ToolWindows Interface

Definition

Namespace:

EnvDTE80

Assembly:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.Interop.dll

Package:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.Interop v17.11.40262

Improves discoverability and usability of tool windows in the object model by providing easy access to the shell’s tool windows in their native types.

public interface class ToolWindows

public interface class ToolWindows

__interface ToolWindows

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.Guid("19AC6F68-3019-4D65-8D98-404DFB96B8E2")]
public interface ToolWindows

[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.Guid("19AC6F68-3019-4D65-8D98-404DFB96B8E2")>]
type ToolWindows = interface

Public Interface ToolWindows

Attributes

GuidAttribute

Examples

This example adds an Output Window, titled "My output", activates it, and displays all the tool windows reached through the Collection object of the parent ToolWindows object.

Imports EnvDTE  
Imports EnvDTE80  
Public Sub OutputToolWindow(ByVal dte As DTE2)  
    Dim myOut As OutputWindow  
    myOut = _applicationObject.ToolWindows.OutputWindow  
    Dim myPane As OutputWindowPane  
    Dim txt As String  
    txt = ""  
    MsgBox("Creating an output window.")  
    myPane = myOut.OutputWindowPanes.Add("My output")  
    myPane.Activate()  
    MsgBox("Adding some text to the output window...")  
    myPane.OutputString("This is the collection of tool windows, _  
 reached through the Output Window object:" & vbCr)  
    For Each tempWindow As EnvDTE80.Window2 In myOut.Parent.Collection  
        txt = txt & (tempWindow.Caption & vbCr)  
    Next tempWindow  
    MsgBox("Displaying all the tool window captions _  
 in the Output window...")  
    myPane.OutputString(txt)  
End Sub  

using EnvDTE;  
using EnvDTE80;  
using System.Windows.Forms;  
public void OutputToolWindow(DTE2 dte)  
{  
    OutputWindow myOut;  
    myOut = _applicationObject.ToolWindows.OutputWindow;  
    OutputWindowPane myPane;  
    String txt = null;  
    MessageBox.Show("Creating an output window.");  
    myPane = myOut.OutputWindowPanes.Add("My output");  
    myPane.Activate();  
    MessageBox.Show("Adding some text to the output window...");  
    myPane.OutputString("This is the collection of tool  
 windows,reached through the Output Window object:" + "\n");  
    foreach (EnvDTE80.Window2 tempWindow in myOut.Parent.Collection)  
    {  
        txt = txt + (tempWindow.Caption + "\n");  
    }  
    MessageBox.Show("Displaying all the tool window captions   
in the output window...");  
    myPane.OutputString(txt);  
}  

Remarks

Visual Studio tool windows may be accessed through member properties. Other tool windows may be located with the GetToolWindow function.

Properties

CommandWindow	Gets the CommandWindow object.
DTE	Gets the top-level extensibility object.
ErrorList	Gets the list of errors displayed in the IDE.
OutputWindow	Gets the OutputWindow object.
SolutionExplorer	Gets a UIHierarchy object representing Solution Explorer.
TaskList	Gets the TaskList object.
ToolBox	Gets the ToolBox object.

Methods

GetToolWindow(String)

Allows the user to retrieve a window by its title.