caption & vbCr)
    Next tempWindow
    MsgBox("Displaying all the tool window captions _
 in the Output window...")
    myPane.OutputString(txt)
End Sub

using EnvDTE;
using EnvDTE80;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public void OnConnection(object application, 
ext_ConnectMode connectMode, object addInInst, ref Array custom)
{
    _applicationObject = (DTE2)application;
    _addInInstance = (AddIn)addInInst;
    OutputToolWindow(_applicationObject);
}
public void OutputToolWindow(DTE2 dte)
{
    OutputWindow myOut;
    myOut = _applicationObject.ToolWindows.OutputWindow;
    OutputWindowPane myPane;
    String txt = null;
    MessageBox.Show("Creating an output window.");
    myPane = myOut.OutputWindowPanes.Add("My output");
    myPane.Activate();
    MessageBox.Show("Adding some text to the output window...");
    myPane.OutputString("This is the collection of tool
 windows,reached through the Output Window object:" + "\n");
    foreach (EnvDTE80.Window2 tempWindow in myOut.Parent.Collection)
    {
        txt = txt + (tempWindow.Caption + "\n");
    }
    MessageBox.Show("Displaying all the tool window captions 
in the output window...");
    myPane.OutputString(txt);
}

See Also

Reference

EnvDTE80 Namespace