Browsing Through Code and Components

Use the Object Browser to examine the symbols that are available in your projects. To open the Object Browser, on the View menu, click Object Browser.

You can narrow the browsing scope of the Object Browser to include just one or two projects and the components they reference, or you can expand the scope to include the entire .NET Framework, all COM components that are installed on your computer, and any available external components. You can also select particular folders when you search for available components. For more information, see How to: Modify the Browsing Scope in the Object Browser.

The Object Browser has three panes: a pane on the left that displays objects, a pane on the upper right that displays members of the object that is selected in the left pane, and a pane on the lower right that displays a description of the currently selected object or member.

In the left pane, structures such as .NET Framework components, COM components, namespaces, type libraries, interfaces, enums, and classes are displayed in a hierarchical list that you can expand and contract. When you select one of the objects, its members are displayed in the upper right pane. To narrow the list of items in the left pane, use Search. To display all available items, click Clear Search. For more information, see How to: Navigate in the Object Browser

Related Topics

Title	Description
Object Browser	Describes how the parts of the Object Browser work.
How to: Navigate in the Object Browser	Describes how to move from pane to pane and item to item in the Object Browser.
How to: Modify the Browsing Scope in the Object Browser	Describes how to narrow or expand the browsing scope in the Object Browser.
Class View	Describes how the parts of Class View work.
Class View and Object Browser Icons	Describes what the icons in Class View and the Object Browser represent.
Viewing Classes and Their Members	Shows how to use Class View to examine project code, and how to create virtual folders of project symbols.
Understanding Classes	Conceptual introduction to classes.
.NET Framework Programming in Visual Studio	Links to documents that explain how to use the .NET Framework class libraries.
Overview of the .NET Framework	Conceptual introduction to the .NET Framework.
Pre-defined Keyboard Shortcuts	Describes the keyboard-shortcut schemes that are included in Visual Studio.