Navigating

Overview

"Navigating" is the ability to position the Visual Studio editor at the correct position in a file as quickly as possible. Visual Sidekick provides a number of features to speed up this process.

Associated Files and Symbols

One of the most useful features in Visual Sidekick is its ability to cycle between all files "associated" with the current file. Associated files include files that share the same name (but have a different extension). Associated files also include all files that share class definitions, member declarations and member definitions (even if they have different file names).

Simply use Ctrl-Enter to cycle between these associated files, directly from inside the Visual Studio editor.

Furthermore, Visual Sidekick can toggle between method specification and body. Position the editor on the relevant symbol and then use Ctrl-Shift-Enter to jump between specification and body.

Navigating via the Browse Tree

Double-clicking any symbol in the Browse Tree (or pressing Enter) will jump the Visual Studio editor to the symbol's "primary" position. Ctrl-double-clicking any symbol (or pressing Ctrl-Enter) will jump the editor to the symbol's "secondary" position.

For example, if you wanted to go to the definition of the class, simply hit Enter on the symbol. If you wanted to go to the implementation file of a class, select the class in the Browse Tree and hit Ctrl-Enter.

The table below defines the actions Visual Sidekick takes on a per-symbol basis, when the Enter and Ctrl-Enter actions are executed:

Symbol Double-Click (Enter) Ctrl-Double-Click (Ctrl-Enter)

Class, Enum, etc Goto declaration (header) Goto last position in Alternate file

Method Goto method declaration (header) Goto method body

Member Goto member declaration (header) Goto last position in Alternate file

File Goto last position in the file Goto last position in Alternate file

Clipboard Entry Paste symbol into current editor file -

Hierarchy Class Goto class declaration Goto last position in Alternate file

Symbol	Double-Click (Enter)	Ctrl-Double-Click (Ctrl-Enter)
Class, Enum, etc	Goto declaration (header)	Goto last position in Alternate file
Method	Goto method declaration (header)	Goto method body
Member	Goto member declaration (header)	Goto last position in Alternate file
File	Goto last position in the file	Goto last position in Alternate file
Clipboard Entry	Paste symbol into current editor file	-
Hierarchy Class	Goto class declaration	Goto last position in Alternate file

Navigating to a Definition from the Visual Studio Editor

It is often the case that you want to jump to the body of a function from a piece of code that calls that function, or goto the class declaration of a member variable.

Simply highlight the symbol or move the cursor over the symbol in the Visual Studio editor and then hit Alt-Enter . The symbol will be loaded into the Primary Filter and the cursor positioned in the Browse Tree. Select the specific symbol definition and press Enter to move the editor to the definition.