Quick way to open files in Visual Studio IDE
In 7.0 and later you can simply and quickly open files by going to the Find combo in the toolbar, and type
>open c:\goo\bar.cpp
The pathname will even auto-complete as you type! Even the command name (“open“ in this case) will auto-complete. You will probably find other handy commands in there by experimenting.
Comments
- Anonymous
March 03, 2004
I suppose you are referring to the Command Window? Because in my 7.0, nothing happens when I type that phrase in the Find combo.
Regards,
Dennis - Anonymous
March 03, 2004
Dennis, make sure you typed in the > before open. - Anonymous
March 03, 2004
Nice feature!
Guess i'll use ctrl+D more often now :) - Anonymous
March 03, 2004
You get an error if the filename contain spaces :( - Anonymous
March 03, 2004
Thomas, it works fine with VS 2003. Quotes get added automagically. - Anonymous
March 04, 2004
Thought I generally dont like to recommend old products, VC6 has a simpler version. In the Find edit control, type a filename then press Ctrl-Alt-G to open the file. You don't get auto completion. This is the FileGoTo command if you want to customize the keystroke. - Anonymous
March 04, 2004
If you're opening a file that is part of the solution, press Ctrl+D, type the filename (no path needed), then press Ctrl+Shift+G. Very handy if you have hundreds of uniquely-named files spread across dozens of folders in the one solution. - Anonymous
March 05, 2004
Isn't it quicker to simply press Ctrl+O and then type in the filename? Seems like fewer keystrokes to me :) - Anonymous
March 08, 2004
Wow, John! You're absolutely right! This is the best discovery I ever heard of! :)) - Anonymous
April 21, 2004
The nice thing of Ctrl+Shift+G in VC6 is, that it even works in the text editor if the cursor is above a filename/path (either quoted by "" or by <>).
Any idea how to get this back in VC.NET? - Anonymous
November 16, 2007
alternative (if you don't like typing 'open'):
- ctrl + d
- >of myfile.txt
Anonymous
October 21, 2009
http://www.stjhimy.com/2009/10/20/playing-around-with-visual-studio-make-things-quickly/ it should help =)Anonymous
January 24, 2010
Extensions don't work with the express editions. I use AutoHotKey for this, the script is as follows: ^+t:: SetTitleMatchMode, 2 IfWinActive, Visual C++ Send ^d>of{Space} return ...which translates Ctrl+Shift+T to the sequence Ctrl+D, ">of ". Thanks very much for the ">of " trick, that's new to me!