Tabs Studio v1.5.7 is released – added ability to use custom properties in an add-in for styling, added ability to change tab title from an add-in, restricted add-ins loading only to assemblies with the dll extension.
September 2, 2009
Using attached properties in an add-in for advanced styling
Currently in style triggers only predetermined in Tabs Studio (IsDocument, IsTabSelected) and in WPF (IsMouseOver) properties can be used. For the next Tabs Studio version I’ve added ability for an add-in to add and set its own custom properties to any tab element and use it in style triggers.
These custom properties are WPF Attached Properties. An add-in should define custom static DependencyProperty in a class (I recommend to use separate dedicated class for it), initialize this property using the RegisterAttached method and define two static methods to set and get the property.
After a custom property is defined and registered, an add-in can set it for any tab element when needed:
Properties.SetIsTopProject(tab.TabItem, isTopProject);
Where Properties is a class containing the property, SetIsTopProject is a static set method for the property, tab.TabItem is a tab element we set property for, isTopProject is a value for the property.
On the style side we use this new property in a trigger almost as usual:
<Trigger Property="TabsStudioDecorator:Properties.IsTopProject" Value="True">
We must additionally specify the XAML namespace and the class where the property is defined. Defining this custom XAML namespace is an add-in’s job. Main add-in class must implement the TabsStudioExt.IStyler interface – return a string from the GetNamespacesForResourceDictionary method with required namespace(s) definition(s):
public string GetNamespacesForResourceDictionary()
{
return "xmlns:TabsStudioDecorator=\"clr-namespace:TabsStudioDecorator;assembly=Decorator\"";
}
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September 1, 2009
Changing tab title from an add-in
I’ve added infrastructure to control tab and tab extension title text from an add-in. It was already possible to modify tab label control directly, but direct modifications can be overridden by Tabs Studio and require special processing for underscore characters.
Now each title has the associated list of transforms applied to this title. Each transform is a pattern regex string, replacement regex string and tag ID string. An add-in can customize this list individually for each title (add, remove and change transforms).
More specifically, TabsStudioExt.Tab and TabsStudioExt.TabExtension classes have TitleManager property returning ITitleManager interface. ITitleManager interface has Title and UntransformedTitle properties (there is no need to access underlying label control to get title any more), Transforms property returning generic list of TitleTransform and ApplyTransforms method that an add-in should call when it has finished updating the transforms list. TitleTransform has PatternRegex, ReplacementRegex and Id properties.
An example of tab title customization usage can be disambiguation of tabs with the same name adding folder/project to tab title on tab creation when there is already a tab with the same name in the group (see my upcoming Disambiguator add-in). “Remove path from tab name” option is now also implemented as a transform (pattern ^(.*/)?(.*)$, replacement $2, id [Tabs Studio] Remove path).
Tab extension title customization can be used for decorations like this:
Custom extension transformation
It was implemented by adding two transforms (.cpp$ -> .c++ and .cs$ -> .c#) on TabExtensionCreated event to each tab extension.
August 27, 2009
Saver add-in
Saver restores tab positions when opening a solution to the last state. Let’s start from the design questions.
When to save tab positions?
Visual Studio has the OnBeforeCloseSolution event in the IVsSolutionEvents interface. When OnBeforeCloseSolution fires all tabs are still opened and this event seems like a perfect place to save tab positions.
When to restore tab positions?
There is the OnAfterOpenSolution event, but when it fires no solution files are opened yet. So, I did use this event to load tab positions, but implemented tab ordering in response to the ITabsStudioEngine.TabCreated events tab by tab.
Where to store tab positions?
Ideal place to store tab positions would be Solution User Options (.suo) file. Unfortunately, this storage is available only to VSPackages. Instead, I decided to store tab positions in a separate file with the tss extension in a directory along with the sln and suo files.
Implementation
In the OnConnection method Saver gets the IVsSolution Visual Studio interface and subscribes to solution events.
In the OnBeforeCloseSolution method file path of each tab extension (or title for non document windows) in appropriate order are stored in a tss file. Information is stored in human readable xml format.
In the OnAfterOpenSolution method tab positions are loaded from a tss file and stored in the tabsOrderList instance variable.
OnTabCreated event handler gets file path of created tab extension (or title for non document windows) as the tabCreatedID string, finds appropriate tab group in tabsOrderList, scans TabPanel from the beginning looking for a tab that is greater (based on saved order index) than the just created one and if greater tab is found moves the just created tab before it.
OnTabCreated processing should work only while solution is opening. UpdateTabsToGo method is called after loading tab positions from a tss file and calculates the number of tabs that are going to be opened. OnTabCreated event handler each time checks that there are tabsToGo and decrements this counter, thus preventing OnTabCreated to work in Saver add-in after solution is completely loaded.
Download Saver v1.0.0 for Tabs Studio v1.5.5.
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Navigator add-in
Navigator allows you to switch tabs using keyboard. It provides two new Visual Studio commands to activate tabs on the left and on the right of the currently selected one.
Navigator is a good example of Visual Studio commands creation in Tabs Studio’s add-in. Main Navigator class implements the EnvDTE.IDTCommandTarget interface. Commands class registers two new commands, reports their status as always enabled and checks when it is time to execute them.
Actual navigation is implemented in CommandsImpl class. Uisng the ITabsStudioEngine.GetTabs method it gets information about all tabs, determines selected tab group, determines selected tab, finds adjacent tab in TabPanel, finds active extension in adjacent tab and activates corresponding Visual Studio window using Activate method.
Assigning keyboard shortcuts to these commands in Visual Studio keyboard options I noticed that assigning, for example, Ctrl+2 in Global scope to TabsStudio.Connect.NavigateToNextTab works, but to assign Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow it is needed to be in Text Editor scope or default Text Editor command overrides it.
Download Navigator v1.0.0 for Tabs Studio v1.5.5.
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Tracer add-in
Tracer should be useful for add-ins development. Using System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine method it traces when
ITabsStudioEngine events occur. I use DebugView to view these traces.
Tracer also demonstrates use of the TabsStudioExt.IConfigurable interface showing settings dialog when Configure… selected in Add-in Manager. These settings are not preserved after closing Visual Studio.
Download Tracer v1.0.0 for Tabs Studio v1.5.5.
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August 26, 2009
Sorter add-in v1.0.1
Sorter v1.0.1 for Tabs Studio v1.5.5 is released – added support for tab renaming, added support for latest Tabs Studio SDK.
Tabs Studio v1.5.5 is released
Tabs Studio v1.5.5 is released – added add-in manager, added ability to customize file modification status, extended extensibility interfaces, fixed Tabs Studio dialogs centering when Visual Studio is maximized.
If you have Sorter add-in v1.0.0, uninstall it or upgrade to Sorter v1.0.1.
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Customizing file modification status
Traditionally Tabs Studio used asterisk as file modification marker. I’ve added additional controls for tab and tab extension modification markers to allow their XAML styling:
TabNameModificationMarker Label control was added before TabNameReadOnlyImage with the following default style:
<Style x:Key="DefaultTabNameModificationMarkerStyle" TargetType="TabsStudio:TabNameModificationMarker">
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,0,0,0"/>
<Setter Property="Padding" Value="0,0,0,0"/>
<Setter Property="Content" Value="*"/>
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsNameModified" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Visible"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
TabExtensionModificationMarker Label control was added before TabExtensionReadOnlyImage with the following default style:
<Style x:Key="DefaultTabExtensionModificationMarkerStyle" TargetType="TabsStudio:TabExtensionModificationMarker">
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="0,0,0,0"/>
<Setter Property="Padding" Value="0,0,0,0"/>
<Setter Property="Content" Value="*"/>
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsExtensionModified" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Visible"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
Default asterisk file modification status
Let’s see some new styling examples that are possible now.
By default, modified tab width is greater than non modified one due to additional asterisk. It may inconveniently cause tabs to change rows when editing and saving files. To reserve space for the asterisk when tab extension is not modified use the following style (same approach can be used for tab name):
<Style TargetType="TabsStudio:TabExtensionModificationMarker"
BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTabExtensionModificationMarkerStyle}">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden"/>
</Style>
Space reserved for file modification status
A custom string (e.g. exclamation mark) can be used instead of asterisk as the file modification marker for tab extension (same approach can be used for tab name):
<Style TargetType="TabsStudio:TabExtensionModificationMarker"
BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTabExtensionModificationMarkerStyle}">
<Setter Property="Content" Value="!"/>
</Style>
Exclamation mark as file modification marker
Instead of showing additional text marker, appearance of file name can be customized (e.g. setting red color for modified tab text):
<Style TargetType="TabsStudio:TabExtensionModificationMarker"
BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTabExtensionModificationMarkerStyle}">
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsExtensionModified" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<Style TargetType="TabsStudio:TabExtension"
BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTabExtensionStyle}">
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsExtensionModified" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<Style TargetType="TabsStudio:TabNameModificationMarker"
BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTabNameModificationMarkerStyle}">
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsNameModified" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<Style TargetType="TabsStudio:TabName"
BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultTabNameStyle}">
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsNameModified" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
Red text color as file modification status
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August 25, 2009
Add-in Manager
I’ve created the Add-in Manager dialog that you can open using the Tabs Studio context menu or TabsStudio.Connect.Addins command:
Tabs Studio Add-in Manager dialog
The dialog shows all loaded add-ins. Add-in information is extracted from the version resource in the add-in dll file. Add-in Name is extracted from the ProductName key, in C# project it is set using the AssemblyProduct attribute. Description is extracted from the FileDescription key defined by the AssemblyTitle attribute. Version is extracted from the ProductVersion key defined by the AssemblyFileVersion attribute.
To support configurability the add-in’s main class must implement the TabsStudioExt.IConfigurable interface:
public class Tracer : TabsStudioExt.ITabsStudioAddin, TabsStudioExt.IConfigurable
This interface has only one method:
void Configure(System.Windows.Window parent);
The parent parameter is to set the Owner property of the add-in configuration dialog:
public void Configure(System.Windows.Window parent)
{
SettingsDialog dialog = new SettingsDialog(settings);
dialog.Owner = parent;
dialog.ShowDialog();
}
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Tabs Studio Blog (organizing Visual Studio document tabs) 