{"id":31522,"date":"2023-01-24T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T06:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/?p=31522"},"modified":"2023-02-02T19:11:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T19:11:03","slug":"brace-pair-colorization-and-more-in-visual-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/brace-pair-colorization-and-more-in-visual-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"C++ Brace Pair Colorization and More in Visual Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visual Studio 17.5 brings you several new improvements in the<\/span> C++ editing experience.<\/span> Now we are excited to announce that <\/span><\/span>C++ <\/span><\/span>Brace Pair Colorization<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>Spell Checker<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>All-In-One Search<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>Reimagined Member List<\/span><\/span>, and <\/span><\/span>Macro Expansion Improvements<\/span><\/span> are released in the <\/span><\/span>Visual Studio Preview<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These features are also part of our focus on increasing game development productivity. Look out for a dedicated post coming soon. <\/span>To <\/span>start using<\/span> the features<\/span>,<\/span> make sure to update to the latest version of Visual Studio Preview. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Download Visual Studio Preview<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n

Brace Pair Colorization for C++<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

You can now visually distinguish each set of opening and closing braces for your C++ code making it easier to see your code’s scope or find any missing braces. <\/span>There will be <\/span>different colors<\/span> for curly braces,<\/span> and the paired braces<\/span> {}<\/span> will have the same color, which will make it easy to <\/span>visualize<\/span> where the <\/span>braces<\/span> open<\/span> and close<\/span> especially when you have intensely nested codes<\/span>.<\/span> The feature is available for C++ today and will be coming to <\/span>additional<\/span> languages in <\/span>subsequent<\/span> releases<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"C++<\/a><\/p>\n

Brace Pair Colorization will be <\/span>o<\/span>n<\/span> by default<\/span>, and<\/span> you can <\/span>f<\/span>i<\/span>nd<\/span> it by going to <\/span><\/span>T<\/span><\/span><\/span>ools<\/span><\/span><\/strong> > <\/span><\/span>O<\/span>ptions<\/span><\/span><\/strong> > <\/span><\/span>Environment <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>P<\/span>review<\/span><\/span> F<\/span><\/span><\/span>eatures<\/span> <\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Enable Brace Pair Colorization<\/span> (requires restart)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> or by searching for “<\/span>Enable Brace<\/span>“.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Setting<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Spell Checker<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Visual Studio now has a Spell Checker that helps in making your spelling <\/span>accurate<\/span>. When you misspell words, this feature will make sure to mark them so that you can check them out, and then suggested spellings will appear<\/span>. <\/span>This feature checks the spelling of all words inside comments<\/span>,<\/span> and <\/span>names on declarations<\/span> will be checked <\/span>by <\/span>separating camelCase and underscored <\/span>words<\/span>.<\/span> To bring quick action, y<\/span>ou can <\/span>either <\/span>click on the light bulb or <\/span>press \u201cCtrl+.\u201d or \u201c<\/span>Alt+Enter<\/span>\u201d<\/span>.<\/span> There will be three options on the context menu<\/span>; <\/span>to choose from <\/span>the suggested spellings, <\/span>to ignore the spelling <\/span>issue, and to disable <\/span>the <\/span>spell checker. <\/span>With the ignore action, you will <\/span>add word<\/span>s<\/span> to your personal dictionary<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Spell<\/a><\/p>\n

The Spell Checker will be on by default, and the setting is <\/span>located<\/span> on <\/span><\/span>T<\/span>ools <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Options<\/span><\/span><\/strong> ><\/span> <\/span>Environment <\/span><\/span><\/strong>><\/span> <\/span>Preview<\/span><\/span> Features <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Text spell checker<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. This feature can <\/span>also turn<\/span> on\/off <\/span>by <\/span>selecting <\/span><\/span>Edit<\/span> <\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Advanced <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Toggle Text<\/strong> Spell <\/strong><\/span>Checker <\/span><\/strong><\/span>or<\/span> from the main toolbar in Visual Studio<\/span> as displayed in the<\/span> screenshot above<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

The <\/span><\/span>Visual Studio Spell Checker Preview<\/span><\/span><\/a> has <\/span>in-depth <\/span>details on how this feature works and how to configure Spell Checker using <\/span><\/span>.editorconfig<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All-In-One Search<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The new All-In-One Search makes <\/span>searching <\/span>easier <\/span>by <\/span>combining the code and feature search in the same UI. This is impor<\/span>tant because<\/span> finding where to search<\/span> can be <\/span>challenging sometimes<\/span>,<\/span> especially when<\/span> there are more ways to search<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

The feature will be <\/span>disabled <\/span>by default, and it can be <\/span>enabled <\/span>by checking in<\/span> <\/span>Tools <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Options<\/span><\/span><\/strong> > <\/span><\/span>Environment <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>Preview<\/span><\/span> Features <\/span><\/span><\/strong>> <\/span><\/span>New Visual Studio Search Experience<\/span> (requires restart<\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. <\/span>This will be gradually <\/span>enabled<\/span> by <\/span>default <\/span>in the near future.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Setting<\/a><\/p>\n

When you enable and restart <\/span>Visual<\/span> Studio, a new search icon will<\/span> appear <\/span>on the menu bar. <\/span>The search will have Code Search (<\/span>Ctrl+T)<\/span> and Feature Search (<\/span>C<\/span>trl+Q)<\/span>\u00a0in it<\/span>.<\/span> Code<\/span> Search will be more useful to find types, files, and members<\/span>, while Feature Search will priori<\/span>tize <\/span>Visual Studio\u2019s <\/span>tools, templates, options, and <\/span>components<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The<\/span> <\/span>New: Better search in Visual Studio<\/span><\/span><\/a> has <\/span>full information on this feature <\/span>and the ability to preview and edit your code in the search window.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This video is a short demo on how the new all-in-one search <\/span>works<\/span>:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n