Menus and Toolbars

Note

Beginning with Visual Studio 2008 SDK, use XML Command Table (.vsct) files instead of vs_current_short Command Table (.vsct) files to define how menus and commands appear in your VSPackages. For more information, see Visual Studio Command Table (.Vsct) Files.

When you create a VSPackage for the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE), it typically includes a user interface (UI) command set. A command set includes menus, toolbars (such as a toolbar in a tool window), command combo boxes, and selectors. (Selectors let you select nontextual values from a grid, such as a color grid.)

The pages in this section explain how menus and toolbar commands work in VSPackages, how to create them, how to handle their events, and best practices for implementing them.

In This Section

• Menu and Toolbar Essentials
  Presents best practices for adding menus and toolbars to your VSPackage.

• Introduction to Menu and Toolbar Commands
  Provides an overview to how menu and toolbar commands work with VSPackages.

• How VSPackages Add User Interface Elements to the IDE
  An in-depth description of the Command Table Format specification.

• Command Table Configuration (.Ctc) Files
  Describes how to write and then compile a command table for your project.

• Visual Studio Command Table (.Vsct) Files
  Describes an XML-based syntax and compiler for command tables.

• Default Command, Group, and Toolbar Placement
  Describes predefined commands, groups, menus, and toolbars.

• IDE-Defined Menus, Groups, and Commands
  Specifies the predefined commands and command groups available for use by the Visual Studio IDE.

• Common Menu Tasks
  Provides a comprehensive list of common menu tasks.

• Command Routing in VSPackages
  Describes how the Visual Studio IDE directs commands.

• Optimizing Menu and Toolbar Commands
  Suggests considerations for performance and scalability.

• Menu and Toolbar Command Walkthroughs
  Provides a collection of walkthroughs for exploring commands and creating menus and toolbars.

Related Sections

• Command Table Format Reference
  Describes all UI components and their flags.

• Loading VSPackages
  Describes how a VSPackage is loaded and how loading is controlled by command context.

• Selection Context Objects
  Explains the Visual Studio model for determining the selection context focuses of a window.

• User Interfaces
  Explains how to use Visual Studio services to create UI elements that match the rest of Visual Studio.