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When IntelliSense Is Unavailable

There are certain cases when the IntelliSense options may not work as you expect.

There is a code error above the cursor

If there is an incomplete function or other coding error above the location of the insertion point, IntelliSense may be unable to parse the code elements and therefore will not work. You can comment out the applicable code to enable IntelliSense again.

You are inside a code comment

If the insertion point is within a comment in your source file, IntelliSense options will not be available.

You are inside a string literal

If the insertion point is inside the quotation marks around a string literal, as in:

MessageBox( hWnd, "String literal|"))

then IntelliSense options will not be available.

The automatic options are turned off

IntelliSense works automatically by default, but you can disable it. See Modifying IntelliSense Options for more information.

Even when automatic statement completion is disabled, you can invoke an IntelliSense feature; see Modifying IntelliSense Options for more information.

[C++]

There is an issue with the .ncb file

If the no compile browser (.ncb) file located at the root of your project directory is read-only or becomes corrupt in some manner, IntelliSense information will no longer be available. To fix this, do the following:

  1. Close the solution.
  2. Delete the .ncb file.
  3. Reopen the solution.

Reopening the solution creates a new .ncb file.

See Also

Using IntelliSense