Creating a simple code snippet in Visual Studio 2005 – Part II

Hi All,
This is the second installment of the series "Code snippets in Visual Studio 2005". Well it has been quite a while since I updated my blog. My apologies, I think we all got too wrapped up in developing our new products and preparation of Q1 2006 release to remember to keep writing. However now I (having the time) intend to do just that.

So creating a code snippet is a relatively easy task, however I will make a real case to demonstrate the creation process (refresh your mind on the topic here):

- First create a text file (with your preferred editor, mine is Notepad) with a .snippet extension.

- Now open the saved text file (it will be actually an XML file) and after careful review of the Code Snippets Schema Reference ( http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms171418.aspx ), we are ready to proceed further.

The file must provide a valid XML schema in the first line so we will begin by declaring:

<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
[ code snippet content here]
</CodeSnippets>

Inside the CodeSnippets section we declare the snippet container as follows:

<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
   <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
     [ code snippet content here]
   </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

Then we proceed by declaring a header section

<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
<Header>
   <Title>Telerik sample snippet</Title>
   <Shortcut>ItemCommand</Shortcut>
</Header>
[ code snippet content here]
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

* The shortcut element is used for easier insertion of the code snippet – type
"ItemCommand" and press Tab to insert the code snippet in a VB.NET project, or press Tab twice if in C# project.

And the real code snippet goes to the Snippet section:

<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
    <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
        <Header>
            <Title>Telerik sample snippet</Title>
        </Header>
    <Snippet>
    <References>
        <Reference>
            <Assembly>System.Windows.Forms.dll</Assembly>
        </Reference>
    </References>
    <Code Language="VB">
        <![CDATA[MessageBox.Show("Hello World")]]>
    </Code>
    </Snippet>
    </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

There you can implement References section (only Visual Basic supports this section)

<Snippet>
<References>
<Reference>
<Assembly>System.Xml.dll</Assembly>
</Reference>
</References>
<Code Language=" CSharp">
</Code>
</Snippet>

…the Imports section which is very useful if one wants to include commonly used namespaces, say Telerik.WebControls, Telerik.WebControls.UI:

<Snippet>
    <Imports>
        <Import>
            <Namespace>Telerik.WebControls</Namespace>
        </Import>
        <Import>
            <Namespace> Telerik.WebControls.UI</Namespace>
        </Import>
    </Imports> 
    <Code Language=" CSharp">
    </Code>
</Snippet>

* There must be exactly one Namespace element in an Import element

... and Code section ( in a specified language supported by the CLR). I will use code for a common scenario regarding the usage of Custom Item Commands in our r.a.d.grid component:

<Snippet>
    <Imports>
        <Import>
            <Namespace>Telerik.WebControls</Namespace>
        </Import>
        <Import>
            <Namespace> Telerik.WebControls.UI</Namespace>
        </Import>
    </Imports> 
    <Code Language=" CSharp">
    <![CDATA[

    protected void RadGrid1_ItemCommand(object source, Telerik.WebControls.GridCommandEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.CommandName == "EditSelected")
        {
            if (RadGrid1.SelectedIndexes.Count == 0)
            {
                return;
            }
            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.SelectedItems)
            {
                item.Edit = true;
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind();
            return;
        }
        if (e.CommandName == "UpdateEdited")
        {
            if (RadGrid1.EditIndexes.Count == 0)
            {
                return;
            }

            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.EditItems)
            {
                RadGrid1.MasterTableView.PerformUpdate(item, true);
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind(); 
            return;
        }

        if (e.CommandName == "DeleteSelected")
        {
            if (RadGrid1.SelectedIndexes.Count == 0)
            {
                return;
            }

            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.SelectedItems)
            {
                e.Item.OwnerTableView.PerformDelete(item, true);
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind();
            return;
        }

        if (e.CommandName == "CancelAll")
        {
            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.EditItems)
            {
                item.Edit = false;
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.IsItemInserted = false;
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind();
            return;
        } 
    }
    ]]>
    </Code>
</Snippet>

(Supported languages are VB, CSharp, VJSharp, and XML). Also all snippet code must be placed between <![CDATA[ and ]]> brackets.

So finally here is the complete code:

<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
<CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
    <Header>
        <Title>Telerik sample snippet</Title>
    </Header>
<Snippet>
    <Imports>
        <Import>
            <Namespace>Telerik.WebControls</Namespace>
        </Import>
        <Import>
            <Namespace> Telerik.WebControls.UI</Namespace>
        </Import>
    </Imports> 
    <Code Language=" CSharp">
    <![CDATA[

    protected void RadGrid1_ItemCommand(object source, Telerik.WebControls.GridCommandEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.CommandName == "EditSelected")
        {
            if (RadGrid1.SelectedIndexes.Count == 0)
            {
                return;
            }
            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.SelectedItems)
            {
                item.Edit = true;
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind();
            return;
        }
        if (e.CommandName == "UpdateEdited")
        {
            if (RadGrid1.EditIndexes.Count == 0)
            {
                return;
            }

            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.EditItems)
            {
                RadGrid1.MasterTableView.PerformUpdate(item, true);
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind(); 
            return;
        }

        if (e.CommandName == "DeleteSelected")
        {
            if (RadGrid1.SelectedIndexes.Count == 0)
            {
                return;
            }

            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.SelectedItems)
            {
                e.Item.OwnerTableView.PerformDelete(item, true);
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind();
            return;
        }

        if (e.CommandName == "CancelAll")
        {
            foreach (GridDataItem item in RadGrid1.EditItems)
            {
                item.Edit = false;
            }
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.IsItemInserted = false;
            e.Item.OwnerTableView.Rebind();
            return;
        } 
    }
    ]]>
    </Code>
</Snippet>
</CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>


Additional reading:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165396.aspx

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/wy5tazc9.aspx